Environmental Factor - October 2019

Environmental Factor - October 2019

October 2019

Check out the October Environmental Factor for tributes to retiring Director Linda Birnbaum, Ph.D., including one in the Congressional Record! Other stories highlight a symposium where the first post-Harvey disaster research response findings were shared, and a clinical study that upends assumptions about fat and puberty.

Read further to learn about research findings, scientific events, awards, and updates from NIEHS staff, grantees, fellows, and students. As always, we hope there is something for everyone. We welcome ideas for stories, as well as other feedback.

Kelly Lenox

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Birnbaum tribute highlights council meeting Gratitude and praise marked the director’s last council session as chair. A Capitol Hill reception further honored her legacy as a scientist and public servant. Disaster research planning pays off after hurricane The first data from environmental health studies launched after Hurricane Harvey were shared at a Baylor College of Medicine symposium. Body weight, early puberty in girls analyzed by NIEHS researchers The research is part of a larger effort to learn how obesity affects girls’ pubertal development.

Symposium honors distinguished NIEHS researcher Friends and colleagues of Thomas Kunkel, Ph.D., celebrated his achievements and shared research inspired by his groundbreaking work. Rare disease group earns praise for international collaboration NIEHS clinical researchers accepted an award on behalf of the International Myositis Assessment and Clinical Studies Group. NIEHS partners with Apple and Harvard to study women’s health NIEHS involved in innovative study to provide better information for tailoring health advice to specific groups of women. Anticancer protein is linked to severity of viral disease in infants The p53 tumor suppressor protein — well known as the guardian of the genome — may also play a more obscure role guarding immune integrity. PFAS front and center at fellow's talk in Chapel Hill The National Toxicology Program’s Bevin Blake discussed potential health risks posed by these chemicals — and how scientists are responding. New technique reveals how mitochondria respond to exposures NIEHS grantees developed a tool that showed how certain exposures in mitochondria led to damage to the ends of chromosomes, or telomeres. Early-life origins of health and disease explored at national conference Researchers from around the country met in Chapel Hill to share their recent findings. Milestones in service to American people honored at annual ceremony NIEHS employees were celebrated for their many years of contributions to the institute and other federal agencies. NIEHS shines spotlight on fellows The trainees’ hard work was recognized during a week of games, good food, and networking events. Topic of opioids in the workplace stirs emotion at council meeting The NIEHS Worker Training Program is helping individuals across the country avoid the dangers of addiction. Extramural papers of the month •    Women with gestational diabetes may transfer more PFAS to fetus •    Mitochondrial chain reaction damages telomeres •    Changes in brain activity linked to prenatal pesticide exposure •    Cataloguing genetic diversity of the human microbiome Intramural papers of the month •    NTP collaboration enhances multiwalled carbon nanotubes research •    Protein curvature can dictate target specificity •    Pesticide exposure during pregnancy associated with poor fetal growth •    Small particles in air pollution associated with epigenetic age •    Pol Mu allows insertion of mutagenic damage during repair