Contact Rose Branstrom with any items that should be included in next month's M-LEEaD newsletter.
Both of M-LEEaD’s current Center Scientists attended and presented posters at the 2023 Society of Toxicology meeting in Nashville, Tennessee. We would like to highlight some of their recent successes!
A freight train transporting multiple hazardous industrial chemicals derailed in East Palestine, Ohio. A sizable portion of the vinyl chloride on the derailed train likely evaporated within a very short time, and was also diluted in the air, explained John Meeker, professor of environmental health sciences at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. But if any of the vinyl chloride got into the soil and made its way to groundwater, Meeker noted, that could pave the way for longer-term exposure depending on several factors. Read more on PBS.
Air pollution can pose a major threat to human health— from mental health and childhood development to heart disease— and can effect people at home. For indoor sources of pollution: cooking on a gas stove, spraying beauty products, or buying a new couch may seem harmless, but can add toxins to the air in your home. If you’re worried about air quality inside your home, Stuart Batterman, a professor of environmental health sciences at the University of Michigan, recommends three steps: “identify the source; eliminate or control it, and use ventilation and filters as needed.” Read on Time.
Dr. Rita Loch-Caruso (a toxicologist at the University of Michigan and Professor Emerita, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, and Professor Emerita of Program in the Environment, School for Environment and Sustainability,) recently completed a paper on the risks of dioxane exposure and its association with spring flooding seeping into wet basements in Ann Arbor. Analysis suggests exposure risk if 1,4-dioxane in shallow groundwater is > 150 μg/L and 1,4-Dioxane intrusion in water could lead to hazardous air in damp basements. Read more here.
Ninety years after the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation enacted the discriminatory practice of color-coding neighborhoods by desirability for mortgage lenders, redlined neighborhoods—areas inhabited largely by Black families—continue to suffer poorer health than greenlined, majority-white neighborhoods, which tend to flourish healthwise and financially. These findings and persisting health and economic inequities between one neighborhood or one zip code and another is explored by Amy Schulz of the University of Michigan’s School of Public Health. Read more here.
Six Carbon Neutrality Acceleration Program faculty research projects have been awarded a total of $1.2 million by the University of Michigan’s Graham Sustainability Institute. The new projects augment the CNAP program’s portfolio, which addresses six critical technological and social decarbonization opportunities: energy storage; capturing, converting and storing carbon; changing public opinion and behavior; ensuring an equitable and inclusive transition; material and process innovation; and transportation and alternative fuels. Carina Gronlund, Institute for Social Research (PI), is project co-lead for "Beyond the Bottom Line: Monetizing Improved Health from Home Weatherization." Read more here.
A new study suggests that a common modification to RNA plays a pivotal role in TDP-43-related neurodegeneration in ALS. Previous studies suggest that total levels of m6A in the nervous system rise with age and that (some) neurodegenerative diseases are characterized by RNA hypermethylation. Importantly, RNA methylation is modified by environmental exposure. Its presence in ALS opens up a wide range of possibilities for research of a disease that is intimately linked to environmental exposure, as demonstrated by Stephen Goutman, M.D., M.S., and Eva Feldman, M.D., Ph.D., at Michigan Medicine. Read more on Medical News.
A recent study found certain lifestyle factors, including sleep quality and duration, are critical components of adolescent health and are linked with insulin resistance. The investigators were led by Erica Jansen, PhD, MPH, from the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. Shorter sleep duration and later sleep timing were associated with insulin resistance in late adolescence, providing further evidence of the importance of adequate sleep for maintaining good health and preventing chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes. Read more on HCPLive.
Pollutants known as “forever chemicals”, which don’t break down in the environment, build up in the body and may be toxic, have been found at high levels at thousands of sites across the UK and Europe, a major mapping project has revealed. The map shows that PFAS have made their way into water, soils and sediments. Drinking water limits for PFAS continue to be brought down in response to growing evidence about their health impacts, according to Rita Loch-Caruso, a professor emerita of toxicology at the University of Michigan. “We’re finding health effects at lower and lower concentrations – in the single digits,” she said. Read more on The Guardian.
