Superfund Research Program
Research Experience & Training Coordination Core
Project Leader: James Ankrum
Co-Investigators: Jonathan A. Doorn, Gregory LeFevre, Rachel F. Marek
Grant Number: P42ES013661
Funding Period: 2006-2025
Project-Specific Links
Final Progress Reports
PublicationsConnect with the Grant Recipients
Final Progress Reports
The Training Core of the Iowa Superfund Research Program at the University of Iowa (ISRP) is charged with identifying and recruiting quality students, to provide outstanding cross-disciplinary learning and laboratory training, and to build personal and professional connections among students and with leaders in their field, government employees and stakeholders
The Training Core provides partial funding for up to 2 years for graduate students who work on Superfund-related topics. In 2009, 14 students from areas as diverse as Human Toxicology, Radiation Oncology, Pharmacy, and Environmental Engineering, representing no less than four colleges, were financially supported. In addition to students, one post-doc received financial support to travel to another Superfund group to learn specific methods. This interaction between Superfund groups is an efficient use of funds to increasing the knowledge base in each group and the core hopes promote this type of interaction in the future years.
In the ISRP all students and post-docs are expected to participate in the program’s monthly Superfund Meetings. In these 1½ to 2 hour meetings, the research and results of one core or research project is presented, which usually is accompanied by a lively discussion among all participants, including the students, during which methods, results and future plans are explained in detail. These meetings have proven to be an excellent tool to achieve interdisciplinary learning and understanding among our students, post-docs, and also faculty and scientists whose backgrounds are chemistry, biology, toxicology, engineering, pharmacology and others and become more comfortable and able to communicate and interact with the other disciplines.
The Training Core also strongly interacts with the new Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Human Toxicology at UI. This program, now in its 3rd year, is observing a strong, steady increase in student applications each year, a good sign for the future of this program which had been dormant for decades, but has its roots in the famous toxicology program at UI which produced no less than seven former Presidents of the SOT during the 1970’s and 1980’s. Superfund members from 4 Colleges are faculty members of this new interdisciplinary graduate program and without doubt the co-existence of these two programs, Iowa Superfund and Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Human Toxicology, is an excellent recruitment tool for both programs.
The most astonishing and positive aspect of the training in the Iowa Superfund Research Program is, however, the enormous success of the program’s students and post-docs. The program strongly supports the participation of students and post-docs in local, national, and even international meetings and program trainees are very eager to take advantage of this opportunity. The quality of the program’s Trainees and their significant contributions to research is best reflected in the many prizes and awards that they obtain: Xin Hu received a best student poster award at the SRP meeting in NY in November, Dr. Isabella Korwel and Dr. Wei Xie were awarded the prize for best post-doc poster and best post-doc oral presentation, respectively, at the Central States SOT Meeting in Ames, IA in August, to name just a few. Moreover, the Training program had its first graduates this year, who all continue to work in research. Nothing is more gratifying for the faculty members of the Iowa Superfund Research Program than the success and happiness of their trainees – the program wishes them plenty of both for their future.