Welcome to the Superfund Basic Research and Training Program (SRP) Science Digest!

Below you'll find a compilation of SRP research, which provides practical, scientific solutions to protect health, the environment, and communities. For more information about the program, visit the SRP website.

You also can view past issues of the Science Digest.

Director's Letter

This year, NIEHS cooperated with a diverse group of environmental and health scientists, public health professionals, community and patient advocates, and the public to develop the 2025-2029 NIEHS Strategic Plan. This framework emphasizes key themes that drive the entire institute and provides an important roadmap to integrating the knowledge we gain through environmental health research into disease prevention strategies and interventions to promote healthier lives for all people.

Features

Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) SRP Center discovered that mice exposed to nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) had specific changes to their DNA. Led by 2022 Wetterhahn Award Winner Amanda Armijo, Ph.D., the team revealed that NDMA caused a “sawtooth” mutation pattern in DNA from liver and lung cells. According to Armijo, scientists could use this pattern to identify if someone had been exposed to NDMA before the person experiences adverse health effects.

Science Leadership

Heather Henry, Ph.D., recently attended the Remediation Technology & Emerging Contaminants Summit. The event featured presentations by Nirupam Aich, Ph.D., a researcher from the University of Nebraska, and Chris Olivares, Ph.D., a former trainee from the University of Arizona. Additionally, Rebecca Dickman, Ph.D., a former trainee from the State University of New York at Buffalo, showcased a new remediation technology, while Justin Stackey, a trainee from the University of Rhode Island, presented a poster

Hot Off the Press

Wang and Kay in front of PFAS destruction unit

Water Treatment Technology Aims to Destroy PFAS On-site: Enspired Solutions, a woman-owned environmental remediation company, received an NIEHS Superfund Research Program (SRP) small business innovation research grant to develop a technology to destroy PFAS in water.

Technology Profile

Researchers at the Texas A&M University (TAMU) Superfund Research Program (SRP) Center created a new method to predict chemical points of departure (PODs), the lowest dose of a chemical that triggers a biological response. A two-stage machine learning-based approach first identifies the structural, physical, chemical, and toxicological properties of a chemical using information from a variety of databases. The second stage uses those properties and data on health effects to predict the chemical’s biological activity.

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

Webcasts

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Superfund Research Program
Science Digest

Balancing Scientific Excellence with Research Relevance

Welcome to the Superfund Basic Research and Training Program (SRP) Science Digest!

Director's Letter

Features

Science Leadership

Hot Off the Press

Technology Profile

Past Issues

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

Superfund Research Program Science Digest Archive