16 



Mr. Waxman. Dr. Mele, we are also pleased that you are able to 

 be here. And although you didn't present a formal statement, could 

 you tell us about your training, education, and emplojrment back- 

 ground? 



Mr. Mele. Yes. First, Mr. Chairman, let me thank you and the 

 members of the committee for allowing me to be here today. I re- 

 ceived my Ph.D. degree in experimental psychology in 1980 from 

 Adelphi University, in the field of behavioral pharmacology. That 

 work focused on the effects of amphetamine on complex behavior 

 in rats. 



Following that work, I spent 2 years at the University of Wiscon- 

 sin at Madison, funded under a National Institute of Health re- 

 search service award, where I studied the behavioral toxicology of 

 lead and polychlorinated biphenyls in non-human primates. 



Following that, I went to the Philip Morris Research Center, to 

 work with Dr. DeNoble. That was in November of 1981, and I was 

 there until its closing in April of 1984. 



Since leaving Philip Morris, I have been with the Department of 

 Defense, at the Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute, in 

 Bethesda, studying effects of ionizing radiation and radioprotectant 

 compounds on the behavior of laboratory animals. 



Mr. Waxman. Thank you very much, Dr. Mele. 



Dr. DeNoble, I assume that you are aware that a month ago Dr. 

 David Kessler, the Commissioner of the Food and Drug Adminis- 

 tration, testified before this subcommittee about nicotine manipula- 

 tion. He referred to your article on nicotine self-administration in 

 rats and to the fact that Philip Morris ordered the article with- 

 drawn after it had been accepted for publication. Subsequent to his 

 testimony, I released your article. 



Then just 2 weeks ago, the executives from the largest tobacco 

 companies appeared before this subcommittee and testified that 

 nicotine is not addictive. For example, William Campbell, the presi- 

 dent and CEO of Philip Morris, U.S.A., testified, and I quote, "Cig- 

 arette smoking is not addictive. Nicotine contributes to the taste of 

 cigarettes and the pleasure of smoking." 



Now, you ran a laboratory that was charged with identifying the 

 essential characteristics of nicotine so that a S3Tithetic form of nico- 

 tine could be developed, yet you didn't test for the taste of nicotine. 

 Did you ever hear of any serious discussion to the effect that Philip 

 Morris leaves nicotine in cigarettes for taste? 



Mr. DeNoble. No, sir, none at all. 



Mr. Waxman. As I understand it, you were charged with develop- 

 ing a rat model to test nicotine analogues for the effects on the 

 brain in an effort to develop a nicotine substitute. Did anyone at 

 Philip Morris ever suggest to you during the course of your ana- 

 logue work that you should develop an analogue that would dupli- 

 cate the taste of nicotine? 



Mr. DeNoble. No, not at all. 



Mr. Waxman. Are you aware of anyone else doing work on this 

 at Philip Morris? 



Mr. DeNoble. Our laboratory didn't do any work in taste. That 

 could have been done in the other areas of the Research Center, 

 but I don't have any knowledge of that. 



