February 2022| Center for Human Health and the Environment
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Upcoming Events
Feb. 4: Neuroscience & Behavior RIG Meeting: Dr. Beth Lucas, "Neurobiological Mechanisms Driving Sex Differences in Anxiety Disorders: A Scientific Journey in Four Acts” 12:00pm zoom link
Feb. 8: Toxicology/CHHE Seminar: Dr. Andrew Pospisilik, "Genes, environment and a roll of the dice: Epigenetic mechanisms of metabolic disease variation. " 4:00pm zoom link
Feb. 15: Toxicology/CHHE Seminar: Dr. Staci D. Bilbo, "Prenatal environmental stressors synergize to impact neuroimmune function and behavior in male mice: relevance for neurodevelopmental disorders" 4:00pm zoom link
Feb. 24: 6th. Annual CHHE Symposium, Climate Change and Health 9:00am-6:00pm
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6th. Annual CHHE Symposium - Climate Change and Health
February 24th, 2022 9:00am-6:00pm
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The 6th annual CHHE symposium, Climate Change and Health, will be held on February 24th, 2022. The symposium will explore issues related to climate change and human health including risk-based decision making in at-risk communities, impacts of climate change on air and water quality, and resiliency planning to mitigate the impacts of climate change on human health and the environment. The symposium will be a virtual event, registration is required. Contact Jamie Bonner to submit a poster on any topic.
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RFA for Pilot Project Proposals $25K & $50K Spring 2022
NC State/NIEHS CHHE is soliciting applications for pilot project proposals for this Spring. Applications are due by February 15, 2022 at 5:00 pm. EDT.
Individual awards will range upwards to $25,000 (direct costs) for one year and CHHE expects to fund up to five proposals. CHHE will also award up to two $50,000 proposals (direct costs) for dual-investigator, multi-disciplinary collaborative research which requires additional funding and separate budgets. CHHE full members can now use the STC Voucher Program Funds for STC services that are part of a CHHE PPP.
The CHHE Pilot Project Program (PPP) fosters collaborations, increases interdisciplinary research and aids in the career development of early career investigators to advance environmental health research. The overarching goal of CHHE’s PPP is to provide support for research aimed at understanding the adverse impacts of environmental factors on human health and disease. The CHHE PPP encourages multidisciplinary/collaborative approaches and the use of CHHE’s cores and resources. The PPP has added a new program that supports community engaged projects. More details about the objectives of the PPP and RFA instructions can be found at https://chhe.research.ncsu.edu/pilot-projects.
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Mike Cowley lab won 2nd Place 2022 Paper of the Year Award
A study from the Cowley Lab has been awarded the second place 2022 Paper of the Year Award, from the Society of Toxicology Molecular and Systems Biology Specialty Section. The paper, published in Scientific Reports, uses multiple -omics approaches to identify novel pathways affecting neurodevelopment in response to cadmium exposure. The work was led by PhD student Katie Hudson, and was a collaboration with Dr. Heather Patisaul and colleagues at the University of Maryland. Citation: Hudson et al (2021) Transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolomic analyses identify candidate pathways linking maternal cadmium exposure to altered neurodevelopment and behavior. Sci Rep, 11:16302. Article
Cathrine Hoyo featured in the the NIEHS Director's Corner
Dr. Hoyo recently spoke with Dr. Rick Woychik, director of the NIEHS and the National Toxicology Program, about how developmental exposure to cadmium and other toxic substances can lead to disease later in life. Hoyo aims to shed light on how early environmental exposures affect humans later in life. She designs rigorous epidemiological studies involving diverse populations and toxic agents of great public health significance, and her efforts are informed by epigenetic analysis. Article
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Adrian Green (Affiliate Member)
Dr. Green is the winner of the 2022 Computational Toxicology Specialty Section Elsevier Postdoctoral Award from the Society of Toxicology. He currently works as a Postdoctoral Research Scholar in the Bioinformatics Research Center at NC State University in the lab of Dr. David Reif. His research is primarily focused on Developmental and Computational Toxicology, and centers on evaluating the developmental and neurodevelopmental toxicity of environmental chemicals utilizing 3D chemical structure and deep neural networks.
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Tal Ben-Horin (Full Member)
Dr. Horin's group research is focused on aquatic pathology and the impact of environmental change on pathogens and diseases of marine fisheries and aquaculture. Their program leverages significant interactions with industry participants as well as regional, federal, and international environmental management agencies to address disease risks and effective biosecurity interventions.
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Meet the CHHE's Stakeholder Advisor Board
This group of educators, activists, and academics exemplify the diversity of our partner communities, and provide a pulse on emerging local environmental health issues. They can be a sounding board for new research ideas, a connection to new stakeholder groups, and an invaluable source of knowledge and expertise. This month, you’ll meet four of our members, and next month we’ll introduce you to the other four.
