What's New

Superfund Basic Research Program

June 19, 2008

UA: SBRP and U.S. Binational Center Coordinate Promotora Training

The UA SBRP and the Binational Center teams helped coordinate the "Fundamentals of Toxicology" workshop for the Community Assist of Southern Arizona and Tucson Unified School District promotoras (community health advocates) on April 19, 2008.

The workshop's objective was to increase the promotoras' level of understanding in the fields of toxicology and epidemiology from both Mexican and American academic perspectives. The half day training session was taught by Drs. A. Jay Gandolfi (toxicology) and Mercedes Meza (epidemiology); Ms. Rocio Estrella served as the event translator.

As part of the training, participants received copies of the presentations and take-home materials to help reinforce what they learned. Most importantly, the promotoras interacted with a number of UA faculty and staff, so as to encourage communication and expand their professional information resources.

This new and unique training program demonstrates UA's Binational Center and the SBRP's goal to bridge the gap between the scientists and the public.

June 19, 2008

UA's Superfund and Binational Center Program Coordinators Launch CampCIENCIAS, June 16-20, 2008

The University of Arizona's SBRP and Binational Center is hosting the first CampCIENCIAS (translated, Camp Science) for 20 high school students living on the United States' side of the Mexico border. The concept for this program began with three Latina scientists/program coordinators from UA: Denise Moreno (SBRP & Binational Center), Rocio Estrella (Binational Center), and Monica Ramirez (Binational Center & SBRP).

The students' week-long CampCIENCIAS agenda will include several science-learning activities, in which students will gain skills in science, technology, engineering, and math through hands-on experiences and mentoring sessions with UA undergraduate students. CampCIENCIAS participants were selected as a result of personal essays, which focused on their lives and the reasons they wanted to attend Camp Science.

Ramirez, Moreno, and Estrella first presented CampCIENCIAS to their mentor and Binational and SBRP program director, Dr. A. Jay Gandolfi. He whole-heartedly supports the trio's goals and aspirations for their community education efforts. With this vote of confidence, the three then applied and received a grant from the UA Technology and Research Initiative Funds (TRIF) via the Water Sustainability Program. The grant will cover the tuition, room and board for the 20 students.

June 19, 2008

University of Arizona's SBRP Hosts International Conference on Mine Tailings

The University of Arizona, College of Pharmacy's Superfund Basic Research Program (UA SBRP) hosted an international workshop to address mine tailings on June 5-6, 2008. The workshop's 48 global experts converged to discuss health impacts and novel approaches to handle problems related to mine tailings in arid environments.

According to the UA SBRP, inactive and abandoned mine tailing disposal sites are prevalent in arid and semiarid regions of the world. Monica Ramirez, a member of the workshop's steering committee and coordinator for the UA SBRP Research Translation Core, commented that these "mine tailing sites can have profound health and environmental consequences."

NIEHS (a major sponsor to the workshop) funds the UA SBRP. The school's SBRP goal is to "investigate the hazardous waste and public health issues currently confronting the Southwestern region of the United States, specifically arsenic, chlorinated hydrocarbon, and mine tailings contamination."

Workshop discussions will help prepare a collaborative white paper journal article with recommendations and results from the meeting.

May 9, 2008

UK Students Shine at the Society of Toxicology Conference

Zuzana Majkova and Elizabeth (Beth) Oesterling represented the University of Kentucky's SBRP Labs at the 2008 Society of Toxicology (SOT) Conference in Seattle, WA.  Both were awarded travel awards for their research in the laboratory of Dr. Bernhard Hennig.

SOT recognized Zuzana's research efforts for her novel studies in examining the role of caveolae in PCB-mediated toxicity.  At the conference, Zuzana presented her poster, "Endothelial Cell Caveolae are Involved in Activation of Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Pathway by Coplanar Polychlorinated Biphenyls."  Her research demonstrates that certain diet-derived compounds can down-regulate caveolin-1 levels and caveolae function.  She is currently exploring the possibility of using a diet enriched in dietary n-3 PUFAs to modulate endothelial caveolae and possibly prevent cardiovascular toxicity.  This research can potentially help in uncovering dietary therapies for PCB-exposed populations, and help develop primary prevention strategies of diseases associated with a variety of environmental toxic insults.

