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September 6, 2024 (Issue 248) |
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Save the Date! SRP Annual Meeting
The SRP Annual Meeting will be June 16-18, 2025. Stay tuned for more information!
NIH Environmental Justice Scholars Program
Applications are open for the 2024-2025 cohort of the Environmental Justice (EJ) Scholars Program. The EJ Scholars Program aims to build NIH capacity to advance environmental justice research, programs, and resource experts. There will be an informational webinar for interested applicants on September 13, 2024, at 11 a.m. EDT.
Save the Date: SRP Risk e-Learning Webinar on October 4
This fall, SRP is hosting a Risk e-Learning webinar series focused on artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning approaches to advance environmental health research. The first of the three sessions will be October 4, 1:00 - 3:00 pm ET. More information, including a final agenda, dates for the other two sessions, and links to register, will be available soon. If you are not part of our Risk e-Learning listserv, please send an email to srpinfo@mail.nih.gov.
Virtual Technology Fair
SRP will also host a virtual technology fair on October 28 from 2:30 – 4:00 p.m. ET to showcase grant recipients' work on lead removal and detection. NIEHS-funded small businesses presenting their work include James Hill from NanoAffix, Raina Maier and Chett Boxley from Glycosurf, Khalid Alam from Stemloop, and Lindsay Boehme from PowerTech.
2025 Toxicology and Risk Assessment Conference
The next Toxicology and Risk Assessment Conference will be May 12-15, 2025, in Cincinnati, Ohio. The conference will provide 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. Conference organizers are looking for workshop suggestions, due October 15, and abstract submissions for oral presentations and posters, due February 3, 2025. For more information, see the conference website.
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NIEHS SRP News Stories
Take a moment to read about some of our colleagues' latest activities in this month's Environmental Factor, the NIEHS newsletter:
Visit the SRP page for more stories about the program.
Iowa SRP Director Interviewed about PCBs on the NCSU Campus
Keri Hornbuckle, director of the University of Iowa SRP Center, was interviewed by Raleigh, North Carolina news station WRAL about testing for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) on the North Carolina State University (NCSU) campus. Hornbuckle explained various types of PCBs and sampling methods.
Kentucky Researcher Addresses Water Quality for Swimming in Waterways
Anna Hoover, a researcher from the University of Kentucky SRP Center, was interviewed by WKYT and UKNow about the safety of swimming in Kentucky waters. Hoover discussed risk perception, water quality guidelines, and health effects of swimming in contaminated waters.
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Linking PFAS Exposure to Liver Toxicity
This month we spoke with Juliana Agudelo Areiza, a trainee mentored by Angela Slitt, Ph.D., at the University of Rhode Island (URI) SRP Center.
What is the focus of your research at the URI SRP Center?
My research focuses on evaluating the presence of PFAS in human liver samples. PFAS are a large class of persistent environmental toxicants. Some legacy PFAS, like perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), are known to cause adverse health effects and accumulate in the liver of many species, but little is known about PFAS concentrations in human livers. Through my research, I hope to better understand how PFAS manufacturing shifts have impacted human exposure, quantify how PFAS are accumulating in the liver, and reveal the biological impact of PFAS exposure on a molecular level.
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How did you become interested in this work?
I became interested in scientific research after completing a summer internship that introduced me to PFAS and environmental toxicology. Upon learning that exposure to some PFAS can result in severe adverse health effects and that PFAS can stay in the body and the environment for years without degrading, I wanted to learn more about them. Knowing that PFAS are still produced and that we only have risk assessment data on a handful of PFAS, I knew right away that I wanted to pursue a doctorate that would allow me to evaluate which PFAS are getting into human bodies and understand how these may be associated with liver toxicity.
You recently received two awards, the 2024 Society of Toxicology Risk Assessment Specialty Section John Doull Risk Assessment Endowment Award and the 2024 Society of Toxicology Mixtures Specialty Section Best Student Abstract Award. Tell us about them and what they meant to you.
Receiving these prestigious awards was extremely meaningful for me because they demonstrated that my project, which I put so much work into, has important implications and contributions to the toxicology field. My project and the awards emphasize the importance of assessing human PFAS exposure in the liver and the need to PFAS as mixtures to improve risk assessments.
What factors have contributed most to your growth as a researcher throughout your time as an SRP trainee?
Having an amazing support system and resources has made a profound difference in my growth as a researcher throughout my time as an SRP trainee. I feel lucky to work with and learn from our own URI team of brilliant scientists across a variety of scientific disciplines. We are a highly collaborative center, which has allowed me to complete laboratory rotations in other URI SRP members’ labs and at collaborating partner labs, like the EPA as part of the K.C. Donnelly Externship Award. My mentor, Angela Slitt, is highly supportive and has always encouraged me to learn other techniques, collaborate in interdisciplinary projects, and attend regional and national scientific conferences which has really made me a well-rounded young scientist.
