Gradient Senior Scientists

Marc A. Nascarella, Ph.D., CPH

Dr. Nascarella is a toxicologist specializing in comprehensive chemical evaluation, dose-response assessment, and environmental epidemiological investigations.  Dr. Nascarella is also a board certified public health professional and serves as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Massachusetts School of Public Health where he lectures and conducts research in the areas of dose-response assessment and occupational/environmental health.  Dr. Nascarella is an author on over 50 scientific publications and presentations, and has previously held positions as an active-duty military member, an academic research scientist, and a government toxicologist.

Representative Projects

Medical Device Client:  Led project evaluating the human health risk of a medical device.  Evaluated epidemiology and preclinical in vivo and in vitro toxicology data to prepare documents used in an FDA regulatory filing.

Pharmaceutical Company: Evaluated epidemiology literature on potential use (market penetration) of a drug that is a candidate for EMEA approval in the European Union.

Medical Device Client: Led project evaluating the human health risk of a novel nano-enabled antimicrobial coating used in an implantable medical device.  Evaluated analytical chemistry and toxicology data to prepare documents used in an FDA regulatory filing.

International Electronics Manufacturers:  Evaluated the potential for human health risks based on acute, chronic, and developmental exposure to volatile chemicals. Developed acute, chronic, and developmental health based inhalation criteria as well as a carcinogenic unit risk values and the associated NSRLs to protect against adverse effects of exposure. These analyses were used by the company to evaluate the safety of various consumer products.

International Energy Services Company:  Conducted a comprehensive hazard ranking system for chemicals and products and assisted in the development of a global hazard evaluation system for scoring and ranking its products according to green chemistry principles.  Reviewed the underlying components of the hazard evaluation system and compared it with other existing international chemical hazard evaluation and product scoring/ranking systems.

Manufactured Gas Plants: Contributed to an expert report that assessed the state of toxicological knowledge of contaminants released at former MGP sites.

Trade Organization: Assisted in determination of whether linear low-dose extrapolation can be used for non-cancer endpoints.

Regulatory Comments: Provided technical support to a consortium evaluating the technical validity of US EPA’s proposed cancer slope factor (CSF) for inorganic arsenic.

Law Firms: Critically reviewed epidemiology literature of radium and osteosarcoma risk. Determined whether osteosarcoma rates were higher than expected in certain sub-populations of residents in distinct geographic regions of a southern state; Critically reviewed chemistry, epidemiology, and toxicology literature on perchlorate exposure and health effects; Critically reviewed the epidemiology literature on the role of ionizing radiation in cancer risk in patients receiving radiation therapy, in nuclear energy facility workers, and in patients receiving thorotrast treatments.



Selected Publications

Calabrese, EJ; Stanek, EJ (III); Nascarella, MA. 2011. "Evidence for hormesis in mutagenicity dose-response relationships." Mutat. Res. doi: 10.1016/j.mrgentox.2011.04.006.

Calabrese, EJ; Hoffmann, GR; Stanek, EJ III; Nascarella, MA. 2010. "Hormesis in high-throughput screening of antibacterial compounds in E coli." Hum. Exp. Toxicol. 297: 667-677.

Goodman, JE; Nascarella, MA; Valberg, PA. 2009. "Ionizing radiation: A risk factor for mesothelioma ." Cancer Causes Control 20: 1237-1254.

Nascarella, MA; Calabrese, EJ. 2009. "The relationship between the IC50, toxic threshold, and the magnitude of stimulatory response in biphasic (hormetic) dose-responses." Regul. Toxicol. Pharmacol. 54: 229-233.

Nascarella, MA; Stanek, EJ III; Hoffmann, GR; Calabrese, EJ. 2009. "Quantification of hormesis in anticancer-agent dose-responses." Dose Response 7: 160-171.




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