The Center for Comparative Toxicology (CCT) was established at the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory as the Center for Membrane Toxicity Studies in 1985.  The purpose of this Center is to involve a group of internationally recognized investigators, who are primarily experts in mechanisms of epithelial transport, to study the biological effects of environmental pollutants on cell and membrane transport functions. The primary emphasis of this research effort has been to elucidate the mechanisms of toxicity of environmental pollutants at the cellular and molecular level, using novel aquatic models developed at this laboratory.

The focus of the research programs of the Center has broadened in the last several years from the more narrow objective of identifying the molecular targets for the effects of heavy metals (or metal compounds) on cell functions, to include the effects of a broader range of environmental toxicants (including marine toxins) and the mechanisms by which the organism takes up and eliminates a wide range of xenobiotics and environmental pollutants. However, the concept that a “membrane lesion” accounts for the cellular toxicity of many environmental toxins still remains as a paradigm.

Each July the Center sponsors the Environmental Health Sciences Symposium at the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory. For more information on the symposium, including information on how to participate, please go to the EHS Symposium's website.

The Center for Comparative Toxicology at the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory is a National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Marine and Freshwater Biomedical Sciences Center supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) / National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Grant Number P30 ES003828. Additional support is provided the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory and Yale University.

For more information about the Center, including highlights, research reports by Center investigators, and a list of Center-supported seminars and symposia, please download the annual reports below or see our recent newsletter.

Newsletters

December 2008 (pdf, 592 KB)

Annual Reports

21st Annual Report of Progress, 2006 (pdf, 4MB)

22nd Annual Report of Progress, 2007 (pdf, 3.1MB)