California Gov. Jerry Brown has appointed Mariana Stern, PhD, USC professor of research preventive medicine and urology at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, as one of California’s expert scientists on the Carcinogen Identification Committee. She took her oath of office on Nov. 1.

Stern joins two other Keck School faculty who have served on the 10-person committee since 1993: Joseph Landolph, PhD, associate professor of molecular microbiology and immunology, and Thomas Mack, MD, MPH, professor of preventive medicine.

Mariana Stern, left, takes her oath of office to serve on the state’s Carcinogen Identification Committee. (Photo/Courtesy Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment)

The committee comprises expert scientists from epidemiology, oncology, pathology, medicine, public health, statistics, biology, toxicology and related fields to identify cancer-causing chemicals. They review and discuss hazard identification documents, evidence and public comments, then vote on whether to add a chemical to the Proposition 65 list, a database of information about chemicals known to cause cancer or birth defects or other reproductive harm. The scientists may also suggest and prioritize chemicals for future review.

Prior to joining the Keck School in 2001, Stern was a postdoctoral fellow at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. She is a member of the American Association for Cancer Research and earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in cancer biology from the University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center, and a Master of Science degree in biology from the University of Buenos Aires School of Science.

— Larissa Puro