Interplay between science
and policy is more vigorous in the public arena now then ever
before. Impressive advance in analytical methodologies
including application of informatics, has empowered the domains of
science in establishing regulatory policy framework and large
federally funded programs.
Dr. Rao's expertise
involves application of vigorous scientific methodologies to
support establishment of national guidelines for public health,
environment protection, and more recently in the homeland security
and Bioterrorism preparedness programs.
EPA-AAAS Science and
Policy Fellowship
The prestigious American
Association for the Advancement of Science (AASS) Environmental
Policy Fellowship Program, offered an outstanding opportunity for a
bench-trained scientist like him to study and understand the
interplay of science-policy in the establishment of federal
programs. He was selected as one among 10 scientists in
1992 to be on the fellowship.
Dr. Rao was a resident
AAAS fellow at the EPA's Office of Air, which during 1992 was at
the forefront developing national policy guidelines for toxic
pollutants under the Clean Air Act Amendments. A major
concern for the Office was to integrate other EPA existing
provisions in the overall guidelines for toxic air
pollutants.
As part of this crucial
initiative, Dr. Rao developed a novel approach to integrate
non-cancer toxicity of air pollutants as a criteria for assessment
of health risk assessment. The work performed by Dr.
Rao was adjudged by the EPA and a AAAS panel as the "Best in the
AAAS Class of 1992" and received the 1993 AAAS Barnard Scholarship
Award. The work was published in a noted professional
journal.
EPA cites his work as one
of the success stories in the AAAS-EPA collaboration in the
application of novel scientific methodologies to frame new policy
and regulatory guidelines for protection of public health and
environment.
U.S. National Academy
of Sciences YIP Fellowship Program
The U.S. National Academy of Sciences Young Investigators Program
(YIP) provided another opportunity for Dr. Rao to further his
career in the application of science in the public policy, albeit
through international collaboration.
Dr. Rao was one among the
10 scientists selected by the prestigious U.S. National Academy of
Science under the YIP for a two-year (1993-95) collaborative
program with a team of scientist from the Czech Republic and the
Republic of Slovakia. The public health problems stemming from
environmental pollution in the central European nationals was the
focus of the two-year program.
As a YIP fellow, Dr. Rao
performed a broad investigation of the highly polluted
industrial regions in these countries, and reviewed the ongoing
public health projects in the northwestern Bohemia, Moravia,
Bratislava, and central Slovakia.
As a result, he
established collaborative project with the Institute for Clinical
and Preventive Medicine (Bratislava, Republic of Slovakia) to
further investigate the preliminary findings of neurobehavioral
adverse effects of lead on children in Bratislava. The
clinical investigations performed in collaboration with the
scientists in Slovakia found adverse effects on segments of
children exposed to automobile emissions in highly polluted areas
of Bratislava.
Results of these
investigations were considered key evidence in the establishment of
public health regulations in the Bratislava metro
area.
World Bank India Project selected Dr. Rao as part of a US
team to evaluate the capabilities of pollution control laboratories
in India and recommend options for improvement.
World Bank India
Project
Environmental pollution
problems of large urban centers in India are serious enough to be
considered as national security threats. There is a growing
concern in the country on the public health due to exposure to
toxic pollutants and chemical carcinogens in the
environment.
As a result, Government of
India, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) began negotiations
with the World Bank in early 1990 to improve the existing
capabilities of the national network of pollution control
laboratories. The technical assessment associated with the
Bank's decision required a detailed investigation of the existing
capabilities among a group of "early adopter" state laboratories
identified by India's CPCB.
World Bank invited teams
of international experts to conduct field investigations in the
early adopter states of Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharastra and
Tamil Nadu and recommend technical options for capability
improvement.
Dr. Rao's team performed
field investigation over a one-year period on the current
capabilities and options for improvement, involving changes to
business process and additional functional
capabilities.
Written several technical
status papers for the federal and state governments on risk
assessment, risk management, dioxin toxicity, Class C carcinogens,
drug interactions, cancer risk characterization, chemical mixture
effects in experimental carcinogenesis, toxicity of heavy metals
such as Chromium, Mercury and Arsenic.
Member of the Expert Panel on Toxicology and Hazard Assessment of
Chemical Mixtures. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease
Registry (ATSDR), Center for Diseases Control and Prevention,
Atlanta, GA.