What is one piece of advice that you have for other SRP trainees?
One piece of advice that I have for other SRP trainees is to have grit. As a first-generation college student, I have come to learn that impactful research comes with many challenges, but you have to keep going and have faith in your capabilities.
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Adding Iron and Nitrate May Remove Arsenic from Groundwater
Adding two widely available fertilizers can form minerals that may remove arsenic from underground water reservoirs, according to a study by researchers from Columbia University SRP Center. The method uses chemical reactions to filter out arsenic, a naturally occurring element that can leach into aquifers and contaminate groundwater.
Previous studies found that combining a solution of iron and nitrate – compounds commonly used as fertilizers – may react to form magnetite, a mineral that can adsorb arsenic. The researchers wanted to see if adding iron and nitrate could remove arsenic in the field. They used field push-pull tests – a method of groundwater research which involves injecting and extracting a test solution from an underground water source – to test the method on an arsenic-contaminated aquifer.
First, the team took samples of groundwater from the contaminated aquifer to measure pre-treatment levels of arsenic. Using an underground pump, the team then injected four cycles of iron and nitrate solution into the aquifer. After allowing the solution to sit for 25 days, the researchers extracted and analyzed samples of the groundwater for arsenic levels. They also analyzed aquifer sediment samples for their magnetite and arsenic content before and after the tests. The push-pull test was repeated after five months.
The scientists found that arsenic levels in the aquifer decreased significantly after injecting the iron and nitrate mixture into the water, before slowly returning to base levels as the solution reacted completely. Sediment samples taken after the tests contained more magnetite than sediment before the test, suggesting that the solution encouraged magnetite formation. Additionally, injecting the solution in the second test caused arsenic levels to decrease again, indicating that this method remains effective after repeated treatment.
According to the researchers, these findings suggest that iron and nitrate injections can be an effective way to remove arsenic from contaminated aquifers. This method could be scaled up to treat large volumes of groundwater at a relatively low cost, they added.
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NIH: Intervention Research to Improve Native American Health
What: Supports research to improve health in Native American populations, including research that will directly inform interventions or adaptations and research that develops, adapts, or tests interventions for health promotion, prevention, treatment, or recovery. When: Applications are due October 1.
NIH: Data Informed, Place-Based Community-Engaged Research to Advance Health Equity
What: Aims to stimulate community-engaged research that leverages geospatial data to probe the influence of geographic factors on disease development and health outcomes, with the goal of using place-based research to help advance health equity in different communities. When: Applications are due October 5.
NIH: Data Science Track Award for Research Transition (D/START)
What: Supports investigators interested in applying cutting-edge data science techniques to address timely and challenging research questions related to substance use or substance use disorder. When: Applications are due October 16.
NIH: Clinical and Translational Science Award Program: Collaborative and Innovative Acceleration Award for Advancing Recruitment through Trial Innovation Network
What: Invites applicants to design, develop, demonstrate, implement, and evaluate innovative tools and resources that will (1) transform, increase, and improve the recruitment of participants in clinical trials and (2) enhance the use of participant-based information that will inform safety and efficacy for improving participants recruitment in clinical trials. When: Applications are due October 18.
NIH: Notice of Intent to Publish a Funding Opportunity Announcement for Environmental Health Disparities Centers (P50)
What: Solicits applications for the Environmental Health Disparities Centers program. The centers will conduct environmental health disparities and environmental justice research, engage in research capacity building, and provide training across diverse disciplines and backgrounds with a disease agnostic focus. When: Applications are due November 1.
NIH: Revolutionizing Innovative, Visionary Environmental Health Research (RIVER)
What: Provides support for outstanding environmental health sciences investigators, giving them intellectual and administrative freedom, and sustained support to pursue their research in novel directions to achieve greater impacts. When: Applications are due November 1.
NIH: NIH Research Software Engineer
What: Provides salary support for exceptional research software engineers that contribute their skills to the development and dissemination of biomedical, behavioral, or health related software, tools, and algorithms as well as the training of prospective users of these tools. When: Applications are due December 4.
NIH: Building Sustainable Software Tools for Open Science
What: Enhances the sustainability and impact of research software tools by enabling the use of best practices and design principles in software development and by leveraging continuing advances in computing. When: Applications are due December 4.
