EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
COMMITTEE ON THE ENVIRONMENT, PUBLIC HEALTH
AND CONSUMER POLICY
PUBLIC HEARING
ENDOCRINE DISRUPTERS
Tuesday 18 April 2000
2.30 - 6.30 pm
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES
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PE 232.381
Dr. John MCLACHLAN
John McLachlan currently holds Professorships in Pharmacology and
Environmental Health Sciences at Tulane University and Pharmacology at
Xavier University in New Orleans. He is also the Director of the
Tulane/Xavier Center for Bioenvironmental Research, comprising both
Universities. Research at the Center ranges from molecular biology and
chemistry to ecology and clinical sciences.
Dr. McLachlan's research deals with the mechanisms of action of estrogenic chemicals. He
convened the first meeting on Estrogens in the Environment in 1979 and has had a long
standing interest in the toxicology of environmental chemicals that mimic hormones. His work
on the synthetic estrogen, diethylstilbestrol (DES), has led to the development of several new
concepts underlying developmental toxicology and endocrinology.
Prior to arriving at Tulane in 1995, Dr. McLachlan worked at the National Institute of
Environmental Health Sciences for twenty-two years, the last six years as Scientific Director.
He received his Ph.D. in pharmacology from the George Washington University and his BA
degree from the Johns Hopkins University.
Dr. McLachlan has published over 125 peer reviewed papers and over fifty chapters and
proceedings. He is the Editor of the three volumes of the Estrogens in the Environment,
published in 1980, 1985, and 1995. He currently serves on numerous boards and committees,
including the National Research Council/National Academy of Sciences Committee on
Hormonally Related Environmental Chemicals, and the boards of the Alton Jones Cell Science
Center, the Children's Environmental Health Network, the Environmental Health Foundation
and the National Action Plan for Breast Cancer.
Long recognized as an international expert on the effects of environmental chemicals which act
like hormones, Dr. McLachlan was named in April 1997, by Newsweek magazine, as one of
100 people 'to watch as America prepares to pass through the gate to the next millennium.
Professor Niels E. SKAKKEBÆK
Graduated from Medical School, University of Copenhagen, January 1965. He is one of the
pioneers in research on endocrine disrupting effects, notably on male fertility.
From March 1990 Professor and Chairman, University Department of Growth and
Reproduction, GR, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen. He was Chairman of WHO Steering
Committee Impact of the Environment on Reproductive Health.
He has been awarded Novo Nordisk Research Prize (1993) and Andrea Prader Prize
(European Society for Paediatric Endocrinology) (1996).
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Dr. Charles TYLER
He is a reproductive physiologist and ecotoxicologist, specialising in studies on endocrine
disruption in fish. He was part of the team who first discovered that sewage effluent discharges
into UK rivers were oestrogenic to fish in the 1980s. This work was part of his post-doctoral
studies. His programmes of research range from addressing the molecular mechanisms controlling
sexual development to assessing the reproductive concequences of exposure to endocrine
disrupting chemicals in fish. He has strong research links with both UK government agencies
(including the Environment Agency and the DETR) and various Industries. He has active research
links on endocrine disruption with research groups in other European countries, including France,
Germany and Norway, and in the US. He frequently acts as a consultant on the issues of endocrine
disruption to the government and industry. He has published 50 full research papers and has
recently been appointed to the position of full professor in Biological Sciences at Exeter
University, UK.
Dr. Nicolas OLEA
Graduated in 1981 from National University of Granada, School of Medical Sciences, Doctor in
Medicine. From 1996-Present, Professor, Department of Radiology, University of Granada
School of Medicine, Granada, Spain.
Was awarded grants for following studies:
September 1, 1999 to August 31 2000; Regional Government of Andalusia: Development of a
test for thyroid function and endocrine disruption. Direct cost $50.000
March 1, 1999 to April 31 2002 European Union, Increasing incidence of human male
reproductive health disorders in relation to environmental effects on growth- and sex steroidinduced alterations in programmed development. Direct cost $2.449.915
Spanish representative in the Expert Committee for Endocrine Disrupters. DGXI, EU, Brussels
1998-2000. Spanish representative in the Expert Committee for Testing Endocrine Disrupters
(EDTA). OECD, Paris, 1998-2000.
Dr. Elizabeth SALTER
First degree in clinical physiology, specialising in endocrinology followed by 6 years of marine
research. Second degree in international environmental law. Having worked for WWF for four
years, now responsible for the WWF European Toxics Programme, specialising in endocrine
disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and persistent organic pollutants (POPs).
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Dr. Rob TAALMAN
Rob Taalman of Dutch nationality holds a PhD from the Medical Faculty of the University of
Nijmegen in the Netherlands. He specialised in human genetics and studied specific inherited
diseases in children.
He is now on secondment from Shell Chemicals to CEFIC. He is Director of CEFIC’s Longrange Research Initiative (LRI) and CEFIC’s Endocrine Modulator Steering Group (EMSG), a
post he has held since September 1st 1997.
Prior to his appointment, Rob Taalman was Toxicology Advisor of Shell Chemicals
International, a position he held for 6 years.
Before joining Shell, Rob Taalman worked for almost 4 years within the National Institute of
Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) in the Netherlands as a Toxicology Advisor and
Researcher. His formative years post university were spent as Study Director in the contract
research laboratories of Litton Bionetics Inc. (US) and Hazleton Biotechnologies (NL).
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