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Community Engagement Core
Society of Toxicology (SOT) poster presentation
Spearheaded by CSTAC Co-Chair Marilyn Silva, the CEC presented an abstract “Community Outreach and Engagement: Building Partnerships to Promote Health” that Marilyn presented at the Society of Toxicology’s Annual Meeting in March 2022.
High school field trip
The CEC is building connections with local high school science programs as part of EHSC’s commitment to expanding opportunities in environmental health sciences for Black, Indigenous and other students of color (see Anti-Racism Work at EHSC for more). As part of this effort, Sarina Rodriguez recently visited Grant High School in Sacramento, California. Sarina met with teachers to learn about the school and its environmental science program, and spoke to several classes about how her interest in environmentalism blossomed into a desire for a career in public health research. Read about Sarina’s journey here.
Environmental Exposure Core
Meetings
The Exposure Core gathered with other researchers recently to discuss wildfire research. There was an engaging, free flowing conversation that covered a wide range of topics—from metals to organics to toxicity to modeling. It was exciting to see scientists exchange so many ideas. The group is looking forward to sharing again in the future. Find out more about the Environmental Exposure Core.
The EEC’s next meeting will focus on resources at UC Davis that help work with Environmental Justice communities. Once the EEC outlines and shares potential resources with one another, it’ll follow-up with those more involved in community-based work. —Debbie Bennett
Let Debbie Bennett ([email protected]) know if you’re interested in joining either of these discussions.
New project at the tunnel facility
Dr. Peter Havel’s pilot project started up at the tunnel research facility in January 2022. It aims to better understand environmental factors related to Type 2 diabetes and is a collaboration with Dr. Laura Van Winkle, Dr. Anthony Wexler and community partners Kevin Hamilton and Tim Tyner from the Central California Asthma Collaborative.
As the incidence of Type-2 diabetes rises and current treatment provides limited success in preventing long-term morbidity and mortality, more attention is being focused on prevention, such as avoiding or mitigating environmental exposures such as Traffic Related Air Pollution (TRAP).
Dr. Havel’s research team is using a unique rat model of type-2 diabetes developed in his laboratory (“UCD-T2DM rats”) to see if TRAP accelerates the development and progression of diabetes. The team is also investigating if there’s an increase in lung inflammation and metabolically important tissue like the liver, muscle and adipose, along with endoplasmic reticulum stress and impaired insulin signaling.
New mouse facility
A new facility at the tunnel now allows investigators with mouse models to perform exposures on site.
In the works
Dr. Christoph Vogel is working on a new breast cancer research proposal using a mouse model at the tunnel facility. The project is a collaboration with Dr. Colleen Sweeney from the UC Davis Cancer Center and Dr. Michelle LaMerrill from the UC Davis Department of Environmental Toxicology.
When compared with other types of air pollution, there’s a stronger association of breast cancer risk with TRAP and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) exposures, especially for Black and Asian women living in urban areas. This project’s central hypothesis is that real-world exposure to TRAP activates AhR signaling and promotes a pro-tumorigenic microenvironment enabling progressive growth of breast cancer and metastasis.
—Dr. Deborah Bennett and Dr. Anthony Wexler
Integrative Health Sciences Facility Core
New B-SAFE collaboration
The B-SAFE team—Dr. Debbie Bennett, Dr. Katie Conlon and Dr. Tanya Khemet Taiwo—have been working with Elle Ford, MPH, Director, Maternal Infant Health at the California San Francisco Market March of Dimes about what information and materials to share with expectant parents (primarily in the Bay Area) regarding how to protect themselves and their families from wildfire smoke.
—Dr. Rebecca Schmidt
Knights Landing pandemic update
The Knights Landing Environmental Health Project began in 2016 when grad students Skye Kelty and Alfonso Aranda won an Idea Pitch Award from the UC Davis (UCD) Environmental Health Sciences Center to study cancer. Find out how community members played a role.
—Dr. Natalia Deeb Sossa and Skye Kelty, PhD candidate
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)
President Biden’s National Institutes of Health budget included $100 million for research on climate change and health that would go to NIEHS and be distributed through grants from NIEHS and other NIH institutes or centers.
In anticipation, the NIEHS held a symposium that was broadcast widely, on the research needs for addressing the threats to health from wildfires, floods, hurricanes, drought and heat waves. Although initially supported by both the House and the Senate, in the final negotiations on this year’s Budget, Congress eliminated this funding.
—Dr. Irva Hertz-Picciotto
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