As a high school student in Edinboro, Thomas Murosky thought his interest in natural medicines and human health would lead him to nutritional studies. But after earning a bachelor’s degree in industrial biochemistry at Edinboro University, he attended an open house at Penn State’s Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences and talked to faculty about the toxicology program, which was then still in the planning stages. He was drawn to the program for advanced studies, he says, by his long-standing interest in the history of medicines.

“For instance, I’d learned that aspirin is derived from the bark of various willow trees,” he says. “I was interested in how the chemicals within these plants interact with the body—which is the essence of toxicology—and I like the challenge involved in this work.

“When you’re working with DNA and proteins, it’s a challenge to determine what the results of a particular experiment mean. The fun part is looking at the data and trying to relate the results back to the original system. For example, when we’re looking at how a particular receptor affects the liver tissue in a culture, we then have to determine what drugs or poisons will affect the full, intact organism—whether it’s a human or an animal.”

After four years of majoring in chemistry, Matt Molusky stumbled across the toxicology major during his senior year. While it’s too late to switch, he’s devoting as many of his electives as possible to the subject and considering graduate study in a field that he’s discovered a coincidental affinity for.

“I was about to go on a co-op, and I wanted undergraduate research experience,” he says. “So I chose to do some work in Dr. (Gary) Perdew’s lab, and it turned out to be something I really like.

“Toxicology is a lot broader than what I thought. On one side, you deal with organs and kinetic studies. On the other side is molecular toxicology, which is almost like biochemistry: enzymes,proteins, and how they react. I didn’t see that before and I really like it. I’ve been working there for a year since last spring. I like what happens at the molecular level; when it’s at a smaller level, I can see the interactions and get the connections. When we go to larger, whole-body issues with kidney failure and such, it’s not as interesting. Toxicology lets you get to the heart of the matter and know exactly what’s going on. You don’t just say ‘the kidney failed’; you say ‘this is why this kidney failed.’”