Dr. Paul Tchounwou is an internationally recognized scholar and researcher whose work at Jackson State University has national implications.
Tchounwou currently serves as director of the National Institutes of Health-funded Research Centers at Minority Institutions Center for Environmental Health. He’s also the principal investigator and director of the Department of Defense-funded Center of Excellence in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Education at JSU.
“JSU conducts research to address environmental health and health disparity issues in our state and across the U.S.,” says Tchounwou.
The JSU presidential distinguished professor was selected by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Board as the 2013 AAAS Mentor Award recipient. The award honors individuals who demonstrate extraordinary leadership to increase the participation of underrepresented groups in science and engineering fields and careers.
“Over the course of his illustrious career as a teacher, scientist and administrator, Tchounwou has earned recognition for his work in recruiting, training and mentoring students, post-doctoral research associates and junior faculty throughout the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) pipeline,” Abdul K. Mohamed, dean emeritus of Jackson State’s College of Science, Engineering & Technology, wrote in nominating Tchounwou for the award.
Tchounwou is editor-in-chief of two international journals including the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (MPDI, Basel, Switzerland) and Environmental Toxicology (John Wiley & Sons, New York, USA). He is author of 173 peer-reviewed publications, and 429 presentations at national and international conferences.
The RCMI Center for Environmental Health in 2013 was awarded a $10.7 million grant from the NIH-National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities. The five-year grant will be used to enhance the center’s biomedical infrastructure to support research that addresses environmental and public health issues impacting vulnerable and underserved communities.
Tchounwou says the mission is to continue to develop an innovative biomedical research program in which faculty become highly competitive and successful in winning mainstream NIH, National Science Foundation and other federal grants.