2004 Merit Award Winner

Congratulations to Dr. Iain Purchase, winner of the 2004 IUTOX Merit Award.

Professor Iain F.H. Purchase, Wilmslow, United Kingdom, was given the prestigious IUTOX Merit Award during the opening ceremony of the International Congress of Toxicology in Tampere, Finland last July. This award was presented to him for his international contributions to the development of toxicology.

Iain Purchase was trained as a veterinarian in South Africa and received his PhD at the University of Cambridge, UK in 1964. His main affiliation during his long and outstanding professional career was with the ICI/Zeneca Central Toxicology Laboratory in Macclesfield, where he was Director 1981-98. Since 1998 he has been a visiting professor at the University of Manchester.

Professor Purchase has published over 170 papers in fields relating to toxicology and ethics. His investigations have been principally related to the identification of chemical carcinogens and the assessment of risk of exposures to them. He has especially been engaged in deploying in vitro methods based on the concern about ethical matters related to the use of animals.

Iain Purchase has been a member of several national and international scientific advisory committees relating to research, carcinogens in foods and animal procedures. He has received numerous scientific and honorary awards, including the Order of the British Empire in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 1998. Iain Purchase is also recognized for being chairman of the British Toxicology Society and a very successful President of IUTOX during 1995-98.

Previous IUTOX Award Winners:

2001 IUTOX Merit Award: José Castro

1998 IUTOX Merit Award: Seymour Friess