NIEHS Spotlight

NIEHS Holds Ribbon Cutting for Clinical Research Unit

Friends, supporters and dignitaries flocked to the NIEHS campus on July 27 in precedent-setting numbers to celebrate the grand opening of the Institute's much anticipated Clinical Research Unit (CRU).. ...read more

Birnbaum Maintains High Profile as Environmental Health Spokesperson

In the space of just over two weeks, NIEHS and National Toxicology Program (NTP) Director Linda Birnbaum, Ph.D., spread her message of renewal and challenge to hundreds more people nationwide, underscoring the urgency of promoting environmental public health and reducing adverse health effects of chemical exposures. ...read more

Speakers Present a Strategy for Sustainability

According to a team of public health scientists speaking at NIEHS on July 21, broad-based acceptance of sustainability as a guiding principle for science, economics and society will require changes in attitudes about evaluation of risk from chemicals, an acceptance of scientific uncertainty, and what might seem to be unlikely partnerships. ...read more

Meet Rachel Gross - A Stimulus Funding Success Story

During the past year, timing - good and bad - has played an important role in the life of Rachel Gross, newly hired management analyst for the NIEHS Division of Extramural Research and Training (DERT) Office of the Director. ...read more

Robertson Promotes NIEHS at SLA Centennial

NIEHS Library Director Dav Robertson was in Washington June 14-17 in his role as chair of the Special Libraries Association (SLA) Centennial Commission and 2009 Conference Committee, when the group celebrated its 100th anniversary at the annual meeting at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. ...read more

Grant Named to Board of Bioscience Education Group

On July 1, NIEHS Deputy Chief of the Comparative Medicine Branch Mary Grant, V.M.D., began a three-year term as a member of the board of directors of the North Carolina Association for Biomedical Research (NCABR). ...read more

NTP Leadership Looks Forward at Summer Board Meeting

When the National Toxicology Program (NTP) Board of Scientific Counselors (BSC) met at NIEHS July 23-24, the group faced the usual order of business with reviews, reports, nominations and concepts, and interagency agreements. Early in the meeting, members also learned of new developments on the horizon in regard to public health and communication of potential health risk, as the NTP enters its fourth decade and evolves to meet the challenge of the NTP Vision for the 21st Century. ...read more

NIEHS Launches Intramural Awareness Campaign

As part of a three-month NIH-wide campaign to raise the visibility of the Intramural Program, investigators in the NIEHS Division of Intramural Research (DIR) staffed a table at the Institute's cafeteria on July 20 and handed out nearly 75 promotional coffee mugs. ....read more

Superfund Holds Teacher Workshop on Water Quality

Hundreds of middle and high school students will be learning about the latest advances in water quality research and remediation this academic year, thanks to the NIEHS-funded University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH) Superfund Research Program (SRP). ...read more

SOT Holds Reception for Birnbaum

The Society of Toxicology (SOT) honored its former president, NIEHS and National Toxicology Program (NTP) Director Linda Birnbaum, Ph.D., with a Capitol Hill reception on July 8 in Washington. ...read more

High School Researcher at Dartmouth Wins Award

Nick Sinnott-Armstrong, a high-school student who completed a summer research project in the Dartmouth College Superfund Research Program (SRP), took first prize for his work in a programming contest at the Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference (GECCO), held July 8-12 in Montreal.. ...read more

Friends and Colleagues Mourn the Passing of K.C. Donnelly

Following an extended battle with esophageal cancer, long-time Superfund Research Program (SRP) grantee K. C. Donnelly, Ph.D., died on July 1 in College Station, Texas at age 57. He is survived by his wife, Ruth, two sons and daughters-in-law, brother and sister. ...read more

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Inside the Institute

Community Support Aids Green Science Camp

The Durham Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority provided a fun-filled day for children and adults with a focus on green science at the fourth annual Science and Everyday Experiences (SEE) day camp on July 11. ...read more

Wilcox Wows the Crowd at Science Café

Speaking at the Broad Street Café in Durham, N.C. on July 14, NIEHS epidemiologist Allen Wilcox, M.D., Ph.D., gave an informal talk on human fertility to a capacity audience made up largely of non-scientists. The talk was one of the Science Café's "Periodic Tables" events organized by the Museum of Life and Science in Durham. ...read more

Science Notebook

Program Kicks Off Active Learning Format for Summer Interns

NIEHS Summers of Discovery students got their first taste of the program's new emphasis on active learning during a July 1 seminar on DNA repair, presented by NIEHS Principal Investigator Thomas Kunkel, Ph.D. . ...read more

Public Comments Invited on Ocular Safety Testing Recommendations

The National Toxicology Program (NTP) Interagency Center for the Evaluation of Alternative Toxicological Methods (NICEATM), in conjunction with the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Methods (ICCVAM), announced the availability of an independent scientific peer review panel report on alternative ocular safety testing methods and approaches and invited public comments in the July 13 issue of the Federal Register. ...read more

