Her appearance is sponsored by the Kirkland Project for the Study of Gender, Society and Culture as part of its series, The Battle Against Breast Cancer: Who's in Charge."
Soto is an associate professor in the department of anatomy and cell biology at Tufts University School of Medicine. She is widely published on cancer cells and control of cell proliferation, including The Society of Cells: Cancer and the Control of Cell Proliferation ( Bios Publishing Co., 11/98). Dr. Soto and Dr. C. Sonnenschein have been researching the mechanism of estrogen action on cell proliferation. Their research on environmental estrogens stems from the accidental finding that plasticware in which human serum was stored shed an estrogen-mimicking chemical. They've found that toiletries, plastics and spermicides may release estrogenic compounds and hypothesize that these estrogens may act cumulatively as reproductive disruptors, and may also increase the incidence of breast cancer.
Soto is a member of the Environmental Protection Agency, Endocrine Disruptor Screening and Testing Advisory Committee and a member of the National Academy of Science, National Research Council. Soto also serves on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service National Action Plan on Breast Cancer panel, appointed by Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala to improve the diagnostic, treatment and prevention of breast cancer. She also serves on the National Action Plan on Breast Cancer committee.
Soto has testified before the Massachusetts and Louisiana legislatures and the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce. She has been featured in documentaries by the Public Television Service of Japan, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the BBC and CBS "Eye to Eye with Connie Chung" in a documentary on estrogens released from plastic into food.
She earned a bachelor's degree in biology from Colegio Elizalde, Buenos Aires, Argentina and M.D. from the University of Buenos Aires.