UK Students Zuzana Majkova and Beth Oesterling

Presently, Zuzana is finishing her Certificate in Environmental Systems, which will allow her to approach environmental problems from a broader perspective.  She will graduate for UK in the spring of 2009 with a Ph.D. in Toxicology.

Beth received a travel award from SOT for her research on the interaction of flavonoids with hydrocarbons.  At the Seattle conference, she presented her poster, "Benzo[a]pyrene-Induced Vascular Endothelial Adhesion Molecule Expression Can Be Disrupted By Selective Flavonoid Treatment."  Her research focuses on the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P), and its role in endothelial cell dysfunction in the vasculature.

Beth's research also supports the objective of the UK-SBRP, which is the incorporation between nutrition and exposure to environmental toxins that lead to disease.  She is investigating the role of flavonoids, dietary polyphenolic compounds enriched in fruits and vegetables, in their protection against B[a]P induced vascular diseases; thus far, she notes that select flavonoids will protect against B[a]P induced ICAM-1 expression.  Nutrition may provide the most sensible means to develop intervention and prevention strategies of diseases associated with many environmental toxic insults, and can also be used as models for pharmacological interventions.

Another research project that Beth is working on is a collaborative project between Dr. Hennig's laboratory (biomedical science specialization lab) and the laboratory of Dr. Bachas (chemical and physical sciences).  Jointly, the labs investigate the toxicity of manufactured alumina nanoparticles to the vascular endothelium.  Nanoparticles are a billion dollar commercial industry, but, in the recent past, numerous concerns have been raised as to whether these materials are safe.  With help of Dr. Chopra (Dr. Bachas' lab), Beth demonstrates that alumina nanoparticles, which comprise 20% of the nanoparticles produced worldwide, can increase the expression of a number of cellular adhesion molecules and increase the activation of the endothelium in an in vitro system.  The collaborative nature of the University of Kentucky SBRP grant continues to allow these labs to investigate multiple sides of this complicated problem.

Presently, Beth is finishing her Ph.D. in Toxicology and will graduate this summer.  She hopes to work for the EPA in North Carolina with focuses on the application of research and risk assessment.

May 1, 2008

Shortage of Medical Scientists Fosters Innovative UCSD Summer Course

La Jolla, CA — This summer the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) will host an intensive three week course in Systems Pharmacology and Translational Biology.  The course will run from July 7-25, and will be open to no more than 20 participants, including advanced graduate students, post-docs, recent Ph.D. recipients working in academia, and biotech/pharmaceutical industry employees. 

UCSD in conjunction with sponsors, NIGMS and NIMH, and in cooperation with NIH, created this program in response to the noted shortage of medical scientist with training in organ system physiology and pharmacology, and the analysis of organ system function in drug development.  This three-week course will focus, specifically, on the central nervous system, cardiovascular system, and its autonomic regulation, in addition to recent techniques for imaging organ function.

By the end of the session, the participating institutions would like to have participants familiar with specific target phenotypes and processes; give students a training experience with a variety of mouse imaging techniques; train participants in assessing phenotype on genetically altered animals; familiarize students with the use of animals and organ systems in the development of new drugs; teach students responsible and ethical conduct of research and the use of animal subjects; and provide opportunities to analyze and present lab findings (stressing quantitative methods and basic pharmacology principles). 

Applications are due June 1st.  Participants are responsible for room, board, and travel; however, UCSD is arranging for campus housing availability for participants, $29 per day.  Specific application directions and materials can be accessed on the UCSD Webpage (http://pharmacology.ucsd.edu/Other_Academic_Programs/summer.asp) .   All fees are due prior to the start of class, and participants must have valid health insurance.

Note, this course is not intended to provide re-training for those in the job market, but, rather, it is intended for the applicant categories already mentioned.

