April 2022| Center for Human Health and the Environment
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Upcoming Events
April 01: CHHE Behavior & Neuroscience RIG Meeting: Dr. Eric Brooks, “Cellular control of cranial neural tube closure” 12:00pm zoom link
April 05: Toxicology/CHHE Seminar: Dr. Georg Wondrak,“The expanding skin redox exposome: From environmental stressors to skin cancer prevention” 4:00pm zoom link
April 19: Toxicology/CHHE Seminar: Dr. Yu-Ying He, "RNA methylation in stress response and environmental carcinogenis" 4:00pm zoom link
April 26: Environmental Justice Research Interest Group Meeting 1:00 pm zoom link
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Jane Hoppin is the new CHHE Interim Director |
On April 1, 2022, Jane Hoppin assumed the leadership of CHHE after Rob Smart stepped down as director after over a decade of center leadership. Jane has served as Deputy Director since the Center was first funded. She was the leader of the Emerging Contaminants RIG and was involved in the Integrative Health Sciences Facility Core. She is an environmental epidemiologist and PI of the GenX Exposure Study, which started through CHHE.
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David Aylor is the new CHHE Deputy Director |
David Aylor is an associate professor in Biological Sciences will serve as interim Deputy Director of CHHE. David has been an active member of the center since he came to NC State in 2013, and is co-leader of the Environmental Epigenetics and Genetics RIG. His research area is in gene by environment interactions, and he is a part of the NIEHS TaRGET II consortium for environmental epigenomics.
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Please join us for our long delayed mini-retreat on Wednesday, May 18th. at 3:00 at the Transfer Co. Food Hall. It will be a great opportunity to re-connect, make plans for the future, and thank Rob Smart for his many years of service. More details to come.
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Environmental Justice Research Interest Group Meeting
Are you curious about Environmental Justice Research? Want to learn more?
Katy May and Jen Richmond-Bryant invite you to join a workshop to gauge interest in founding an EJ Research Interest Group (RIG) in the CHHE. We will articulate goals and challenges for an EJ RIG. We are opening this meeting to colleagues at Shaw University and St. Augustine’s University to explore how an EJ RIG might help facilitate interactions between the CHHE and researchers at these institutions.
We hope that you will join us on Tuesday April 26, 2022, 1:00-2:30pm. zoom link
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Emily Griffith joins Center to provide statistical consultations
Emily Griffith is an Associate Professor of the Practice in the Department of Statistics at North Carolina State University. She is also the Director of Consulting in the Data Science Academy. Emily has a strong record of collaborative statistical work across a broad range of disciplines, including veterinary medicine, engineering, education, and paleontology. She has expertise in a variety of areas including sampling, mixed effects models, and experimental design. Her own research focuses on communicating statistical ideas and training statisticians and data scientists in best practices for collaborative work. Emily recently began teaching Python and is deeply involved in data science work at NC State. When she is not working, Emily enjoys cooking, spending time with her family, and running outside.
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New affiliate member Priya Arumugam
Priya Arumugam has recently joined as a postdoctoral research scholar in the Gaddameedhi lab at NCSU. She will be studying the circadian clock role’s on ‘gene-environment’ interactions especially with understanding the environmental disruption of the skin clock on solar UV-B mediated DNA damage response signaling mechanisms. Before joining NCSU, Priya finished her PhD in Biotechnology from Alagappa University, India.
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Kudos
Shobhan Gaddameedhi has been invited to has been invited to join the Cancer Etiology (CE) study section as a standing member starting from July 2022.
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Upcoming CHHE Speakers
The Toxicology Spring Seminar Series began on January 11, 2022 at 4:00pm. All seminars will be held via zoom webinar on Tuesdays at 4pm. We are trying to host as many of them in person as we can in the Toxicology Auditorium (rm. 2104). Please check the TOX Seminar Series Calendar and weekly flyer to confirm it will be held in person. Toxicology and CHHE are co-sponsoring five speakers throughout the semester.
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April 5: Toxicology/CHHE Seminar: Dr. Georg Wondrak, “The expanding skin redox exposome: From environmental stressors to skin cancer prevention" 4:00pm zoom link
Dr. Georg Wondrak is a professor of pharmacology and toxicology at the University of Arizona. His research examines the pathological role of oxidative stress in solar photodamage and skin cancer (melanoma and nonmelanoma) aiming at the design of novel molecular strategies for redox-directed prevention and therapeutic intervention. His research team pursues translational biomolecular investigations that test preventive and therapeutic efficacy of pharmacological modulation of cellular stress response pathways impacting skin photo-damage and photocarcinogenesis through redox regulatory molecular targets [such as TLR4 (Toll-like receptor 4), NRF2 (Nuclear factor erythroid 2–related factor 2), and GLO1 (Glyoxalase 1)]. Their NCI-funded melanoma-directed research tests feasibility of repurposing clinical redox antimalarials (including artemisinin-endoperoxides) for therapeutic intervention in advanced murine disease models.
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April 19: Toxicology/CHHE Seminar: Dr. Jesse Raab,"Chromatin remodeling complexes as therapeutic targets in liver disease and cancer" 4:00pm zoom link
Dr. Jesse Raab studied the role of tRNA genes in organizing the genome in his doctoral work. During his postdoctoral training, he started using high-throughput genomics approaches to understand the role of chromatin in gene regulation in disease biology. In 2020 he began his appointment as Assistant Professor in the Department of Genetics and Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center at UNC Chapel. His research group is focused on the relationship between chromatin structure and gene expression and how dysregulation of chromatin contributes to diseases.
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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. They 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 they will meet each first Friday thereafter at 12:00pm.
April 01: CHHE Behavior & Neuroscience RIG Meeting: Dr. Eric Brooks, “Cellular control of cranial neural tube closure” 12:00pm zoom link
Emerging Contaminants Interest Group
Leader: Jane Hoppin
In the next few months, we'll discuss how to reorganize the emerging contaminants RIG. With Jane becoming interim director, we'll need a new leader for this RIG. But it may be a good time to revisit other topics for RIGs that may be of interest. We'll send out a short survey to RIG members to get input and will discuss opportunities at the mini-retreat in May.
Pulmonary Interest Group
Leader: Vijay Sivaraman
After a delayed start for the semester, we plan to host two exciting speakers Dr. Eric Soule and Dr. Rachel Roper. Both are from ECU, and work in collaboration with a new RIG member, Dr. Sinan Sousan.
Talk titles and dates will soon follow, but Dr. Soule will talk about work regarding second-hand electronic cigarette exposure inside vehicles, and Dr. Roper will talk about air detection of SARS CoV2.
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After a two-summer hiatus, our NIEHS-funded Summer Research Experiences for high school teachers is back in action! This program brings science teachers from underserved classrooms to CHHE labs for a six-week professional development program. The teachers gain hands-on laboratory experiences and resources that they can take back and apply in their classrooms. So far, teachers have had nothing but great things to say about CHHE labs and their grad students.
If you or your lab are interested in participating, some options could include:
Hosting a high school teacher in your lab this summer for 4 weeks in July/August;
Leading other program sessions like 1 to 2 full-day workshops, to hour-long discussions of your research, ethical/societal issues, or professional development topics;
Having teachers come take a "tour" of your lab and its research.
If you think you might be interested or want to learn more, reach out to Katy kmay2@ncsu.edu.
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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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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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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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