Superfund Research Program
The Long-term Impacts of Early Life Exposure to Superfund Chemicals in Humans and Wildlife
Center Director: David H. Sherr
Grant Number: P42ES007381
Funding Period: 1995-2021
Program Links
Research Briefs
- 313 - New Model to Examine PFAS Sheds Light on Lipid Disruption Mechanisms -- Schlezinger, Webster
Release Date: 01/13/2021Researchers from the Boston University (BU) Superfund Research Program (SRP) Center developed a novel study design that generated new insight on the effects of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) on cholesterol regulation in the liver. Led by Jennifer Schlezinger, Ph.D., the team also investigated the molecular mechanisms of action, focusing on effects of PFOA on the human peroxisome proliferator activated receptor α (hPPARα), a transcription factor that regulates lipid homeostasis.
- 299 - Modeling Approaches Estimate Exposure and Simulate Impacts on Health -- Levy
Release Date: 11/06/2019Researchers from the Boston University (BU) Superfund Research Program (SRP) Center developed and applied novel statistical models to cost-effectively predict chemical exposures and their associated harm to human health in large populations. These statistically powerful approaches can address the challenges of measuring exposures for large populations and quantifying the health benefits of exposure reduction.
- 294 - New Method Quickly Screens Chemicals for Cancer Risk -- Monti
Release Date: 06/05/2019Boston University (BU) researchers, in collaboration with researchers at the National Toxicology Program (NTP) and the Broad Institute, have developed and evaluated a new approach to assess whether exposure to a chemical increases a person’s long-term cancer risk. The fast, cost-effective method uses gene expression profiling, which measures the activity of a thousand or more genes to capture what is happening in a cell. Based on gene expression profiling data, the researchers were able to infer specific biological changes at the cellular level and predict potential carcinogenicity of chemicals, or the ability of chemicals to cause cancer.