Lorenzo Tomatis

Lorenzo (Renzo) Tomatis (Sassoferrato, Italy, 2 January 1929 - Lyon, France, 21 September 2007) was an Italian physician and experimental oncologist. He is best remembered as the Director from 1982 until 1993 of the prestigious International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon - (IARC), which evaluates and provides guidelines on the effects of chemical or physical carcinogens. During his tenure at IARC, Tomatis led the effort to create the IARC Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risk to Humans (the so-called “orange books”), a critical tool for the primary prevention of cancer, and IARC's most famous product.

With over 350 publications and 10 books, since the 1950s Tomatis was ahead of his time—developing carcinogenesis bioassays which recognized trans-placental and trans-generational carcinogenesis, thus highlighting the vulnerabilities of early-life exposure. Tomatis was a leader in the difficult task of translating animal experimental findings to human risk (reflected in the IARC monographs, which assess animal, molecular biology and human evidence on an agent). He used these many qualifications get enacted strategies for the primary prevention of cancer—that is, reduced exposure to carcinogens.

In addition Tomatis was committed to the sociology of science, especially the causes of the 'brain drain' from ' Italy.

In summary, 'Renzo' Tomatis was one of the world's most distinguished experts on carcinogenesis and its primary prevention.

Tomatis was born in Sassoferrato, Italy, and began his professional career upon graduating from the University of Turin with a degree in medicine in 1953 and in hygiene and preventive medicine in 1955. After a brief stint as a medical officer with a regiment of Alpine troops, he obtained a degree in occupational health in 1957—his interest in the role of chemicals as potential causes of cancer having become evident.

In 1959, Tomatis joined Phillipe Shubik's team at the Division of Oncology in the Chicago Medical School, with a reputation in the field of chemical carcinogenesis. "According to Shubik: "He was a careful and thoughtful investigator who was able to think of probable advances before many others. He organized a tissue culture laboratory in my department before this field had achieved its present importance."

By 1965 Tomatis was studying neonatal responses to carcinogen exposure, an important question that aided his 1967 recruitment to the World Health Organization's (WHO) newly established cancer agency, IARC in Lyon. There he formed the Unit of Chemical Carcinogenesis, concentrated on planning and implementing primary prevention of cancer through the identification of carcinogens. To date some 100 Monographs covering well over 1,000 agents have provided objective expert evaluation of the totality of evidence on the carcinogenicity of agents, mixtures, and their exposure circumstances.

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