Environmental Factor, November 2008, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
NIEHS Spotlight
Workshop Explores Opportunities in the Green Economy
From the manufacture of rain barrels to the retrofitting of older homes, the emerging green economy promises to have a fundamental impact on the way people will work and live in the future. ...read more
Postdocs Win SOT Awards
Two NIEHS postdoctoral fellows will be adding to their CVs and their bank accounts as a result of their winning posters in the North Carolina Society of Toxicology (NCSOT) President’s Award for Research Competition. ...read more
NIEHS Scientists Shine at Research Festival
NIEHS and National Toxicology Program (NTP) scientists were among the thousands of people attending the 21st annual NIH Research Festival October 14-17. ...read more
Health Research Loses Faithful Supporter
On October 15, the health research community was saddened to learn of the death of retired U.S. Congressman Paul Rogers, 87, two days earlier at a hospital in Washington. ...read more
Nobel Winner Is Superfund Grantee
One of this year’s Nobel Prize for Chemistry winners, Roger Tsien, Ph.D. has a history of grant awards from the NIEHS Superfund Basic Research Program (SBRP) ...read more
Suk and Perera Honored for Advocacy
Veteran NIEHS leader Bill Suk, Ph.D., and NIEHS grantee Frederica Perera, Dr.PH., of Columbia University were honored for their advocacy of children’s health in separate ceremonies held during October in Washington, D.C. and New York City by the Children’s Environmental Health Network (CEHN). ...read more
NIH Holds Tribute for Johnson-Thompson
On October 9, NIH held its own tribute and reception for former NIEHS Director of Education and Biomedical Research Development Marian Johnson-Thompson, Ph.D., in the Cloisters Building on the Bethesda campus. ...read more
ICs Announce Epigenomics Grants
NIEHS is one of six institutes and centers (ICs) that announced the award of $18 million in 2008 grants on September 29 as part of the $190 million, five-year trans-NIH Roadmap Epigenomics Program. ...read more
Environmental Justice Advocate Speaks at EPA
As part of its ongoing Environmental Justice (EJ) Series, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) hosted Vernice Miller-Travis on September 30 at the EPA auditorium in RTP. ...read more
Working with the Media to Communicate Science
The NIEHS Office of Communications and Public Liaison (OCPL) recognizes the important role that the media can play in helping NIEHS communicate its research to the American public. ...read more
Inside the Institute
Hispanic Heritage Talk Focuses on U. S.-Mexico Binational Programs
On September 25 in Rodbell Auditorium, NIEHS Superfund Basic Research Program (SBRP) grantees Denise Moreno Ramírez and Monica Ramírez participated in the NIEHS Hispanic Heritage Month celebration with their joint presentation. ...read more
Employee Services Holds Science Manager/Leader Seminar
According to NIEHS Manager of Employee Services Dona McNeill, competent scientists stand to benefit from specialized training in how to be competent managers and leaders. ...read more
Vocational Rehab Featured For Disability Awareness Month
October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month, and the NIEHS Disability Advocacy Committee (DAC) celebrated the contributions of “differently-abled” individuals by offering several events. ...read more
Hispanic Heritage Month Reception
Following the Hispanic Heritage Month Lecture on September 25, NIEHS staffers and guests flocked to the Rall Building Cafeteria for food, entertainment and a glimpse into the cultures of several Latin countries. ...read more
Intramural Research
Intramural Papers of the Month
Science Notebook
Distinguished Lecture on Biology of DNA
Many scientists have uncovered the mechanisms involved in DNA replication, repair and recombination. One of those researchers, Tom Ellenberger, D.V.M., Ph.D., visited NIEHS recently and gave a seminar that focused on his contribution to this body of knowledge. ...read more
GEMS Meeting Highlights Inflammation in Cancer
Members of the Genetics and Environmental Mutagenesis Society (GEMS) gathered in the Radisson Hotel in RTP for the group’s 26th annual Fall Meeting on October 6. ...read more