Sun Exposure May Trigger Certain Autoimmune Diseases in Women

Ultraviolet (UV) radiation from sunlight may be associated with the development of certain autoimmune diseases, particularly in women, according to a new study by researchers at the NIEHS. ...read more

NIEHS Investigators Explore Biochemical Causes of Mitochondrial Disease

A recent study published in the July 17 issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry explored how certain DNA mutations may contribute to genesis and progression of mitochondrial diseases. ...read more

Mouse Model Shows Early Symptoms of Parkinson's Disease

In a new study funded in part by NIEHS and published in the June 24 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience, Emory University scientists unveiled a new mouse model with reduced monoamine storage capacity that manifests the early non-motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD). ...read more

Child's IQ Can Be Affected by Mother's Exposure to Urban Air Pollutants

A mother's exposure to urban air pollutants known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) can adversely affect a child's intelligence quotient or IQ, a new study in the journal Pediatrics reports. ...read more

New Treatment May Help with Side Effects of Chemotherapy

A new study funded in part by NIEHS reports experimental findings that may help prevent a dangerous side effect of the widely used chemotherapeutic drug cisplatin. ...read more

Combined Biomarkers Improve Accuracy of Prostate Cancer Detection

According to data from 2004-2006, the National Cancer Institute estimates that one in six American men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during their lifetime. Since early detection of the disease increases the likelihood of survival, physicians routinely use serum prostate specific antigen (PSA) screening and subsequent tissue biopsy to determine whether a patient has prostate cancer. ...read more

This Month in EHP

The August issue of Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP) explores "The Future of Toxicity Testing" with a Focus article on the Tox21 partnership of the National Toxicology Program, the NIH Chemical Genomics Center and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that seeks to transform toxicology testing for the 21st century. ...read more

David Sinclair to Present Distinguished Lecture
August 11

The 2008-2009 NIEHS Distinguished Lecture Series will conclude August 11 with a talk by Harvard University molecular geneticist David Sinclair, Ph.D. Sinclair's lecture on "Pathways That Control the Pace of Aging and Disease: Prospects for New Medicines" will begin at 11:00 a.m. in Rodbell Auditorium and be hosted by NIEHS Mammalian Aging Group Principal Investigator Xiaoling Li, Ph.D. ...read more

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Extramural Research

Extramural Update

Pursuant to its role under the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (SARA), on July 9 the NIEHS Worker Education and Training Program issued Requests for Applications (RFAs) for two new funding opportunity announcements (FOAs)- Hazardous Materials Worker Health and Safety Training (RFA-ES-09-004) and Hazmat Training at Department of Energy (DOE) Nuclear Weapons Complex (RFA-ES-09-003). ...read more

Extramural Papers of the Month

• HLA-DR4 - Possible Risk Gene for Autism
• Endocrine Society Position Statement on Endocrine Disruptors
• Bisphenol A Study Shows Reproductive Health Effects
• New Method May Accelerate Drug Discovery for Parkinson's

Intramural Research

Intramural Papers of the Month

• Multivitamin Intake Is Associated with Longer Telomeres
• Pesticides Are Associated With Allergic Asthma in Male Farmers
• A Missense Mutation in repro32 Mutant Male Mice Causes Infertility
• Elucidation of the Cu,Zn-Superoxide Dismutase Peroxide Cycle

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Calendar of Upcoming Events

• August 4 in Rodbell Auditorium, 8:00-6:00 - International Office Seminar
• August 5 in Rodbell Auditorium, 11:00-12:00 - Summers of Discovery Seminar Series on "Basic Concepts of Epidemiology" with Dale Sandler, Ph.D., and Allen Wilcox, M.D., Ph.D.
• August 6 in Rodbell Auditorium, 7:00-5:00 - Community Resources Festival
• August 11 in Rodbell Auditorium, 11:00-12:00 - Distinguished Lecture Seminar Series featuring David Sinclair, Ph.D., speaking on "Pathways that Control the Pace of Aging and Disease: Prospects for New Medicines"
• August 12-14 in Rodbell Auditorium, 8:00-5:00 - Obesity and the Built Environment Grantee Meeting
• August 31 in Rall F193, 1:00-2:30 - Seminar on "Properties of Yeast DNA Polymerase Epsilon - Implications for Leading Strand Synthesis" with Erik Johansson, Ph.D.
• September 1 in Rodbell Auditorium, 1:00-5:30 - NIEHS Genomics Day

View More Events: NIEHS Public Calendar

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The Environmental Factor is produced monthly by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) (http://www.niehs.nih.gov/), Office of Communications and Public Liaison. The content is not copyrighted, and it can be reprinted without permission. If you use parts of Environmental Factor in your publication, we ask that you provide us with a copy for our records. We welcome your comments and suggestions. (bruskec@niehs.nih.gov)