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Duke University Superfund Research Center Newsletter

Investigators and Staff of the SRC

Research Updates, Honors, and Awards

NIEHS Renews Support for Duke University Superfund Research Center

This spring, the Duke University Superfund Research Center received funding for an additional 5-year grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). The Center has received support from NIEHS since 2000. The grant will support five research projects related to low-dose early life exposures and later life consequences, as well as six support cores. Richard Di Giulio, PhD, will continue to serve as Director with assistance from Deputy Director Heather Stapleton, PhD. To learn more, read this press release about the Duke Superfund Center's renewal from Duke University's Nicholas School of the Environment.

New Research Projects (2017 - 2022)

The Duke Superfund Research Center (SRC) includes five research projects and six support cores. The overarching goal of the Duke SRC is to foster the further development of synergistic interactions among Center Investigators, their laboratories and students, and the diverse fields they represent. The SRC also places a heavy emphasis on the successful translation of research to communities and policy makers.

In humans and other vertebrates, early life development is a time of rapid growth and complex cellular differentiation and migration that is inherently sensitive to environmental influences. Thus, the Duke Superfund Research Center emphasizes how low-dose, early life exposure to Superfund toxic chemicals impacts development and later-life health.

The five research projects are:

Project 1: “Cholinergic and Monoaminergic Mechanisms of Persistent Neurobehavorial Toxicity,” which is aimed at identifying how exposure to diazinon, triphenyl phosphate and other neurotoxins affects an organism’s neurotransmitter system and can result in persisting cognitive and emotional dysfunction.

Project 2: “Altering the Balance of Adipogenic and Osteogenic Regulatory Pathways from Early-Life Exposure to HPCs and AOPEs,” which is aimed at understanding how the regulation of key receptor pathways in the body may help mediate later-life skeletal malformations, obesity and other harmful effects of early exposure to halogenated phenolic compounds (HPCs), chemicals which mimic hormones on the body.

Project 3: “Persistent Mitochondrial and Epigenetic Effects of Early-Life Toxicant Exposure,” which is aimed at identifying whether the toxic effects of certain chemicals on mitochondrial function are highly persistent or inheritable; and if these effects are greater among certain genetic backgrounds.

Project 4: “Mechanisms and Consequences of Evolved Adaptation to Environmental Pollution,” which is aimed at exploring how low-level exposures to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) affects physical, behavioral and metabolic development, and how PAHs have driven evolution in free-living populations of fish.

Project 5: “Engineering the Physico-Chemical Environment to Enhance the Bioremediation of Developmental Toxicants in Sediment Fungal-Bacterial Biofilms,” which is aimed at devising new biological techniques – using an understudied group of micro-organism known as non-basidiomycete fungi – to remediate high levels of PAHs and other developmental toxicants that can accumulate in sediment, ultimately reducing the potential for harmful human and environmental exposures.    

Superfund Investigators in the News

Research by Thedore Slotkin, PhD, which established a cause-and-effect link between the pesticide chlorpyrifos and developmental effects in a rat model, was referenced in an article published in The New York Times in May 2017. Slotkin is a principal investigator on DUSRC's Project 1. Another story in The New York Times Magazine entitled, "The Mystery of the Wasting House Cats," also published in May, featured a quote from Heather Stapleton, PhD, and cited her research on exposure to PBDEs in household environments. Stapleton's work on adipogenic activity of mouse cells following exposure to house dust extracts and semi-volatile indoor air contaminants has also been the topic of recent press coverage.

Joel Meyer Selected for Bass Society of Fellows

Joel Meyer, PhD, Truman and Nellie Semans/Alex Brown & Sons Associate Professor of Molecular Environmental Toxicology, was honored as one of five professors from Duke who were selected for the Bass Society of Fellows. Duke Bass Fellows are chosen for their dedication to research and excellent pedagogy, which help advance undergraduate education. Previously, Dr. Meyer received an Outstanding New Environmental Scientist (ONES) award from NIEHS. Meyer will lead the Training Core in the new funding cycle of the Duke SRC in addition to Project 3, on the impact of toxic chemicals on mitochondria and generational consequences.

Meyer Edits Special Issue of Toxicology on the Topic of Mitochondrial Toxicity

Joel Meyer, PhD, and Sherine Chan, PhD, edited a special issue of the journal Toxicology in June 2017 entitled “Sources, mechanisms, and consequences of chemical-induced mitochondrial toxicity.” As more diseases are being correlated with mitochondrial dysfunction induced by environmental contaminants, there is a need for further research on the toxicological mechanisms that cause disease.

