News Items: University of California-Davis

Superfund Research Program

Analytical Chemistry Core

Project Leader: Jun Yang
Co-Investigators: Bruce D. Hammock, Bruce A. Buchholz (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)
Grant Number: P42ES004699
Funding Period: 1995-2022

Project-Specific Links

News Items List

• Researchers Identify Compounds that Reduce Abnormal Blood Vessel Growth in the Eye
  Research Brief - July 2018
  Scientists have identified key compounds produced when the body metabolizes omega fatty acids that can reduce the severity of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in mice. By increasing these lipid metabolites and preventing them from degrading, the researchers reduced abnormal blood vessel growth, in part by regulating the movement of inflammatory immune cells into the retina.
  

• Enzyme plays key role in Parkinson's disease
  Paper of the Month - July 2018
  New research by NIEHS grantees and colleagues suggested an enzyme in the brain plays a key role in Parkinson's disease (PD). Scientists demonstrated that inhibiting the enzyme soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH) in mice helped curb the inflammation associated with the development and progression of PD.
  

• Enzyme plays key role in Parkinson's disease and inflammation
  Environmental Factor - June 2018
  New research partially funded by NIEHS suggests an enzyme in the brain plays a key role in Parkinson's disease (PD). Scientists demonstrated that inhibiting an enzyme known as soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH) can help curb the inflammation associated with the development and progression of PD.
  

• Possible explanation for male and female cardiovascular differences
  Paper of the Month - March 2018
  NIEHS grantees discovered that estrogen can block the function of soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH), an enzyme in cells that degrades chemically stable fatty acid metabolites. Because inhibition of sEH can be cardioprotective, this finding may help explain why women generally have a lower incidence of cardiovascular disease than men.
  

• FDA ban on antibacterials in soaps informed by SRP research
  Environmental Factor - October 2016
  The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a rule Sept. 2 banning 19 antibacterial chemicals as ingredients in over-the-counter (OTC) antibacterial hand and body washes. Development of the final rule was informed by research that included several studies from scientists supported by the NIEHS Superfund Research Program (SRP).
  

• Anti-inflammatory chemical may offer new tool for depression treatment
  Paper of the Month - May 2016
  An NIEHS grantee and colleagues discovered that a chemical inhibitor of the soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH) enzyme may be a new tool to treat depression. The enzyme plays a key role in inflammation, which is involved in depression.
  

• Hammock recognized with first McGiff Memorial Award
  Environmental Factor - April 2016
  NIEHS grantee Bruce Hammock, Ph.D., a toxicologist and entomologist at the University of California, Davis (UCD), is the first recipient of the John C. McGiff Memorial Award for Contributions to Eicosanoid Research. 
  

• Chemical Discovered at UC Davis May Be New Tool for Depression Therapy
  SRP News Page - March 2016
  A chemical discovered at the University of California (UC) Davis may be a new, innovative tool to control depression, a severe and chronic psychiatric disease that affects 350 million people worldwide.
  

• UC Davis Researchers Find Key Mechanism that Causes Neuropathic Pain
  SRP News Page - July 2015
  Scientists at the University of California, Davis (UC Davis) have identified a key mechanism in neuropathic pain. The discovery could eventually benefit millions of patients with chronic pain from trauma, diabetes, shingles, multiple sclerosis, or other conditions that cause nerve damage.
  

• Applying SRP Tools to Detect Environmental Contaminants in California
  SRP News Page - August 2014
  A Superfund Research Program (SRP) grantee presentation has shown how biochemical tests can be shared. University of California, Davis (UC Davis) SRP project leader Shirley Gee explained how the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) can apply UC Davis immunoassay technologies to detect environmental chemicals.
  

• SRP grantee receives prestigious Brodie Award
  Environmental Factor - March 2014
  Bruce Hammock, Ph.D., a longtime NIEHS Superfund Research Program (SRP) grantee, was honored by the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET) with the biennial Bernard B. Brodie Award in Drug Metabolism.
  

• Research supported by NIEHS informs policy and regulatory discussion
  Environmental Factor - February 2014
  NIEHS-funded researchers found themselves at center stage in the national discussion concerning policy and regulatory issues related to environmental public health.