Grantley Charles, Ph.D.

Superfund Basic Research Program

While working towards his Ph.D. in Kathleen Shiverick's laboratory at the University of Florida, Grantley Charles' research focused on the mechanisms of action of endocrine-active agents. He has continued this work as a Research Specialist with the Dow Chemical Company. His research evaluates:

• The evaluation of in vitro and in vivo screening and testing methods for the detection of endocrine-active agents, with a view to the assessment of their utility, robustness, and limitations.
• The interactions of endocrine-active chemicals in multi-component mixtures to better characterize and understand the interactions of endocrine-active chemicals in mixtures.

Dr. Charles' research seeks to improve statistical and experimental methods for assessing interactions in mixtures of increasing complexity. The research directly addresses whether or not the uncertainty factor approach to risk assessment is likely to be protective for chemical mixtures, and also results in a customized, novel approach that is uniquely suited to address the impact of low level exposure to chemical mixtures in the environment.

Dr. Charles states that the SBRP-funded research he participated in at the University of Florida introduced him to the concept of the multidisciplinary approach to the research and provided him with an excellent foundation for his current position as a Research Specialist at Dow Chemical Company. The research conducted by the Dow scientists often requires expertise in several disciplines to address complex mechanistic questions. Such interdisciplinary approaches bring together different perspectives on a given research problem, which might not be taken in consideration b a single individual with specific expertise.

Dr. Charles' experience with the University of Florida SBRP prepared him for the process of working with experts from varying disciplines sitting and communicating effectively to formulate strategies to develop appropriate study designs. In his work with endocrine mixtures, he is part of a team of researchers with backgrounds in molecular, genetic and reproductive toxicology along with expertise in biostatistics to better conceptualize the issues as well as design the experiments and analyze and interpret the resulting data.