June Bradlaw, research biologist for the FDA's in vitro unit; at 71
WASHINGTON - June Bradlaw, a research biologist with the US Food and Drug Administration's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition whose work led to test-tube alternatives to using animals in laboratory testing, died of a stroke May 30 at William W. Backus Hospital in Norwich, Conn. She was 71.
Dr. Bradlaw joined the FDA in 1965 and spent her career working in genetic toxicology and in vitro toxicology research.
One of her specialties was the use of cultured mammalian cells to study the effects of carcinogenic agents.
Her work in the field of in vitro toxicology, particularly in the evaluation of products for public safety, made her internationally known. Since 1975, she had been an advocate of the use of cell culture systems, which eliminated much of the need for live animals in lab toxicology tests.
She became the leader of the FDA's in vitro toxicology group in 1985 and, eight years later, was cochairman and coauthor of a study by the Interagency Regulatory Alternatives Group on eye irritation testing. Her work led to the first international evaluations comparing in vitro testing with testing on animals.
As a result of the study, the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Methods was founded in 1997 to evaluate alternative forms of toxicology testing.
After retiring from the FDA in 1999, Dr. Bradlaw was chairman of the science advisory board of the International Foundation for Ethical Research and an adviser to the National Anti-Vivisection Society.
In recent years, she was a judge of the
Eight days before she died, Dr. Bradlaw was among the first five members of the DNA EpiCenter's Barbara McClintock Class of Scholars in New London, Conn.
She leaves her companion of seven years, Fred McCann of Rockville, Md.
