Master of Toxicology for Human Risk Assessment at Johns Hopkins University

The Master of Science (MS) in Toxicology for Human Risk Assessment is the only program of its kind in the United States. Our innovative master's program equips graduates with the knowledge and skills needed to begin or advance their career as professionals in the evolving field of human health and environmental risk assessment. 

The MS program consists of:

• Coursework in the fundamental concepts and testing approaches used in classic risk assessment processes, as well as those used in the new paradigm for toxicity in the 21st Century, and
• A seven- to twelve-month internship with a government agency, non-governmental organization, industry, or private sector group.

Students enrolled in the program may also complete the Certificate in Risk Sciences and Public Policy.

Program Director:
Joseph Bressler, PhD

Upon completion of the program, students will be able to:

• Explain and interpret epidemiologic studies to support risk assessment and decision making;
• Elaborate commonly used public health measures, such as relative risk, attributable risk and relative hazards, and select appropriate statistical methods for estimating such measures in the presence of covariates;
• Interpret descriptive and inferential statistics resulting from data analysis and draw relevant conclusions;
• Interpret studies that use bioinformatic techniques;
• Evaluate and interpret traditional toxicological studies;
• Elaborate novel methodological approaches in toxicology;
• Apply and integrate epidemiological, traditional and novel toxicological studies to support risk assessment;
• Define the major environmental agents (i.e., environmental chemical, biological, and physical that cause adverse effects on human health) and their sources, natural and anthropomorphic;
• Discuss the transport and fate of major environmental agents in the environment, and identify the carriers or vectors (air, water, soil, and food) that promote the transfer of these agents from various environments (e.g. occupational setting) to the human;
• Describe the toxicokinetics of major environmental agents including routes of entry, metabolism, storage, and excretion;
• Describe the toxicodynamics of major environmental agents, including toxicological pathways and the mechanisms by which agents exert adverse health effects, and the use of in vitro models for predicting the magnitude of adverse effects;
• Describe approaches for in vitro to in vivo modeling of toxicokinetics;
• Summarize areas of emerging science for risk assessment (personalized toxicology, chemical mixture toxicology, systems toxicology, multi-natured stressor mixtures);
• Use systematic approaches for combining and evaluating toxicokinetic and toxicodynamic evidence;
• Evaluate evidence-based toxicology studies and studies conducted using other systematic approaches;
• Utilize exposure and epidemiologic and traditional and novel toxicological data to conduct a risk assessment;
• Communicate and translate science to general audiences and policymakers;
• Describe key risk management practices in the US and internationally;
• Explain the application of evidence used to make environmental health decisions, setting of standards and guidance;
• Summarize the function of federal agencies in public health practices and decision making.