Charlie Tyson was one of the foremost leaders in the development of in vitro methods of studying the toxicity and metabolism of drugs. He made critical research contributions that established a solid foundation from which this in vitro research has emerged into a totally separate discipline area of toxicology. In his 28 years at SRI, Charlie served as the principal investigator on major multi-year research grants and contracts totaling greater than $30 million.
Charlie Tyson joined SRI in 1977 as a senior biochemist, working on projects in toxicology and pharmacology with James Dilley, Chozo Mitoma, and others. But his vision was to develop in vitro models for toxicity studies, using human tissues to avoid some of the problems involved in use of animals to predict human effects. In 1981, this task began when he was awarded several new grants and contracts from NIH and EPA to develop in vitro models of toxicity and drug metabolism.
Carol Green joined him at that time, she says, to figure out how Tyson, with little in vitro models experience and no NIH track record, had just won three large grants. What she learned was that Charlie Tyson had great persistence, intelligence, drive, and the ability to inspire others. The group’s work under Charlie Tyson’s direction led to in vitro assays that are now routinely used by pharmaceutical companies to select new drug candidates.
Charlie Tyson served as the Associate Director of the Toxicology Laboratory from 1990-1998, bringing in many new clients and large multidisciplinary contracts that were critical to the laboratory’s success. One major success was a long-shot contract for NCI toxicology studies, which has now been renewed for the third time and continues to provide major funding for the Biosciences Division.
In 1997, Charlie began his "semi-retirement" phase. He had recently won a new research grant to expand his work on a lung toxicity model and his team was making excellent progress on an in vitro liver model that could be used to identify drugs with a potential for serious side-effects before treating patients. In 1999, he was awarded the SRI Fellowship for his research accomplishments. He used the Fellowship funds to write new proposals and was successful again. He hired staff and began what continues today as the Advanced In Vitro Toxicology Program. Charlie Tyson was greatly respected by his many colleagues, both at SRI and around the world.