Dr. Mari Golub is currently Adjunct Professor in the Department of Environmental Toxicology. She was previously associated with the Department of Internal Medicine from 1980 until April of this year. Dr. Golub received her Ph.D. in Psychopharmacology from the University of Michigan in 1970 and subsequently took further training and a M.S. degree at UC Davis in Pharmacology and Toxicology, and became a Diplomate in the American Board of Toxicology in 1986.
Dr. Golub has received over $7,600,000 in major grant awards, and was Principal Investigator on six of seven awards. She has published 138 papers in refereed journals (not including abstracts) and is senior author of 92 papers. She has given dozens of invited addresses, served on 17 graduate student committees, and taught or lectured in at least 20 different courses in a variety of departments.
Dr. Golub is a biomedical researcher specializing in the effects of trace elements on the developing fetus. Her research findings have important applications with regard to the understanding of both the beneficial and toxic effects of varying levels of trace elements on neurological and behavioral development in human and non-human organisms.
Dr. Golub has done detailed work on the effects of zinc deficiency on neurobehavioral development using a non-human primate model. This model has served as an effective bridge in connecting the extensive work on laboratory rodents to deficiency syndromes and nutritional supplementation in human infants and children. She is considered by her peers to be a leading expert in the toxic effects of aluminum exposure on the developing brain and immune system.
Since the mid-90s, Dr. Golub’s research has turned toward the effects of trace elements on brain and pubertal mechanisms in adolescent development. She extended her biomedical studies to exposures to potential estrogenic effects of pesticides in current use.
In addition, Dr. Golub has played an important recent role in the establishment of the UC Davis Mouse Biology Program, which includes a physical facility on campus and fosters a considerable amount of collaborative work among campus researchers. She is Director of the Murine Behavior Assessment Laboratory at that facility.
Dr. Golub’s service record on campus is impressive and includes service on the Joint Personnel Committee which reviews personnel actions for Academic Federation members, and on the Committee on Educational Policy of the School of Medicine during their curriculum reorganization. She has been on the Graduate Planning Council, the Admissions Committee for the Nutrition Graduate Group, and the Support and Welfare Subcommittee of the Graduate Council. In the past year she served represented the Academic Federation on the Undergraduate Scholars, Honors, and Prizes Committee of the Academic Senate.