For the first time, the Environmental Protection Agency has proposed a new federal standard that would regulate several PFAS in drinking water. Experts say the move to reduce exposure to these “forever chemicals,” as they’re called, would bolster public health across the nation. However, implementing the new testing requirements, plus installing new filtration systems or shifting drinking water supplies where necessary, could get very expensive, said Courtney Carignan, an environmental epidemiologist and assistant professor at Michigan State University. Read more on PBS.
Tuesday, May 9, 2023 • 1:00 PM — 5:00 PM at SPH M-LEEaD’s Environmental Health Sciences Early Investigator 2023 Career Development Workshop: Topics on Building and Maintaining Collaborative Networks, Difficult Conversations and Conflict Resolution Registration required here.
The Virtual Diabetes Research Seminar Series began as an effort to connect investigators and trainees during this time of great change and isolation related to the COVID crisis. Each seminar in the series features an outstanding scientist or panel of scientists discussing the latest in diabetes, obesity, or metabolic research. This upcoming seminar on Wednesday, April 12, from 10:00 am — 11:00 am discusses “Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals as Metabolic Risks and What We Can Do About It”
Date: Wednesday, April 12th, 2023 at 2:00 PM ET Info and virtual registration here
We are living through multiple simultaneous global crises, so vast and complex that they seemingly defy sense. During such times, good communication can help people understand the brutal realities of the present while equipping them with necessary hope in a brighter future. Drawing from their decades of experience, from conservation to COVID reporting, Liz Neeley and Ed Yong will discuss the art and science of sense-making in a time of crisis, and why it's crucial to the challenges that we face.
Date: Tuesday, April 18, 2023 from 10:00 am — 11:00 am
Location: In-person at the Rackham Amphitheater or Zoom option (online) Info and registration here
The lecture honors Dr. Gilbert S. Omenn, former dean of the UW School of Public Health. It is sponsored by the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences. The topic on April 20 is "Cumulative Environmental Risk Impacts of Redlining: Houston as a Case Study."
Date: Thursday, April 20, 2023 from 12:30 pm — 1:30 pm
Location: In-person at the Hans Rosling Center for Population Health, Room 155, University of Washington campus or Zoom option (online) Info and registration here
The 2023 Toxicology and Risk Assessment Conference (TRAC) will be a 4-day meeting from April 24-27, 2023, focusing on topics in toxicology and risk assessment principles and practice. The conference provides attendees with an overview of current research, methodologic, and practice issues that are the focus of toxicology and risk assessment efforts in various Federal agencies, academic institutions, industry, and other organizations.
Date: Monday, April 24 to Thursday, April 27, 2023
Location: Dayton, Ohio
Info and registration here
This conference will commemorate the 50th anniversary of Michigan's PBB disaster by bringing together scientists, artists, policy makers, and community members to explore the history and legacy of this large-scale contamination. Through this multidisciplinary experience we will bring the critical lessons of the disaster back into public discussion and consciousness, with the hope it will inspire continued action to address long-term environmental and human health outcomes.
Date: Thursday, May 18 to Saturday, May 20, 2023
Location: Alma College in Alma, Michigan Info and registration here
For more than 58 years, the Summer Session in Epidemiology at the University of Michigan has been one of the nation's most highly regarded summer epidemiology programs. The program can give you a career boost in just one to three intensive weeks. After completing this activity, participants will be able to understand and utilize the central principles of research in clinical populations, including study design, analysis of Biostatistics, and causal inference. The 2023 session will run from July 10-28.
Date: Monday, July 10, 2023, to Friday, July 28, 2023
Location: In-person at the University of Michigan School of Public Health or online
Info and registration here
Columbia’s SHARP Training Program offers short, intensive boot camps led by field experts to teach in-demand skills on the hottest topics in research and education. Scholarships are available and individuals of all career stages, from any organization are welcome to attend. In 2023, SHARP trainings will be offered in-person, livestream virtual, or hybrid (in-person and livestream virtual). See the list of available topics above.
Date: Varies from May-August 2023 depending on program
Location: In-person at Columbia University Irving Medical Center or online Info and registration here
NIEHS solicits input from stakeholders in academia and industry, health care professionals, patient advocates and advocacy organizations, scientific or professional organizations, federal agencies, and other interested members of the public by reviewing the goals in the 2018-2023 Strategic Plan and proposing new goals for the 2024-2028 Strategic Plan. This RFI requests general comments on the direction of environmental health sciences as well as comments specific to the individual goals under the three themes outlined in the current Strategic Plan. Responses are due April 20, 2023. Learn more here.
