News & Events

• CEG News at a Glance, 2022 Sept: PDF
• CEG News at a Glance, 2022 Aug:  PDF

Save the Date: The CEG Annual Research Symposium will be held on Wednesday October 26, 2022, beginning with a 10:00 AM presentation by Robyn L. Tanguay, PhD, University Distinguished Professor in the Department of Environmental and Molecular Toxicology, Oregon State University; Director of the Pacific Northwest Center for Translational Environmental Health Research (NIEHS P30 ES030287); and Principal Investigator of the OSU Superfund Research Program (NIEHS P24 5P42ES016465). Dr. Tanguay will speak on Using Multidimensional Zebrafish Data to Advance Environmental Health Sciences (Kettering Kehoe Auditorium, 10:00 AM). The seminar will be followed by updates on several recent CEG-funded pilot studies with topics including − but not limited to − metals exposure, mitochondrial function and mental health; programming the skin microbiome against environmental pollution, and academic-community partnerships in the study of regional air pollution. All are welcome! Lunch will be provided at no cost (12:15 PM); RSVP required: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/TG38XFV   

Thursday October 13: The Integrative Health Sciences Facilities Core led by Kelly Brunst, PhD, and Jack Rubinstein, MD, will co-host a special epidemiology seminar on observance of Children's Environmental Health Day. Translating Environmental Health Research into Policy Change, to be presented by Nick Newman, DO, MS, FAAP, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Environmental & Public Health Sciences; Co-Director, Community Engagement Core, Center for Environmental Genetics, UC College of Medicine; Director, Environmental Health & Lead Clinic; Cincinnati Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit; Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. 12 Noon - 1 PM, Kettering Kehoe Auditorium (G26). The IHSFC and graduate student organization will co-host a social hour before the seminar. All are welcome; RSVP at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/P566N5K

Four members of the CEG presented their work at the Annual Meeting of NIEHS Environmental Health Sciences Core Centers (EHS CC) at the New York Academy of Medicine in New York City, July 13-15.  This year’s meeting was sponsored by the Transdisciplinary Center on Effects of Early Environmental Exposures (P30 ES023515) and Institute for Exposomic Research at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.  Investigators presenting included

• Angelico Mendy, MD, MPH, PhD.  Co-authors: Aimin Chen, MD, PhD; Kimberly Yolton, PhD. Title of Poster: Early Life Exposure to Replacement Flame Retardants and Child Respiratory Outcomes (Abstract here).
• Susan M. Pinney, PhD, FACE. Co-authors: Marilyn V. Howarth2*, Kathleen M. Vandiver3*, Adrian Wood2, Bob Adams2, Joyce Bentle1, Sharon Cooke-Vargus2, Lisa Crawford1, Graham Mitchell1, Martha K. Stevenson3, Suzanne M. Sullivan3, Kent Meloy1, Kayla McGill1 (1Community Engagement Core, University of Cincinnati Center for Environmental Genetics. 2Community Engagement Core, University of Pennsylvania Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology. 3Community Engagement Core, MIT Superfund Research Program. * contributed equally to the project).  Title of Poster: Lessons Learned Along the Road to Hazardous Waste Clean-up (Abstract here).
• Michelle Burbage, PhD. Co-author: Nicholas Newman, DO, MS, FAAP.  Title of Poster: Fostering Meaningful Bidirectional Community-Academic Engagement (Abstract here.
• Nicholas Newman, DO, MS, FAAP. Co-authors: Reid Hartman, MD; Joseph Kiesler, MD. Title of Poster: Integrating Environmental Medicine into Pre-Clinical Physician Education: Lessons Learned (Abstract here).

Richard Woychik, PhD, Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) visited Cincinnati on May 10 and met with community members and CEG investigators to discuss environmental health issues in Cincinnati:

Pictured above, left to right: Dave Schmitt, executive director, Mill Creek Alliance; Michelle Burbage, PhD, assistant professor, DEPHS; Susan Pinney, PhD, professor and CEG director; Nick Newman, DO, MS, FAAP assistant professor, Department of Pediatrics & CEC leader; Richard Woychik, PhD, director, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences; Liam O’Fallon, health specialist, NIEHS Human Population Branch; George Leikauf, PhD, then-Chair of Environmental & Public Health Sciences; Jagjit Yadav, PhD, CEG deputy director and professor, DEPHS; Katherine Burns, PhD, associate professor, DEPHS; Chuck Doarn, MBA, professor, DEPHS. 