Air Pollution Linked to Cognitive Deficits and Brain Abnormalities
A new NIEHS-funded study available online from the journal Brain and Cognition offers compelling evidence of the significant effects of ambient air pollution on structural alterations in brain and cognitive deficiencies in healthy children and dogs from two Mexican cities. ...read more
Vitamin D Insufficiency Common in Parkinson’s Patients
A team of investigators at the Emory University School of Medicine, funded by an NIEHS grant and grants from other NIH institutes, recently reported that a significant portion of Parkinson’s patients suffer from vitamin D insufficiency. ...read more
Study Finds Elevated PBDEs in California
Investigators funded by an NIEHS Environmental Justice Program grant report high levels of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), ubiquitous compounds used as a fire retardant in furniture, in the house dust and serum of people living in California. Serum levels of the compound penta-BDE in residents of California were twice the national average. ...read more
Healing Process Found to Backfire in Lung Patients
A mechanism in the body that typically helps a person heal from an injury may actually be causing patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) to get worse, researchers at NIEHS and their collaborators have found. . ...read more
Superfund Study Detects PCB11 in Ambient Air
A new year-long study conducted by researchers at the University of Iowa (UI) Superfund Basic Research Program (SBRP) reports finding unexpectedly high levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), particularly PCB11 (3,3’-dichlorobiphenyl), pervasive in Chicago’s urban air. ...read more
Calendar of Upcoming Events
- November 5 (Offsite Event)
in the William T. Young Library Auditorium at the University of Kentucky
8:30 – 12:00
NIEHS Acting Deputy Director Bill Suk, Ph.D., and NIEHS grantee Phil Landrigan, M.D., present the inaugural keynote talks in the university’s John P. Wyatt Lecture Series - November 6
in Rodbell Auditorium
8:30 – 5:00
Science Day, Agenda TBA - November 7
in Rodbell A
10:30 – 12:30
Laboratory of Reproductive and Developmental Toxicology Lecture Series with Frederike Jayes, D.V.M., Ph.D., addressing “Estrogen Receptor Function Within the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Ovarian Axis” - November 8 (Offsite Event)
at the Hamner Conference Center at 15 T.W. Alexander Drive in RTP
4:00
2nd Biennial GlaxoSmithKline-American Foundation for Aging Research Symposium keynote talk on “Challenges and Opportunities in Aging Research” with Richard B. Hodes, M.D., follows a full day of student presentations and a 3:30 reception - November 13 - 14 (Offsite Event)
at the Winfrey Hotel in Birmingham, Ala.
Breast Cancer and the Environment Research Centers 5th Annual Early Environmental Exposures Meeting - November 14 (Offsite Event)
in Alumni Hall at the UNC-Chapel Hill Carolina Club
8:00 – 6:00
Carolina Center of Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence 2nd Annual Cancer Nanotechnology Symposium (Registration (http://cancer.med.unc.edu/ccne/symposium/) ) - November 17 - 18 (Offsite Event)
at the National Academy of Sciences Building in Washington, D.C.
“Value in Health Care: Accounting for cost, quality, safety, outcomes and innovation” - November 20 - 21
in Rodbell Auditorium
8:30 – 5:00
NTP Board of Scientific Counselors Meeting - November 21 (Offsite Event)
in G202 at the UNC-Chapel Hill Medical Biomolecular Research Building
12:00 – 1:00
NIEHS grantee Laura Niedernhofer, M.D., Ph.D., exploring “The Contribution of DNA Damage to Aging and Age-related Disease”
View More Events: NIEHS Public Calendar
Extramural Research
Extramural Update
As part of its role in the NIH Countermeasures Against Chemical Threats (CounterACT) program, NIEHS will provide oversight of one new Research Center of Excellence at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and one project at Duke University created this summer to develop therapeutics for chlorine-induced pulmonary damage. These awards augment the existing NIEHS portfolio within the NIH CounterACT program to develop therapeutics for lung injury induced by chemical threats such as chlorine, sulfur mustard, sarin, phosgene and acrolein. ... read more