Irving Selikoff

Dr. Irving J. Selikoff co-founded a cure for tuberculosis and is largely responsible for the regulation of asbestos. In the 1960's he documented asbestos related diseases amongst industrial workers, his research pressured OSHA to limit workplace exposure. He found that workers exposed to asbestos often had scarred lung tissue 30 years after exposure. For many years, he was the director of Mount Sinai's Environmental and Occupational Health Division which was renamed the "Irving J. Selikoff Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine". He received awards from the American Public Health Association, the New York Academy of Sciences, and the American Cancer Society. He was also awarded the Albert Lasker Award for Clinical Medical Research in 1955. Even at the age of 75, he continued to research the effects of asbestos. He died May 20, 1992 at the age of 77. .