Environmental Factor - July 2020

Environmental Factor - July 2020

New NIEHS Director Rick Woychik will lead with innovation Woychik will lead research into environmental influences on human health and serve as director of the National Toxicology Program.

National Academies asks experts to explore aging, environment interplay As one ages, the body responds differently to chemicals in the environment; in turn, exposures — even in early life — affect aging processes.

COVID-19 disparities tackled by National Institutes of Health NIEHS encourages grant recipients to participate in the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics for Underserved Populations initiative.

DNA repair discovery holds promise for precision cancer therapy NIEHS and Canadian scientists discover that cancer cells with mutated BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes died when they lacked a protein called APE2. NIEHS to lead trans-NIH metabolomics and lipidomics consortium NIEHS will coordinate the standardization of National Institutes of Health analysis methods for metabolic breakdown products. Bold plan to study gene-environment interactions presented to council The NIEHS advisory board discussed a new effort to tackle common diseases and approved a proposal to expand environmental health education. Reductions in animal testing celebrated at national meeting The Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Methods spotlighted federal efforts to use new research approaches. Canine companions shed light on chemicals and disease NIEHS grantees study pet dogs to better understand how human exposure to everyday chemicals may lead to cancer and other conditions. Linking exposures to later-life disease — webinars draw hundreds NIEHS grant recipients and staff make connections between chemical exposures and latent disease risk. NIEHS fellows stand out at 2021 FARE competition Seventeen high-scoring postdoctoral fellows from NIEHS win travel funds in the annual National Institutes of Health research contest. No clear guidelines on self-plagiarism in science, Moskovitz says The Duke University professor’s Text Recycling Research Project aims to help scientists and editors deal with the ambiguity. Feds Feed Families by giving online Amid the global pandemic, the annual federal employee food drive innovates to serve record numbers of hungry people.

Innovative ALS research fueled by $25 million from NIH New initiative encourages research to transform treatment and prevention of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a devastating disease. Nearness to oil and gas wells linked with low birth weight NIEHS-funded researchers find that pregnant women who lived close to wells in rural areas were more likely to have smaller babies. Birth defects group honors NIEHS scientists for research, service The Society for Birth Defects Research and Prevention celebrates work of institute scientists at annual meeting. Climate change worsens air pollution, extreme weather, expert says Jason West described how unchecked greenhouse gas emissions could reduce air quality and intensify hurricanes. Certain pesticides linked to kidney cancer in agricultural workers New findings from the Agricultural Health Study suggest exposure to certain pesticides may increase risk of renal cell carcinoma. Botanical researchers aim to fill gap in safety testing Members of the Botanical Safety Consortium discussed the challenges of studying how plant-based diet supplements may affect health. Low-cost approach may lower adolescent pesticide exposure Young workers in Egypt who apply pesticides adopted safer practices after low-cost intervention. In memoriam: Eula Bingham and Kirk Smith, public health champions Bingham’s leadership in occupational safety and Smith’s groundbreaking research into indoor air pollution inspired people around the world.

Extramural papers of the month •    New database facilitates nanomaterial research •    Microglial exosomes linked to Parkinson's disease •    How traffic-related air pollution may affect brain development •    Flame retardants may affect future generations via changes in sperm

Intramural papers of the month •    Perinatal boric acid exposure causes growth restriction in rats •    Differential DNA methylation found in adult asthma •    Tankyrase required for normal embryo development in mice •    Ubiquitin regulates removal of TOP2 DNA-protein crosslinks via TDP2 •    Webtool predicts signal interference during high-throughput screening