About Us Test
About Us
Mission
The Marilyn Brachman Hoffman (MBH) Foundation strives to understand the fundamental causes of a type of acquired sensitivity to chemicals, mold, and other toxicants, known commonly as multiple chemical sensitivities (MCS). By supplying critical funding for research, we hope to uncover ways to prevent MCS and help those suffering from it to find effective treatment that improves their quality of life. The MBH Foundation also makes grants to select organizations focused on human services and the arts, causes that Marilyn Hoffman supported in her lifetime.
About the Founder
As a post-graduate student, Marilyn Brachman Hoffman lived in a below-grade apartment, where she was exposed to a high level of carbon monoxide and other environmental toxicants. The experience triggered her lifelong sensitivity to chemicals. As a result of her affliction, she dedicated herself to research on the causes of multiple chemical sensitivities and to raising awareness of this life-altering condition. Throughout her life, she was a fierce advocate for more stringent public health protections from toxicants in the workplace and home environments.
Following her death in 2013, Marilyn dedicated a significant portion of her remaining assets to the MBH Foundation to enhance education and public awareness about multiple chemical sensitivities. For more information about Marilyn, read her biography.
Board of Directors
Tom Cantrill
Partner with Hunton Andrews & Kurth
Mary Jalonick
Former President and CEO of The Dallas Foundation
Nancy Jones
Former President and CEO of the North Texas Community Foundation
Dennis Optiz
Former Founder & Managing Partner of Rylander, Clay & Opitz, LLP (now merged with and part of BKD, LLC.)
Scientific Advisory Board
Howard Hu, chair of the MBH Foundation’s Scientific Advisory Board, is a physician-scientist with an M.D. from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine; and an M.P.H. and Sc.D. (epidemiology) from the Harvard School of Public Health. Dr. Hu has been a tenured professor, associate physician, director, department chair, and dean in positions at Harvard (1990-2006), the University of Michigan (2006-2012), and the University of Toronto (2012-2018). He is currently a professor and the Flora L. Thornton Chair of the Department of Preventive Medicine in the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California. Read his biography.
Carlos Jaén is a professor and chair of the Department of Family and Community Medicine at UT Health, San Antonio. Dr. Jaén received his M.D. from the State University of New York at Buffalo and completed his residency at University Hospital of Cleveland. He focuses primarily on improving preventive care to prevent complications from chronic diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease. His interest in preventive care extends to building and studying high-performance primary care offices. Read his biography.
Dori Germolec received her B.A. and M.A. degrees from Duke University and her Ph.D. in toxicology from North Carolina State University. From 1995 to 2006, she served as the group leader of the Environmental Immunology Laboratory at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, examining the role of growth-promoting cytokines in inflammation and cancer. Since 2006, she has worked full-time within the National Toxicology Program (NTP), where she currently serves as the Deputy Branch Chief for Toxicology. As the Immunology discipline lead, she is responsible for the NTP’s efforts to validate test methods and to assess the potential for chemicals to modulate immune responses in humans and rodent models. Read her biography.
Bill Hayward is the founder of Hayward Score as well as the CEO and Chief Sustainability Officer of Hayward Lumber, a 95-year-old California lumber and building material supplier. In 2008, Bill, his wife, and their newborn daughter became sick in their “dream home.” Since then, Bill has been focused on the intersection of building science and medical science, developing strategies to transform home construction so that homes will no longer degrade human health.