NIH: New Small Business Funding Opportunity for Emerging Entrepreneurs Released
What: Aims to support career development and research and development under a new entrepreneur’s direction. Will provide support for preparing and executing a career development plan to successfully navigate the entrepreneurial process, develop and commercialize products, or operate a small business. When: Applications are due January 5, 2025 and April 5, 2025.
EPA: Models to Predict the Removal of Emerging Micropollutants from Water by Novel Adsorbents in Fixed-Bed Column Processes
What: Through the Innovative Water Technology Grant Program, EPA is seeking applications for research to develop, test, and deploy predictive models for novel adsorbents and estimate the effectiveness of these adsorbents to remove emerging micropollutants in drinking water and wastewater treatment operations. When: Applications are due October 2.
EPA: Developing and Demonstrating Nanosensor Technology to Detect, Monitor, and Degrade Pollutants
What: Through the Science to Achieve Results program, EPA is seeking applications for research to develop and demonstrate nanosensor technology with the potential to detect, monitor, and degrade PFAS in groundwater or surface water that may be used as drinking water sources. When: Applications are due November 13.
EPA: Environmental and Climate Justice Community Change Grants Program
What: Funds environmental and climate justice activities to benefit disadvantaged communities through projects that reduce pollution, increase community climate resilience, and build community capacity to address environmental and climate justice challenges. When: Applications are due November 21.
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September Data Sharing and Reuse Seminar Series
This month’s NIH Data Sharing and Reuse seminar will focus on Climate and Health Outcomes Research Data Systems (CHORDS), presented by Charles Schmitt, Ph.D., and Danielle Braun, Ph.D. The speakers will discuss innovative approaches to data integration, sharing, and analysis in environmental health studies, highlighting the CHORDS project and the Climate Change and Health Research Coordinating Center initiatives. The virtual seminar will be September 13 at 12 p.m. ET. Registration is required.
National Cancer Institute (NCI) Fall Symposium
The NCI Cancer Research Data Commons (CRDC) 2024 Fall Symposium will be held October 16-17. This event will highlight CRDC accomplishments and new initiatives and feature informative sessions on new work, including the AI Data Readiness Initiative and the Biomedical Data Fabric Toolbox.
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Louisiana State University (LSU) graduate student trainee Fox Foley was selected for the KC Donnelly externship program. Fox is conducting research at the Center for Nanoscale Materials Science at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Their research focuses on understanding the atomic details of EPFR chemisorption. (Photo courtesy of LSU SRP Center)
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- The Duke Toxicology Program at the Occupational and Environmental Medicine Division, which provides toxicological evaluations and risk assessments for products, is seeking a new research scientist.
- Texas A&M University has an opening for an assistant/associate professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, teaching undergraduate and graduate courses.
- Baylor College of Medicine’s Center for Precision Environmental Health has several open positions – one for a professor and a research associate.
- The Departments of Environmental Science and Health Studies at American University is seeking applications for a full-time, tenure-track assistant professor.
- The University of California, Davis has an open assistant professor faculty position in the Department of Public Health Sciences, Division of Environmental and Occupational Health.
- The University of Utah is looking for a new assistant professor in environmental data science to start July 2025 in their School of Environment, Society, and Sustainability.
- The University of Texas Health Sciences Center has an opening for an academic chair in their Department of Preventive, Occupational, and Environmental Medicine.
- Open on a continuous basis, EPA has several Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education research projects seeking postdoctoral support.
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Early Life Exposures May Shape Infant Immune System
Watch the latest Research Brief video!
Past Research Briefs are available on the SRP website. To receive the monthly Research Briefs or to submit ideas, email Brittany Trottier (brittany.trottier@nih.gov).
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Opportunities In Population Health Research in Native Communities to Advance Health Equity
September 24-25, 2024 Virtual
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International Society of Exposure Science Annual Meeting: Exposures that Impact Health in Vulnerable Populations
October 20-24, 2024 Montreal, Quebec
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ITRC: Contaminants of Emerging Concern (CEC) Identification Framework Training
October 22, 2024 Virtual
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American Public Health Association (APHA) 2024 Annual Meeting and Expo
October 27-30, 2024 Minneapolis, Minnesota
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ITRC: Microplastics Training
November 7, 2024 Virtual
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2025 Toxicology and Risk Assessment Conference
May 12-15, 2025 Cincinnati, Ohio
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Need to get in touch with an NIEHS SRP staff member? Check out our Contact Staff page. |
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JOIN THE @SRP_NIEHS KNOWLEDGE NETWORK!
NIEHS uses X (formerly Twitter), a popular social media tool, for information sharing through tweets. Many SRP Centers also have accounts, and it would be great if all participated! Follow @SRP_NIEHS to instantly hear news about the program, noteworthy publications, events, and job opportunities for trainees.
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