Trainee Highlights

Meet Former Trainee Lauren Redfern

The Research Translation Core of the Duke University Superfund Research Center has created a short original video about former Superfund trainee Lauren Redfern, PhD, a postdoctoral research associate who worked with Claudia Gunsch on Project 4 of the previous funding cycle of the Duke Superfund Research Center. Redfern received her doctoral degree in July of 2017. Her research focused on microbiomes of fungi, bacteria, and archaea at Superfund sites, and she used a civil engineering approach to explore remediation options and investigate soil health at Superfund sites. Redfern was a recipient of the 2015 K.C. Donnelly externship award from NIEHS, which allowed her to travel and conduct research at University of California Berkeley under the mentorship of Lisa Alvarez-Cohen, PhD.

Trainee Jordan Kozal Awarded Best Student Presentation at PRIMO 2017 in Japan

Trainee Jordan Kozal (on the right in the image above) won an award for the best student presentation at the 19th International Symposium on Pollutant Responses in Marine Organisms (PRIMO) in Matsuyama, Japan this past July. Kozal is a trainee in the Di Giulio lab and is affiliated with the Center's Project 4. The presentation was co-authored by Dr. Di Giulio and Dr. Nishad Jayasundara. Along with the award, Kozal received a free year of student membership to Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) North America. Superfund trainee and fellow Di Giulio lab member Casey Lindberg, at left, also attended the conference.

Recent Publications

Brown DR, Thompson J, Chernick M, Hinton DE, Di Giulio RT. Later Life Swimming Performance and Persistent Heart Damage Following Subteratogenic PAH Mixture Exposure in the Atlantic Killifish (Fundulus heteroclitus). Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. 2017 Jun 6. PMCID: In Process.

 

Hartman JH, Kozal JS, Di Giulio RT, Meyer JN. Zebrafish Have an Ethanol-Inducible Hepatic 4-Nitrophenol Hydroxylase that is Not CYP2E1-like. Environmental Toxicology and Pharmacology. 2017 Jul 10. PMCID: In Process.

 

Jayasundara N, Fernando PW, Osterberg JS, Cammen KM, Schultz TF, Di Giulio RT. Cost of tolerance: physiological consequences of evolved resistance to inhabit a polluted environment in teleost fish Fundulus heteroclitus. Environmental Science and Technology. 2017 Jul 6. PMCID: In Process.

 

Luz AL, Godebo TR, Smith LL, Leuthner TC, Maurer LL, Meyer JN. Deficiencies in mitochondrial dynamics sensitize Caenorhabditis elegans to arsenite and other mitochondrial toxicants by reducing mitochondrial adaptability. Toxicology. 2017 Jun 8. PMCID: PMC5535741 [Available 07-15-2018]


Micic V, Schmid D, Bossa N, Gondikas A, Velimirovic M, von der Kammer F, Wiesner MR, Hofmann T. Impact of sodium humate coating on collector surfaces on deposition of polymer-coated nano-iron particles. Environmental Science & Technology. 2017 Jul 6. PMCID: In Process.

 

Mu J, Chernick M, Dong W, Di Giulio RT, Hinton DE. Early life co-exposures to a real-world PAH mixture and hypoxia result in later life and next generation consequences in medaka (Oryzias latipes). Aquatic Toxicology. Published online 2017 Jun 27; In Press. PMCID: In Process.


See a full list of publications on our website.
 

Events

University Program in Environmental Health (UPEH) to Host Superfund Symposium at Duke on Sept. 22

A diagram of the Duke University Superfund Research Center's five core projects, linked to their associated models, adverse outcome pathways, and functional endpoints.
Throughout the year, the Duke University Superfund Research Center co-sponsors a seminar series hosted by the Duke University Program in Environmental Health (UPEH) -- formerly known as the Integrated Toxicology and Environmental Health Program, or ITEHP -- that is free and open to the public.

UPEH will host a Superfund-themed symposium on Friday, September 22, 2017 at Duke University from 9:00 am - 5:00 pm. Bill Suk, PhD, Director of the Superfund Research Program at NIEHS, will give a keynote lecture. Investigators from each of the Duke Superfund Center's research projects and support cores will provide an overview of their work, and trainees will present research highlights during the afternoon session. Stay tuned to the UPEH website for more details on the Superfund Symposium.

UPEH seminars include presentations from Superfund researchers and and other experts on relevant topics. Past speakers include speakers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NIEHS, EPA, and others. Seminars will take place every Friday at noon, either in Field Auditorium (Environment Hall) or Love Auditorium (Levine Science Research Center) on Duke University's west campus.

See the fall 2017 Duke UPEH seminar schedule here.

Trainee Casey Lindberg Organizes Community Event

Trainee Casey Lindberg (Project 4) organized a community outreach event with the theme of "Think Blue: Healthy Water, Healthy You" on August 6, 2017. The event was made possible by grant that Casey received from the North Carolina Water Resources Research Initiative, and staff support was provided by the Duke SRC Community Engagement Core and Research Translation Core. Casey shared her research at a booth for the Duke Superfund Research Center, alongside 11 other local organizations including EPA-RTP, City of Durham Public Works, Durham Public Health Department, and several local conservation-oriented nonprofits.

