Penn Almanac * April 23, 2019 * vol 65 * Issue 32

The Division of Chemical Toxicology of the American Chemical Society (ACS) has given Trevor Penning, the Thelma Brown and Henry Charles Molinoff Professor of Pharmacology and the director of the Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology, the 2019 Founders’ Award. Dr. Penning will be honored at the ACS annual meeting in San Diego in August with a symposium in his honor.
He is also a professor of biochemistry and biophysics and of obstetrics/gynecology. Dr. Penning has performed research in the areas of chemical toxicology and environmental science with over 500 publications. He studies the role of aldo-keto reductases (AKR) in hormone biosynthesis as it relates to prostate and breast cancer, as well as the development of inhibitors for AKR enzymes as chemical probes and therapeutics.
Dr. Penning is cited for providing outstanding and sustained service to the ACS for his many professional volunteer positions, such as chair of chemical toxicology division, a member of the executive committee and an ACS symposium organizer and regular speaker. He has also been a member of the Cancer Etiology Study Section at the National Institutes of Health and a senior editor for Cancer Research for Population and Prevention Science, as well as a member of two working groups at the International Agency for Research on Cancer, which re-assessed the cancer-causing properties of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and diesel exhaust.