April 23, 2008

UK-SBRP Researchers Receive Great Teacher Awards

Dr. Lisa Gaetke and Dr. D.B. Bhattacharyya

Since1961, the University of Kentucky (UK) Alumni Association (AA) Great Teacher Award (http://www.uky.edu/Research/Superfund/News/GreatTeacherAwards02_08.html) is the oldest, continuous award recognizing professors at UK, with nominations being made by the students.  For 2008, two of the six honored university-wide faculty members were SBRP-faculty, Drs. D.B. Bhattacharyya and Lisa Gaetke.

Dr. Bhattacharyya is a University Alumni Professor and the Director of Graduate Studies for Chemical and Materials Engineering. His research and publications focus on membrane separation/functionalization, tunable membranes and biocatalysis, and dechlorination of hazardous organics by nano-structured metals. His work with the UK-SBRP seeks to develop and implement versatile technologies for the effective dechlorination of hazardous organics utilizing both oxidative and reductive pathways.

Dr. Lisa Gaetke is Associate Professor in the School for Environmental and Human Sciences. She conducts research and is widely published on nutrition, medical nutrition therapy, and community nutrition as it relates to environmental contaminants. As Outreach Core Leader, Dr. Gaetke directs UK-SBRP's Superfund Community Action through Nutrition (SCAN) program and helps impacted communities and health care providers utilize nutritional interventions to improve health outcomes following exposure to environmental contaminants.

April 17, 2008

Society of Toxicology Honors Dean E. Carter, Former UA-SBRP Director

Former University of Arizona (UA) SBRP Director, Dr. Dean E. Carter, received the 2008 Society of Toxicology’s (SOT) Metals Specialty Career Achievement Award at the SOT’s annual conference in Seattle, Washington (March 16-20).   Dr. Carter served as a researcher, mentor, and leader in the field of metal toxicology with special emphasis on arsenic. 

When Dr. Carter worked with the UA-SBRP, he helped develop many successful multi-disciplinary approaches to Superfund issues.  Dr. Carter, in collaboration with Dr. A. Jay Gandolfi, developed the U.S.-Mexico Binational Center for Environmental Studies (BCES) program; the two teamed up with a third colleague, Dr. M. Cebrian-Garcia (Mexico).  For two decades Dr. Carter helped with work related to binational health issues.  He is also credited with the NIEHS’ strong support for the BCES program.  Dr. Carter emphasized that health on the borders is environmental, i.e., it is “a long-term problem that requires a long-term solution.”

In addition to these accomplishments, Dr. Carter is recognized as a major influence to young and advancing scientists.  Moreover, Dr. Carter’s influence goes beyond the sphere of academia (educating, training, and mentoring students), as he revolutionized regulatory and risk assessment decisions related to metal toxicology.

April 9, 2008

EcoArray, Inc. Fosters the Development of a Powerful Fish Gene Database

Flow diagram of microarray system

EcoArray, Inc. combines the expert construction of arrays along with fish gene data, so as to develop products that will test the response of fish genes to environmental stimuli.  Superfund Basic Research Program (SBRP) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR), Phases I and II grants helped EcoArray develop, validate, and market large oligonucleotide-based glass microarrays for fathead minnows and largemouth bass, which, in turn, fostered the development of a powerful fish gene database.  (Note, the launch of the chips developed in compliance with the SBRP SBIR grant, and other ‘complementary products,’ were launched beginning in 2006.) 

Building upon EcoArray’s notable progress in the realm of microassay development, they received the EPA-SBIR Phase I Grant to continue research to identify the gene response (in minnows) following exposure to carbon nanotubes.   This research will then be added to the fish gene database and analyzed to determine the affected [metabolic] pathways, which will help identify the “genetic fingerprints,” and help validate the expediency and affordability of using high density fathead microarrays for compound screening and use in determining environmental toxicity.

EcoArray’s ultimate goal is to determine the negative and/or adverse effect(s) that nanomaterials could have on human health by using the fish gene database as a tool to interpret human health issues.