Theo Colborn

Dr. Theo Colborn, an environmental health analyst, is president of The Endocrine Disruption Exchange, (TEDX, Inc), Paonia, CO., and a Professor at the University of Florida, Gainesville. Previously, she directed the wildlife and contaminants program of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), where she worked from 1988 until 1993. Dr. Colborn provided the science for Great Lakes, Great Legacy? (1990), using wildlife and human examples to reveal the transfer of chemicals from one generation to the next. In 1992, she edited Chemically Induced Alterations in Sexual and Functional Development: The Wildlife Human Connection, which technically introduced the concept of endocrine disruption. She co-authored the 1996 book, Our Stolen Future with Dianne Dumanoski and Pete Myers, presenting in lay terms the message of the technical book.

Dr. Colburn has served on numerous science advisory boards for federal agencies such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Interior, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the US Department of Health and Human Services Agency for Toxic Substances Disease Registry, the International Joint Commission of the United States and Canada, Environment Canada, Health Canada, and advised national health authorities in Japan and Europe. For her pioneering work on the effects of synthetic chemicals on the endocrine system, she received the 2000 Blue Planet Prize from the Asahi Glass Foundation, and the 2004 Rachel Carson Award from the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

Dr. Colborn started her career as a scientist late in life, after she and her husband retired from a successful pharmacy business to raise sheep. She became alarmed by pollution in the Gunnison River near their ranch in Colorado. Her involvement in Western water issues led her to earn a master's degree in science (freshwater ecology) at Western State College of Colorado and a Ph.D. in zoology, with distributed minors in epidemiology, toxicology, and water chemistry, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her pioneering work on the effects of synthetic chemicals on the endocrine system has led some to compare her to Rachel Carson, who warned the world about the dangers of DDT.

 Herbert Needleman

Dr. Needleman is currently Professor of child psychiatry and pediatrics at the University Of Pittsburgh School Of Medicine. His work has focused on the health effects of lead at “silent” doses. He developed a new way of measuring a child's body burden of lead: the analysis of teeth. This method has been adopted for use around the world. He mounted the first large scale study of intelligence and behavior in children who had no symptoms of lead toxicity. He showed that children with high lead in their teeth, but no signs of lead poisoning, had lower 1Q scores, poorer attention, and poorer language skills. Similar effects have been published in many studies around the world. His early paper, published in 1979 was influential in the decision to remove lead from gasoline. Dr. Needleman followed his subjects into adulthood and showed that lead exposure is associated with increased risk for failure to graduate from high school, and reading disabilities. These studies have proved influential in government regulation andprograms such as the P.H.S. Strategic Plan to Eliminate Childhood Lead Poisoning, and the Centers for Disease Control guidelines for recognition and treatment of the disease. He was the first investigator to study the effects of lead during pregnancy on infant development, and showed that umbilical cord blood lead levels were associated with IQ scores at 2 years of life.

For his research he has been honored with the first scientific studies award of the academy of Association For Children With Learning Disabilities, The Sarah Poiley Medal Of The New York Academy of Sciences, The Charles Dana Award For Pioneering Achievement In Public Health, The National Wildlife Federation Conservation Science Award, The University Of Pittsburgh Chancellor's Award For Public Service, The H. John Heinz Foundation Environmental Award, The Physician's Forum Edward K. Barsky Award, The Society For Occupational And Environmental Health Vernon Houk Award, Muhlenberg College's Shankweiler Award, The University Of Pennsylvania's Distinguished Graduate Award, and The Prince Mahidol Award Of Thailand. He Has Been Elected To Who’s Who In America, The Institute Of Medicine Of The National Academy Of Sciences, The Collegium Ramazzini And Sigma Xi.