Vicki Stone, Ph.D., is Professor of Toxicology at the Applied Research Centre for Health, Environment and Society, Napier University, Edinburgh, UK, Director of the Biomedicine and Sport Science Research Group at Napier University and a founding member of SnIRC (Safety of nanomaterials Interdisciplinary Research Centre). Together with Rob Aitken at the Institute of Occupational Medicine, Dr. Stone has established SAFENANO, a facility to support the risk, exposure and hazard needs of nanotechnology industries. She has been a recipient of a number of awards including the British Toxicology Society Young Investigator Award and the University of Leeds Centenary Medal. Dr. Stone has provided expert advice on particle toxicology to the WHO and to the Royal Society/Royal Academy of Engineering. She is also a member of the Department of Health’s Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollution (COMEAP), as well as being an executive member of the International Council on Nanotechnology (ICON).

Dr. Stone completed her PhD studies in 1994 at the University of Birmingham investigating the impact of oxidative stress on liver function and bile production. In 1995 she worked at the Pasteur Institute in Lille, where she established a primary liver culture to screen the toxicity of fibrate drugs. In 1996 she moved to Napier University, Edinburgh where she worked on a project to investigate the toxicity of ultrafine or nanoparticles. Dr. Stone is editor-in-chief of the journal Nanotoxicology as well as assistant editor of Particle and Fibre Toxicology.

Dr. Stone’s current research projects are funded by The Colt Foundation, NERC, EPSRC, DEFRA/CSL and Unilever. All projects investigate the toxicity of different nanoparticles, with the aim to investigate the physicochemical characteristics that drive toxicity, and/or the mechanism of toxicity. Each study differs with respect to the target of toxicity ranging from the human lung, immune system and liver, to effects of invertebrates and fish. Dr. Stone has published over 55 peer reviewed papers, including journals such as Nature and Nature Nanotechnology.

Representative publications:

Poland CA, Duffin R, Kinloch I, Maynard A, Wallace WA, Seaton A, Stone V, Brown S, Macnee W, Donaldson K. Carbon nanotubes introduced into the abdominal cavity of mice show asbestos-like pathogenicity in a pilot study. Nat Nanotechnol. 2008 3, 423-428.

Donaldson K, Borm PJ, Oberdorster G, Pinkerton KE, Stone V, Tran CL. Concordance between in vitro and in vivo dosimetry in the proinflammatory effects of low-toxicity, low-solubility particles: the key role of the proximal alveolar region. Inhal Toxicol. 2008 20, 53-62.

Foucaud L, Wilson MR, Brown DM, Stone V. Measurement of reactive species production by nanoparticles prepared in biologically relevant media. Toxicol Lett. 2007 174, 1-9.

Vicki Stone

Representative Publications