About Ralph

Biography

I received my PhD in Psychobiology from Rutgers University in 1973 and postdoctoral training in the Duke University Neurosciences Program and the Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development. I joined the Duke University Medical School faculty in 1976 with appointments in Psychiatry and Psychology where I conducted research on the causes and consequences of age-associated changes in brain chemistry and the impact of such changes on female reproductive physiology. I joined the National Health and Ecological Effects Research Laboratory, (NHEERL), US. EPA in 1984. In 1995, I was appointed Chief of the Endocrinology Branch in the Reproductive Toxicology Division. At NHEERL, I directed research on the effect of environmental chemicals on neuroendocrine function, research which influenced regulatory decisions of the EPA during the course of my career at NHEERL. I participated in a number of Science Advisory Panels that addressed critical issues associated with the regulation of environmental chemicals and played a significant role in the development, validation and implementation of many Tier 1 studies included in EPA’s Endocrine Disruptor Screening and Testing Program. I served as co-chair of the International ISLI/HESI Agricultural Chemical Safety Assessment Committee (Life Sciences) which re-evaluated the regulatory tests required for protecting human health. I contributed to the development of new OECD guidelines for multigenerational studies and served on expert workgroups and panels for the World Health Organization’s International Program on Chemical Safety, and the World Trade Organization addressing issues related to the impact of chemical exposure on human health.

Selected Publications

Cooper RL (2009). Current developments in reproductive toxicity testing of pesticides. Reprod Toxicol 28:180-187.
Cooper RL, Laws SC, Das PC, Narotsky MG, Goldman JM, Tyrey EL and Stoker TE (2007). Atrazine and reproductive function: mode and mechanism of action studies. Birth Defects Res B Dev Reprod Toxicol 80: 98-112.
Goldman JM, Murr AS and Cooper RL (2007). The rodent estrous cycle: characterization of vaginal cytology and its utility in toxicological studies. Birth Defects Res B Dev Reprod Toxicol 80: 84-97.
Laws SC, Hotchkiss M, Ferrell J, Jayaraman S, Mills L, Modic W, Tinfo N, Fraites M, Stoker T and Cooper RL (2009). Chlorotriazine herbicides and metabolites activate an ACTH-dependent release of corticosterone in male Wistar rats. Toxicol Sci 112:78-87.
Stoker TE, Parks LG, Gray LE and Cooper RL (2000). Endocrine-disrupting chemicals: prepubertal exposures and effects on sexual maturation and thyroid function in the male rat. A focus on the EDSTAC recommendations. Crit Rev Toxicol 30:197-252.
Cooper RL and Zorrilla LM (2018)The Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Axis as a Target for Environmental Chemicals. In: McQueen CA., Comprehensive Toxicology, Third Edition. Vol. 4, pp230-275. Oxford: Elsevier Ltd.