The Educators:
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Edwin Davis | Science Teacher at Broughton High School | Director of Science Happens 4 Me
Edwin is our point person for bringing EHS to local classrooms and students in Raleigh, and he’s used the lab supplies you donated to do it. His nonprofit makes science fun and accessible for students often left out of the STEM pipeline. In the summer, he runs a STEM camp for girls in southeast Raleigh.
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Corie is our connection to kids and classrooms over in Durham. She serves a diverse population of middle school students, and goes above and beyond to make science engaging for them. Corie used donated supplies from CHHE labs to make more than 50 take-home chemistry kits so kids could stay engaged during the pandemic’s remote learning.
The Academics:
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Turn to Kwesi for all things community/university engagement, especially in Wake County and Southeast Raleigh. Kwesi’s research focuses on community psychology and interventions for psychological health in kids and adults.
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EHS research helps us understand how the environment may impact our health, but we also need to understand how people make decisions with this information. Louie’s research focuses on how marginalized communities perceive and respond to environmental risks, which has huge implications for environmental justice work.
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In the News
EPA releases database on effects of engineered nanomaterials
Researchers and scientists have been studying the health and environmental effects of engineered nanomaterials for nearly two decades. One of the most important steps in nanomaterial risk assessment and risk analyses is to collect, collate, curate, and synthesize a diverse and growing set of data on the effects of nanomaterials, across a range of materials, testing parameters, and studies. Researchers at the US EPA have recently announced the development of a database on the effects of nanomaterials, which has been published a new paper by Boyes et al. (2022). Among other findings, the paper reports on the database developed (termed NanoKnowBase), and describes the underlying data including nanomaterials' physicochemical properties, assays performed, and results obtained. Further, NanoKnowBase serves as a "a relational SQL database, and may be queried either with SQL code or through a user-friendly web interface," where "Filtered results may be output in spreadsheet format for subsequent user-defined analyses." The authors suggest that those who are interested in conducting quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSARs), meta-analyses, or other investigations on the potential impacts and effects of nanomaterials may find the database particularly useful. Article
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Research Interest Group Updates
Behavior and Neuroscience Interest Group
Leader: Emilie Rissman
The Neuroscience and Behavior RIG invites anyone interested, in or out of the CHHE community, to attend their monthly get togethers. We will rotate the lab in the spotlight and that lab will present new data, old data, ideas for experiments, etc. Whatever strikes their fancy. The first meeting is Oct. 1st at noon and we will meet each first Friday thereafter at 12:00pm.
Feb. 4: Neuroscience & Behavior RIG Meeting: Dr. Beth Lucas, "Neurobiological Mechanisms Driving Sex Differences in Anxiety Disorders: A Scientific Journey in Four Acts” 12:00pm zoom link
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CHHE Seed Funds Available - Use it or Lose it
CHHE provides Full Members up to $5,000/year (April 1-March 31) for projects that are related to the mission of the Center. CHHE will provide these funds to defray costs associated with using the Systems Technology Core (STC) (metabolomics, metallomics, proteomics and genomics) and the Comparative Pathology Core (tissue embedding, sectioning, and staining). Please note that Seed Funds can also be used at other NC State core facilities including Analytical Instrumentation Facility, Cellular and Molecular Imaging Facility, and the Flow Cytometry and Cell Sorting Lab.
Note: Due to the pandemic and research restart, the Genome Sciences Laboratory (GSL) has a significantly longer turnaround time than normal. Therefore, from July to December 31, 2021 CHHE full members can use their STC funds or Seed Funds to get NGS sequencing done at external vendors such as Duke, UNC-CH, Novagene etc. CHHE will reevaluate this temporary change at the end of 2021.
To request Seed Funds or STC Voucher Funds go to the CHHE website and click on Supplemental Funds.
Funds must be used by March 31, 2022 so work in core facilities must be completed by mid-March 2022.
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Employment Opportunities
Jobs, Jobs, Jobs!
The CHHE Website posts job openings in the environmental health sciences field. Send us your postings for new jobs, email Michico (MJ) James. It's a great place for students and post-docs to see new available positions.
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Cleaning out your lab? Updating your equipment?
Local schools can use your old lab supplies!
The CEC is looking to give lab supplies and equipment a new home with local science teachers to help them implement hands-on EHS activities in their classrooms. If you're ever looking to get rid of items email Katy May! There's a good chance that the teachers we work with in Wake and Durham counties will be able to use them in their classrooms, summer camps, and after school programs.
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Career Development: Want some help with your grant?
All investigators, especially Early Stage Investigators, are encouraged to work with the Career Development Core to develop and refine their grants. Email chhe-ncstate@ncsu.edu to set up a chalk talk to help organize ideas for your next proposal. |
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Reminders
Please remember to cite and acknowledge NIH award support and the CHHE’s P30 grant in future publications and presentations by including this –
“Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number P30ES025128. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.”
Publications citing the Center grant in the acknowledgements of a manuscript and in the deposit of the manuscript in NIHMS are the currency for the P30 renewal!
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. Link to Additional Resources
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CHHE Cited Publications
Click here to check them out!
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