The purpose of this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) is to solicit P20 planning grant applications for Climate Change and Health Research Centers (CCHRCs). This program will support the development of a transdisciplinary research environment to sustain a program of fundamental and applied research to examine the impacts of climate change on health and to develop action-oriented solutions to protect the health of individuals, communities, and nations from the hazards posed by climate change. This opportunity will allow development of new research teams collaborating with communities and other partners to develop projects that generate data that will build or expand research capacity across a range of thematic scientific areas in support of the four core elements of the NIH’s Initiative in climate health research: health effects research, health equity, intervention research, and training and capacity building. Learn more here.
SPH Opportunity: Apply for a Public Health IDEAS Pilot Grant, $7,500 Awards
The Public Health IDEAS for Creating Healthy and Equitable Cities team at the School of Public Health is excited to introduce a second pilot grant opportunity to support SPH faculty, researchers, and postdoctoral scholars. Funding of up to $7,500 for each project will be provided to perform pilot studies to advance urban health research.
To learn more, contact IDEAS-UrbanHealth@umich.edu. Proposals will be evaluated for funding on a rolling basis.
Recent Publications citing M-LEEaD:
Dou J, Thangaraj SV, Puttabyatappa M, Elangovan VR, Bakulski K, Padmanabhan V. Developmental programming: Adipose depot-specific regulation of non-coding RNAs and their relation to coding RNA expression in prenatal testosterone and prenatal bisphenol-A -treated female sheep. Mol Cell Endocrinol. 2023 Jan 26;564:111868. doi: 10.1016/j.mce.2023.111868. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 36708980.
Boyer TM, Bommarito PA, Welch BM, Meeker JD, James-Todd T, Cantonwine DE, McElrath TF, Ferguson KK. Maternal exposure to phthalates and total gestational weight gain in the LIFECODES birth cohort. Reprod Toxicol. 2023 Feb 24;117:108354. doi: 10.1016/j.reprotox.2023.108354. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 36841368.
Campbell KA, Colacino JA, Puttabyatappa M, Dou JF, Elkin ER, Hammoud SS, Domino SE, Dolinoy DC, Goodrich JM, Loch-Caruso R, Padmanabhan V, Bakulski KM. Placental cell type deconvolution reveals that cell proportions drive preeclampsia gene expression differences. Commun Biol. 2023 Mar 13;6(1):264. doi: 10.1038/s42003-023-04623-6. PMID: 36914823; PMCID: PMC10011423.
Thangaraj SV, Kachman M, Halloran KM, Sinclair KD, Lea R, Bellingham M, Evans NP, Padmanabhan V. Developmental programming: Preconceptional and gestational exposure of sheep to a real-life environmental chemical mixture alters maternal metabolome in a fetal sex-specific manner. Sci Total Environ. 2023 Mar 15;864:161054. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.161054. Epub 2022 Dec 21. PMID: 36565874.
Padula AM, Ning X, Bakre S, Barrett ES, Bastain T, Bennett DH, Bloom MS, Breton CV, Dunlop AL, Eick SM, Ferrara A, Fleisch A, Geiger S, Goin DE, Kannan K, Karagas MR, Korrick S, Meeker JD, Morello-Frosch R, O'Connor TG, Oken E, Robinson M, Romano ME, Schantz SL, Schmidt RJ, Starling AP, Zhu Y, Hamra GB, Woodruff TJ; program collaborators for Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes. Birth Outcomes in Relation to Prenatal Exposure to Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances and Stress in the Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program. Environ Health Perspect. 2023 Mar;131(3):37006. doi: 10.1289/EHP10723. Epub 2023 Mar 15. PMID: 36920051; PMCID: PMC10015888.
Click here for a PDF with useful information about NIH Public Access Policy regarding citing the center grant.
Per NIH grants policy, all publications, press releases, and other documents relevant to research funded by the center must include a specific acknowledgement of support. For the EHS Core Center, this statement may read:
“Support for this research was provided by grant P30ES017885 from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.”
