Meet the Team

Jose later received his Ph.D. from the Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering in 2014 under the direction of Drs. Harvey Jeffries and Ken Sexton at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His dissertation focused on the development of an electrostatic air sampler as an alternative method for in vitro exposure studies at the air-liquid interface (ALI). Here, his toxicology and mammalian cell culture skills were developed under the mentorship of Dr. Ilona Jaspers. Jose continued his training as an ORISE Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the US EPA Inhalation Toxicology Facility Branch. For 5 years he conducted in vitro exposure studies to air pollutant mixtures and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) under the direction of Drs. Mark Higuchi, Ian Gilmour and David DeMarini using both mammalian and bacterial cell cultures. He is a member of the Society of Toxicology (SOT), the North Carolina SOT regional chapter, the Environmental Mutagenesis and Genomics Society (EMGS), and the Genetics and Environmental Mutagenesis Society (GEMS). Dr. Zavala’s expertise in air-liquid interface in vitro exposure systems will guide MedTec in launching a new line of in vitro exposure products for studying the toxicity of airborne contaminants. Follow Jose on LinkedIn, here!