Woychik and Liam O’Fallon, leading specialist in the NIEHS Population Health Branch, joined several DEPHS faculty members in visiting two locations in Cincinnati to discuss environmental health issues. Visit stops included Smale Park along Cincinnati’s waterfront, where Dave Schmitt, executive director of the Mill Creek Alliance, led a discussion on water issues, and Groundwork Ohio River Valley in Price Hill, where Alan Edwards, chief executive officer of the organization, presented their air pollution monitoring project.

“I was especially impressed by the Community Engagement Core that’s under the direction of Dr. Nick Newman,” Woychik said. Newman also is assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics. “And, I was really inspired by the community member presentations from Urban Health Pathway director Dena Cranley and Center for Closing the Health Gap CEO Renee Mahaffey. Visiting the neighborhoods and talking with residents just reinforced the importance that community engagement plays in helping us achieve our mission at NIEHS,” Woychik added.   

The community forum, which was attended by local government and public health officials and community leaders to discuss precision environmental health and its significance for the region, attracted more than 80 people.

Meet our latest New Investigator Awardee (NIA 2022 - 2024) Nalinikanth Kotagiri, Ph.D., MBBS, Assistant Professor, UC College of Pharmacy. Dr. Nalinikanth's research interests are primarily in therapeutic agents, but recently Dr. Kotagiri was awarded a $484,000 DoD grant to protect skin from ultraviolet light: MRP Idea Award: “Engineering skin microbiome to generate natural sunscreens for prevention of melanoma” (Role PI. 7/1/21 – 6/30/24). CEG Associate member. Mentor: Zalfa Abdel-Malek, PhD.

On a biennial basis, the Center for Environmental Genetics may recognize up to three New Investigator Awardees (NIA’s) for a 2-year term. These are promising junior tenure-track faculty members with demonstrated interest in environmental health science. NIA’s receive $25,000 in salary support and associated benefits each year, contingent on 1st year performance.  Applications for New Investigator Awards must include a nomination letter from the proposed mentor, copies of the applicant’s and mentor’s CVs, and a personal statement by the applicant specifying his or her plans for environmental health research over the 2-years of CEG funding. The statement should include planned NIEHS grant submissions. 

The Genomics and Epigenomics Sequencing Core (GESC), managed by Xiang Zhang, PhD, has an online form for requesting services: https://med.uc.edu/depart/eh/cores/genomics/services-and-form. CEG investigators who use GESC services should self-identify as CEG members, in order to enhance Center reporting of research productivity. CEG members also should indicate on the form whether they would additionally like their data to be transferred to the CEG Bioinformatics Core (Director: Mario Medvedovic, PhD). The Bioinformatics Core offers long-term data storage, as well as options for highly sophisticated data analysis.

Integrative Technologies Support (ITS) Core Funding Available: CEG members are eligible for ITS Subsidies (i.e., matching funds) for use of certain cores and services, including Bioinformatics support. PIs with currently funded CEG Pilot awards may receive pro bono Bioinformatics support for the CEG-funded project. Details and an application form can be obtained on the ITS Core Web page.

Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals Research Focus Group meets on the 2^nd Thursday of each month. All are welcome.  For details please contact Katherine Burns, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental and Public Health Sciences. For details about the CEG's ImmunoToxicology Forum contact Jagjit Yadav, PhD.  For details about the Smoking-related Cancers Research Focus Group contact Scott Langevin, MHA, PhD.  All are welcome.

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The Application Submission System & Interface for Submission Tracking (ASSIST) system is used to submit applications electronically to NIEHS and other NIH agencies. It is also used to ensure PIs' compliance with timely reporting of Human Subjects Study inclusion enrollment data, etc. Delays and errors in Human Subjects reporting via ASSIST can jeopardize individual and Center funding; hence, this guidance on Navigating ASSIST for Human Subjects and Clinical Trials, is important for PIs and their staff: PPT slides accessible here (PDF). Webinar recording accessible here (mp4 file).