LAS VEGAS - September 21, 2009 - Shawn Gerstenberger, executive associate dean for the UNLV School of Community Health Sciences, was appointed by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to the board of directors of the Mickey Leland National Urban Air Toxics Research Center.

The center was authorized by the U.S. Congress and formed in 1991 as a result of the Clean Air Act of 1990. It conducts and supports research that furthers the scientific understanding of the health effects of toxic air pollutants. Projects carried out and sponsored by the center assist governmental officials charged with forming environmental regulations.

Members of the board of directors serve six-year terms and are selected based on their experience in the fields of public health, environmental pollution and medicine. The U.S. Senate Majority Leader, Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the United States appoint the center's nine-member board.

Gerstenberger, who also serves as professor and chair of the UNLV department of environmental and occupational health, is a renowned researcher in the areas of environmental toxicology and health. He co-directs the Child Lead Poisoning Prevention Program in Southern Nevada, a partnership with the local health district to identify and eliminate sources of harmful lead exposure in the local community. He also investigates the ecological impact of environmental toxins and invasive species in Lakes Mead and Mohave.

The Mickey Leland National Urban Air Toxics Research Center is located in the Texas Medical Center in Houston. For more information, please visit www.sph.uth.tmc.edu/mleland.