RIFM Honors Robert “Bob” Safford with Excellence in Science Award

During RIFM's 58th Annual Meeting, held September 12, 2024, Robert James Safford, BSc, MPhil, was honored with the 2024 RIFM Board of Directors Excellence in Science Award. After receiving the award, Safford gave a brief presentation on some of his collaborative work with RIFM that defined how scientists help to ensure the safe enjoyment of fragrance without risk for skin sensitization.

Safford began his career in 1970 at Unilever, where he championed fragrance safety for over forty years. At Unilever, he progressed from an assistant to a Senior Toxicology Risk Assessor, evaluating ingredients used in various consumer goods, including foods, personal care products, and home care products.

In 2012, Safford became a toxicology consultant and the managing director of Bob Safford Consultancy Limited.

“Over the last decade, Bob collaborated with RIFM on the investigation and development of numerous novel risk assessment techniques,” explained RIFM President Anne Marie Api, Ph.D., Fellow ATS. “His many contributions include critical work on the Dermal Sensitization Threshold (DST) and the dermal sensitization Quantitative Risk Assessment (QRA) for fragrance ingredients, as well as probabilistic modeling techniques for consumer exposure, and he was the lead author of several ground-breaking peer-reviewed research papers that continue to inform how we evaluate fragrance safety.”

Robert Weinstein, Ph.D., the Board Chair of RIFM, announced during the Annual Meeting that, beginning next year, the Excellence in Science Award will be renamed the Dr. Robert H. Bedoukian Excellence in Science Award to honor the life and legacy of the late Bedoukian Research’s Dr. Bedoukian and his tireless commitment to human health and environmental protection and to RIFM’s mission to build international trust in and acceptance of the safe use of fragrance materials.

The Dr. Robert H. Bedoukian Excellence in Science Award

The Dr. Robert H. Bedoukian Excellence in Science Award is intended to provide timely recognition of original and significant contributions to fragrance science and may not be presented every year. A selection subcommittee appointed by the Board of Directors reviews all nominated candidates and recommends a finalist to the full Board of Directors for approval.