Dr. Olden will address the topic "Breakthrough Environmental Health Issues at the National Level."

Kenneth Olden, Ph.D. was named as the third director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the second director of the National Toxicology Program (NTP) on June 18, 1991, by Dr. Louis Sullivan, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Dr. Olden is a cell biologist and biochemist by training, and has been active in cancer research for almost three decades. He was director of the Howard University Cancer Center and professor and chair of the Department of Oncology at Howard University Medical School (1985-1991), Washington, D.C., before coming to NIEHS. He joined Howard in 1979 as associate director for research after a stint at the National Institute of Health, first as a senior staff fellow, second as an expert, then as a research biologist in the Division of Cancer Biology and Diagnosis, National Cancer Institute.

The NIEHS/NTP director has served on the editorial boards of cancer and cell biology journals, is a member of number of professional societies, and was named by President Bush to the National Cancer Advisory Board. He has authored and co-authored more than 200 publications. He published two of the "One Hundred Most Cited" papers in 1978-1979, and one on the subject of cancer cell biology that is now deemed a "Citation Classic."