September 2023| Center for Human Health and the Environment

Upcoming Events

Sept. 8: IPA (Ingenuity Pathway Analysis) QIAGEN Training 1:00pm Zoom

Meeting ID: 957 8928 8455

Passcode: 028704

Email kristina.pinardo@qiagen.com to register and be added to list for the recording link

Sept. 12: Mónica Ramírez-Andreotta,“Participatory Research and Design for Environmental Health and Action” Toxicology 2104 4:00pm

*Co-sponsored by the Environmental Justice Group

Sept. 20: Robert Musil, "Rachel Carson's Legacy in North Carolina: Science Communication and Environmental Justice Advocacy" Plant Sciences Bldg. Seminar rooms ABC 3:30pm Centennial Campus

Sept. 22: Find out Friday - Nathan Dunn, Data Management Support 12:00pm Zoom

Add the CHHE Google Calendar to your calendar to never miss an event or opportunity!

News

New CHHE Director, Sue Fenton

On October 9th, we welcome Dr. Suzanne Fenton (prefers Sue) as the next CHHE Director. Sue led the Reproductive Endocrinology research group for 25 years – first at the US EPA (1998-2009), then NIEHS (2009-2023). Her research at NCSU will focus on mechanisms of action for emerging PFAS on developmental and reproductive toxicity. She is looking forward to hearing details about ongoing CHHE research projects, developing collaborations, and building relationships with new and current members. Some of her first priorities upon arrival will be listening sessions and strategy development for efficient and sufficient research support, career development, interdisciplinary research projects, and community engagement in the CHHE cores. Additionally, she is committed to training the next generation of toxicologists, so is excited to recruit trainees, and support early career investigators within the Tox training program, the Superfund Research Program, and the CHHE.

When Sue is not working, she enjoys cooking, playing euchre, or swimming with her family – her daughter is an engineering graduate, and is currently pursuing her MS in biomedical engineering at ECU; her younger son is a certified airplane mechanic working for GE’s aviation division; her older son is a NCCU nursing graduate, working in cardiothoracic ICU at UNC-Chapel Hill, and his wife is an assistant principal at a Christian high school and mom of Jack (3.5 years) and another son on the way. Sue and her husband of 35 years love to travel and enjoy finding rare bottles of bourbon! Frank (the Tank) and Maverick, the family boxers, hold down the fort when everyone is gone! Coming to NCSU is a perfect fit for Sue – she has 3 degrees from University of Wisconsin-Madison so already “bleeds red”, was going to be a veterinarian her whole life – until the research bug bit her – so is glad to have an opportunity to build research relationships with a vet school, and has strong familial ties to ECU and NCCU – integral parts of our Center – so is always willing to have group meetings at those locations.

Cathrine Hoyo and Jane Hoppin featured in the top 10 things from COS first 10 years

Throughout her career as an epidemiologist, Cathrine Hoyo, a Goodnight Innovation Distinguished Chair and a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, has noticed rising rates of liver cancer in North Carolina, especially among diverse populations. In 2021, she received a $17 million grant, the largest in the college’s history, from the National Institutes of Health to study the reasons behind this trend. The grant funds a multi-institutional effort that follows 16,000 people in North Carolina and Georgia for up to five years, with the end goal of determining how environmental contaminants impact liver health in diverse populations.

As part of the GenX Exposure Study led by Professor Jane Hoppin, faculty across NC State and other universities are measuring the effects of exposure to GenX and related PFAS in drinking water. The study, which seeks to understand the impact of PFAS on thyroid function, started in November 2017 in Wilmington, N.C. In 2020, new funding from the NC State Superfund Center allowed the researchers to expand the study to include over 1,000 people from the Cape Fear River Basin, which serves as the drinking water source for various communities.

Rob Onyenwoke promoted to tenure-track Assistant Professor

Dr. Onyenwoke has recently risen from a BRITE Research track position to take a position within the NCCU Biological and Biomedical Sciences Department as a tenure-track Assistant Professor. He also serves as the Assistant Director of the BRITE Center.

RIG and Core Updates

Pilot Project Program, New Director Hong Wang

I am excited to have the opportunity to serve the CHHE community as the Pilot Project director. The CHHE Pilot Project program has supported my group in developing novel single-molecule imaging techniques to study how protein functions at unique DNA structures formed after DNA damage and repair. I will strive to foster new collaborations and the continuous growth of CHHE as an interdisciplinary center through the Pilot Project Program.

FALL 2023 RFA FOR PILOT PROJECT PROPOSALS $25K & $50K

NC State/NIEHS Center for Human Health and the Environment (CHHE) is announcing its request for applications (RFA) for pilot project proposals for fall 2023. Applications are due on September 15, 2023 at 5:00 pm. EDT. New for Fall 2023: Applicants need to send a brief letter of intent along with a pre-proposal abstract or concept paragraph to chhepilotprogram@ncsu.edu by September 1, 2023, to ensure that the topic is relevant to the mission of CHHE.

Individual awards will range upwards to $25,000 (direct cost) 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 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 here.

Reminders

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 NIEMS are the currency for the P30 renewal!

CHHE Resources and Facilities Page for NIH Grants is available on the CHHE website .

PINS: When submitting your grants, be sure to select "Center for Human Health and the Environment" as a center in PINS.

Click here to check out CHHE cited publications!