Updates From Summer Conferences

David Hinton, PhD, (Project 4) presented at the OpenTox conference in July at Duke University.

Dr. Edward Levin and lab (NBT Core) contributed to three sessions at the 2017 Developmental Neurotoxicology Society Annual Meeting (formerly Neurobehavioral Teratology Society) in June in Denver, Colorado.

Joel Meyer, PhD, (Project 3) attended the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation Symposium in July in Washington, DC.

Upcoming Conferences With Duke SRC Representation

August 20-24: 254th American Chemical Society National Meeting and Expo (Washington, DC)

Sept. 9 -13 Environmental Mutagenesis and Genomics Society Annual Meeting (Raleigh, NC)

Sept. 22: Duke University Program in Environmental Health Program Superfund Symposium (Durham, NC)

Nov. 12 - 16: Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) North America Annual Meeting (Minneapolis, MN)

Research Translation and Community Engagement News

Could C. Elegans Provide a Way to Screen for Metals in Soil?

MEM students working in local community gardens.
The Community Engagement Core (CEC) is continuing a project with gardeners in North Carolina to help them understand and reduce exposures to potential contaminants in the soil. The goal is to help gardeners to make informed decisions about how they might reduce risks from exposure to potential contaminants like lead, arsenic, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and pesticides.  The CEC is compiling resources for community gardeners on soil testing and pricing that will help to ensure their health and safety, and preparing to launch into the next phase of the research.

Graduate student Tess Leuthner (Meyer lab) has been collaborating with the CEC on a related technology transfer experiment. Soil samples from a few local community gardens that were recruited for the initial community gardens research study are being screened for certain heavy metals using C. elegans nematodes that have been modified to include a green fluorescent protein gene. To read more about the project, see this post on the Superfund blog.  

RTC Kicks Off Region 3 & 4 Superfund Research Partnership Network With Visit to Penn SRP Center

Duke SRC Research Translation Core Director Charlotte Clark, PhD, and University of Pennsylvania SRP Center Research Translation Core Director Richard Pepino, PhD

The Research Translation Core (RTC) facilitated the first meeting of the Superfund Research Partnership Network for Superfund Research Program (SRP) Centers in US EPA Regions 3 and 4 (including Duke's SRC, Penn SRP, and the University of Kentucky SRP) during the RTC's visit to Penn on May 31 - June 1, 2017. RTC director Charlotte Clark, PhD, and program coordinators Bryan Luukinen and Catherine Kastleman met with ATSDR representative from US EPA Region 3, Lora Werner, as well as US EPA operations manager Eduardo Rivera, to tour a Superfund site in Ambler, Pennsylvania, and discuss research translation and community engagement efforts related to site remediation. Dr. Clark also presented a seminar on the topic of community-engaged research at the Perelman School of Medicine.

CEC Meets With Community Stakeholders Near Former Industrial Sites in North Carolina

MEM students working in local community gardens.
(L-R) Bryan Luukinen, RTC/CEC Staff; Kellianne Davis and Darien Cobb of the City of Rocky Mount; and Liz Shapiro-Garza, PhD, Director of the Community Engagement Core met in July 2017 to discuss community concerns about a former industrial site in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.
During this exploratory visit to establish connections in support of CEC Aim 2 related to former industrial sites, CEC staff, including Elizabeth Shapiro-Garza, PhD; Bryan Luukinen; and Catherine Kastleman met with local stakeholders in Rocky Mount, NC, including representatives from the City's planning department, local public health officials, and policy makers, to discuss their environmental health concerns around Brownfield sites in the community and explore possible collaborations and projects for partnership with the RTC and CEC.

Staff Updates

New Center Administrator: Sarah Phillips 

Sarah joins the Duke SRC after over four years working for Duke's Nicholas School of the Environment in Beaufort, North Carolina, as the Program Coordinator for the Coastal Environmental Management Program and Assistant Director of Admissions for the NSOE MEM Program.  She is now the administrator for the Duke Superfund Research Center and DGSA for the University Program in Environmental Health.  The position was previously held by Eve Marion.

Summer Intern: Lindsay Holsen

The Community Engagement and Research Translation Cores welcomed a summer intern from Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, this summer. Lindsay is rising senior majoring in biochemistry with a minor in Spanish. Lindsay was a regular contributor to the Superfund Center blog and provided research translation and community engagement support to researchers and trainees.

RTC/CEC Staff Complete DEL Environmental Communications Certificate Program

RTC and CEC staff members Bryan Luukinen and Catherine Kastleman each completed the Environmental Communications Certificate program in early 2017. The certificate is offered through the Duke Environmental Leadership (DEL) program, which offers a variety of courses to help environmental professionals develop new skills: http://sites.nicholas.duke.edu/execed/certificate-program/
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