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The NIEHS Superfund Research Program (SRP) is hosting a Risk e-Learning Webinar series focused on the use of innovative, human-relevant technologies to better characterize the biological effects of chemicals. 

New technologies, including advanced cell-based assays, organoids, and computational modeling approaches, are expanding the toolbox researchers use to answer previously difficult or unanswerable questions. Presenters will discuss how these emerging methodologies are being applied to uncover mechanistic insights, improve predictive accuracy for human health outcomes, and refine risk assessment frameworks.

Session I – Multi-Cellular Systems, Modeling, and Simulations to Advance Environmental Health Research
Friday, January 9, 2026, 1:00 - 3:00 PM ET

The first session will feature four speakers discussing how cell-based systems, modeling, and simulations can improve researchers' understanding of complex environmental health topics. Applications of these tools include improving our understanding of how chemicals interact inside the body, their toxicity, how they may cause disease, and more. Speakers include:

  • Margaret Ochocinska, Ph.D., National Institutes of Health: Dr. Ochocinska will introduce the Complement-Animal Research In Experimentation (Complement-ARIE) Program, which aims to accelerate the development, standardization, validation and use of human-based New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) that more accurately model human biology to transform basic, translational, and clinical sciences. Complement-ARIE has already awarded $1M in a crowdsourcing prize competition, launched a $7M NAMs Reduction to Practice Challenge, and published funding opportunities to create Technology Development Centers, a NAMs Data Hub and Coordinating Center, and the Validation and Qualification Network. The Validation and Qualification Network (VQN) will be a Public Private Partnership (PPP) with the Foundation for NIH (FNIH) involving scientists at multiple levels of government (including funding agencies and regulators),  industry, nongovernmental organizations, and academic institutions to accelerate adoption and implementation of NAMs in both research and regulatory contexts. The goal of the VQN is to build upon existing U.S. and international efforts to provide more cost-effective, rapid, human-relevant NAMs for drug discovery, chemical safety testing, and wider biomedical research approaches to bring NAMs products to market.
  • Brian Johnson, Ph.D., Michigan State University: Dr. Johnson will discuss combinatorial new approach methods to elucidate mechanisms of human thyroid hormone disruption by legacy and emerging chemical contaminants.
  • Rebecca Fry, Ph.D., University of North Carolina: The talk will highlight how UNC Chapel Hill Superfund researchers are deploying new approach methodologies (NAMs) to improve chemical toxicity prediction and reduce reliance on traditional animal models. It will showcase UNC SRP innovations in computational toxicology, exposure science, and mechanistic assays, demonstrating how these tools accelerate risk prediction of hazardous chemicals.
  • Jon Chorover, Ph.D., University of Arizona: Legacy mine tailings sites, which are prevalent throughout the western U.S., are potential sources for ingestion exposure to airborne arsenic-bearing particulate matter (mt-PM). Dr. Chorover’s team postulated that the bioaccessibility of arsenic in mt-PM is related to its molecular speciation, which in turn, depends on weathering environment. In this webinar, Dr. Chorover discuss how we tested this hypothesis by sampling 12 sites in the western U.S. and subjecting the samples to a set of molecular spectroscopy analyses coupled to in vitro bioassays.
  • Moderator: Chris Duncan, Ph.D., NIEHS

Session II – 3D Models and Technologies to Illuminate Biological Effects of Contaminants
Friday, January 16, 2026, 12:00 - 2:00 PM ET

The second session will feature three speakers discussing 3D models and other technologies to better understand how contaminants like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and endocrine-disrupting compounds affect DNA, placental function, and asthma. Speakers include:

  • Stephen Ferguson, Ph.D., NIEHS Division of Translational Toxicology: This presentation will describe active NIEHS/DTT research to develop and innovatively apply microphysiological systems (MPS) to understand PFAS bioaccumulation and toxicity potential in context with human drugs. Research highlights from a recent publication in Environmental Science & Technology (PMID: 39893674) will be provided along with future considerations and strategies for modeling toxicological phenotypes and interindividual susceptibility with MPS
  • Susan Tilton, Ph.D., Oregon State University: Critical data gaps exist regarding toxicity of the broader class of structurally diverse, substituted polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and the ways in which PAHs contribute to toxicity of mixtures for effective evaluation of human health risk. Dr. Tilton will discuss how the development and application of 3D lung cell models can be used to understand risk for toxicity after inhalation exposure in susceptible individuals, as well as efforts to develop a dosimetry model to improve extrapolation and risk assessment from in vitro systems.
  • Arum Han, Ph.D., Texas A&M University: Dr. Han will introduce microphysiological systems (MPS) of the feto-maternal interface that mimics the structure and functions of the multi-cellular layers in these fetal membrane and placental interfaces, and show how they can be used to provide better mechanistic understanding on how environmental toxicants may contribute to preterm birth risk. He will also discuss the latest engineering advancements in making these MPS models into higher throughput more automatically operated models to increase the usability and adoptability of these new approach methods (NAMs).
  • Moderator: Thad Schug, Ph.D., NIEHS

Session III – Innovative Methods for Understanding Chemical Toxicity
Wednesday, January 21, 2026, 1:00 - 3:00 PM ET

The third session will feature three speakers discussing innovative approaches to understanding the dose at which chemicals trigger biological responses and the mechanisms behind them. Speakers include:

  • Ana Maretti Garcia, Ph.D., University of Southern California: In this presentation, Dr. Maretti Garcia will discuss recent advances using advanced 3D human liver spheroid models to characterize the biological effects of multiple per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) on human liver metabolism and their contribution to metabolic dysfunction–associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). She will highlight key findings recently published in Environment International (PMID: 40914107) and Communications Medicine (PMID: 41162609), focusing on molecular and cellular mechanisms identified through the integration of in vitro models with human-relevant data.
  • Guru Ulaganathan, Duke University: Developmental neurotoxicity (DNT) is challenging to study due to the intricacy of human brain development, the dependence on the timing of exposure, and the emergence of effects long after the initial exposure. This presentation will discuss advances in human iPSC modeling using three-dimensional brain models that can be leveraged to mechanistically investigate neurodevelopmental perturbations at both a molecular and functional level.
  • Weihsueh A. Chiu, Ph.D., Texas A&M University: Chemical contamination after disasters presents a plethora of challenges to risk assessment and risk management. Dr. Chiu will present several case studies from the Texas A&M Superfund Research Center of new approach methodologies (NAMs) to address this challenge by rapidly characterizing hazards and risks from individual chemicals and environmental mixtures. Lessons learned from these studies inform a general strategy for NAMs-based solutions for next generation risk assessment. 
  • Moderator: Natalia Garcia-Reyero Vinas, U.S. EPA