Michael Madden
Dr. Mike Madden is a retired research biologist who worked at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in Chapel Hill, NC. His focus was on biological responses and health effects in people exposed to ambient air pollution, including particulate matter (PM), ozone, and combustion emissions. His work also involved identifying potentially sensitive and susceptible populations employing the use of an array of approaches from studying the responses of cells to in vitro pollutant exposures to controlled and field studies of exposed subjects. In 2003, he was awarded an EPA Gold Medal (the highest honor the Agency bestows on employees for environmental improvement and public service) as part of a team for their research on ambient airborne PM toxicity. As an officer in the American Federation of Government Employees Union, he promoted the welfare of EPA bargaining unit employees. Mike still holds adjunct faculty positions at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (UNC) in the Schools of Medicine and Public Health. He has mentored dozens of undergraduate, graduate, and medical students, and
postdoctoral fellows in the early stages of their research careers. Mike served as an Associate Editor for Inhalation Toxicology 2004-2015, and on the Editorial staff of the Journal of Breath Research until 2021.
Mike was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree (1977) from Manhattan College, starting his research career examining killifish ecology in the Bronx wetlands, and later oil pollutant pharmacokinetics in oysters in Georgia marshes leading to a Master of Science degree (1980) at the University of Georgia. At Manhattan College he was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Xi societies.. Mike received a Ph.D. in toxicology from UNC-Chapel Hill in 1986. He served as a Councilor and President of the Specialty Sections of the Society of Toxicology. He has been active in Sigma Xi serving as President and Vice-President of the UNC-Chapel Hill Chapter of Sigma Xi, Chairman of the Nominations Committee, and Associate Director of the Southeast Region. For community outreach, Mike has coached Special Olympians in his county year round (swimming, soccer, basketball, softball, cycling, track) for the past 25 years, and has served as a Board Director of the Arc of the Triangle including President for 2 years.