March 2018: News and Updates
A monthly newsletter from the Center of Human Health and the Environment
Upcoming Events
3/15/18 - Brain & Behavior Night
Guest: Jeff Lichtman, Neuroscientist, Harvard University
NC Museum of Natural Sciences, NRC Building
6:00 p - 8:30 pm
March 2018 - Calendar. Isolated on White Background. 3D Illustration
NIH R25 Grant Proposal Funded
The project entitled "Environmental Health Research Experiences for Teachers in High-Poverty Schools: A Professional Development Program" provides an innovative professional development (PD) program in environmental health research experiences   for high-school science teachers in NC. In a collaborative effort, scientists affiliated with the Center for Human Health and Environment (CHHE) and the Comparative Medicine Institute (CMI) at NC State University will provide 40 teachers with unique authentic lab experiences. The 8-week summer research PD program aims at enhancing teachers’ environmental health literacy and research skills that will support novel science teaching strategies. By exposing students to novel instructional strategies, they will acquire not just STEM specialized knowledge, but develop STEM motivation and domain identification. This is particularly important for science, given the fact that students from high-poverty schools are economically disadvantaged and may comprise a large proportion of individuals from minority groups that are underrepresented in STEM fields.

Systems Technology Core
Did you know that the Systems Technology Core has expanded its capabilities? We now have the ability to perform cutting-edge metabolomics and elemental analysis (such as metallomics) as well as small molecules such as pesticides. If you are interested, contact Jeffrey Enders . More information is on the CHHE systems technology core page . Remember you can use your CHHE Seed money in the cores.
Welcome New Members
John J. Bang, Dept. of Environmental, Earth and Geospatial Sciences, NCCU
Karen Bullock, Dept. of Social Work, NCSU
Jodi K. Hall, Dept. of Social Work, NCSU
Jennifer A. Luff, Dept. of Population Health and Pathobiology, NCSU
Kurt C. Marsden, Dept. of Biological Sciences, NCSU
Sandra Mort, NC Dept. of Environmental Quality
Reade Roberts, Dept. of Biological Sciences, NCSU
Zachary C. DeVries, Dept. of Entomology and Plant Pathology, NCSU
Theresa C. Guillette, Dept. of Biological Sciences, NCSU
Nadine Kotlarz, Dept. of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, NCSU
Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals Interest Group

An enthusiastic crowd of about 175 enjoyed sessions on EDCs and brain, EDCs and Reproduction/Mixtures and EDCs and metabolic disruption. The highlight of the meeting was a session and panel discussion on Gen x and other perfluorinated chemicals in North Carolina.
There was also a poster session with 34 posters to help get everyone to get acquainted. EDC-NC is open to anyone interested in endocrine disruptor research in North Carolina. It functions via an oversight committee, a google interest group and in person meetings.
Interest Groups News
The Environmental Epigenetics Interest Group
Leaders: David Aylor and Mike Cowley
A reminder that the CHHE epigenetics interest group will meet at 3pm in the Toxicology conference room on 3/1. Betka (Rissman lab) will discuss her work on paternal exposures, with an introduction from Marine (Cowley lab) on mechanisms of paternal inheritance. 

We would also like to discuss whether there is potential interest in an Epigenetics Core as part of the CHHE, and if so what types of service would be of benefit to you. We look forward to hearing your thoughts!

Pulmonary Interest Group
Leaders: Kym Gowdy and Jane Hoppin
Next meeting will be April 20 at NCCU - more details to come.
Neuroscience Group
Our symposium proposal entitled "Sex-specific outcomes of environmental chemical exposures" was accepted for the 2018 meeting of the Organization for the Study of Sex Differences. Heather Patisaul will give one of the talks and John Meitzen will chair the session. Other speakers include Heather Stapleton (Duke), Emily Barrett (Brown University) and Staci Bilbo (Harvard) all of whom have active collaborations with CHHE members. 

Zebrafish Group
Leader: Heather Shive
ZIG is planning an informal work-in-progress meeting for Spring 2018. This meeting will provide the opportunity for students and post-docs to present their ongoing projects and get feedback from the group. The date for this meeting is not yet determined.
Kudos
Congratulations Margareta Thomson and Reade Roberts for receivinga NIH grant "Environmental Health Research Experiences for Teachers in High-Poverty Schools"
1/1/2018 to 12/31/2022 ($500,000)

Congratulations to Carolyn Mattingly for being appointed interim department head of Biological Sciences.

Way to go Kylie Rock ( Heather Patisaul's student) for your paper " Serotonin changes linked to flame retardants in placenta" making NIH's Environmental Factor extramural paper of the
month!

Kudos to David Reif for being a moderator and member of the planning committee for the National Academy of Sciences workshop" Informing Environmental Health Decisions Through Data Integration " . 

We want your good news! Please send it to Jackie Broughton or Jane Hoppin
COEC Update
Help CHHE track all of our community engagement activities. These can take all different forms, from print materials, to speaking events, classroom activities, and more. Many of us and our labs are doing various forms of engagement with non-academic audiences, including Cooperative Extension Agents, educators, health professionals, government officials, community groups, and more. 

If you are doing something like this, please let Katy May (link to email) know or use this form to track it 

If you want help doing community engaged activities, reach out to Katy May for help. This is what the COEC is all about.
Career Development
All investigators but particularly Early Stage Investigators are encouraged to work with the   Career Development Core i n development of their grants. Talk to   Nanette Nascone-Yoder   t o set up a chalk talk to help organize ideas for your next proposa l.
Reminders 
Remember to cite our CHHE grant P30ES025128 in publications if CHHE has provided you services, facility core use, seed/pilot project funds etc. NIH tracks this as an important CHHE metric. 
CHHE Resources and Facilities Page for NIH Grants is available on the CHHE  website.
PINS: Remember when submitting your grants, be sure to select "Center for Human Health and the Environment" as a center in PINS.

CHHE Cited Publications 
Click here to check them out!