DAVID O. CARPENTER is a public health physician. His research focuses on human diseases resulting from exposure to environmental contaminants. Following positions at the National Institute of Mental Health and the Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute, Dr. Carpenter joined the New York State Department of Health as Director of the Wadsworth Center for Laboratories and Research. He helped create and became the first Dean of the School of Public Health, a collaborative endeavor of the University at Albany and the New York State Department of Health. Upon stepping down as Dean, Dr. Carpenter founded the Institute for Health and the Environment. In 2011, the Institute was named a Collaborating Centre of the World Health Organization in Environmental Health.