News and Events

January, 2006,

Presentations:

Daniel Wartenberg, Ph.D., Professor, presented "Environmental Public Health Tracking: The Role of Academic Partners" at the Centers for Disease Control Meeting on Environmental Public Health Tracking: A Comparison of the US and French Experiences in New York, NY on January 27, 2006.

Panos Georgopoulos, Ph.D., Professor, presented "Multiscale plume transport from collapse of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001" at the 86th American Meteorological Society Annual Meeting. Atlanta, GA, on January 29, 2006.

Paul J. Lioy, Ph.D., Professor and Vice Chair, presented "Status of the Study: Personal and Ambient Exposures to Air Toxics in Camden at the Camden County Municipal Utility Authority"  to the Camden Community Meeting on January 18, 2006.

Howard Kipen, M.D., Professor, presented "Diesel Exposures and Cardiopulmonary Disease Gene-Environment-Stress Interactions" at the International Symposium Toxicology of nanomaterials: Biomedical Aspects in Miami, FL, on January 30, 2006.

Grace Lu-Yao, Ph.D., Associate Professor, presented two abstracts, "Prostate cancer screening, treatment and outcomes - a population-based study" and "utility of SEER-Medicare data to identify medical androgen deprivation at the 20006 ASCO Annual meeting.

Publications:

Radican L, Wartenberg D, Rhoads G, Shneider D, Wedeen R, Steward P, Blair A. A retrospective occupational conort study of end-stage renal disease in aircraft workers exposed to trichloroethylene and other hydrocarbons.  Journal of Occupationl and Environmental Medicine. 48: 1-12, January 10, 2006.

S. Garte, B.D. Bernstein, P.J. Lioy, M. Lippmann. Editorial: Norton Nelson' Legacy: The Science of Environmental Health. Environmental Health Perspectives. 114:2 A78-A79, 2006.

Hore P., Zartarian V., Xue J., Ozkaynak H., Wang S.-W ., Yang Y.-C., Chu P.-L., Sheldon L., Robson M., Needham L., Barr D., Freeman N., Georgopoulos P . and Lioy P.J . Children's residential exposure to chlorpyrifos: Application of CPPAES field measurements of chlorpyrifos and TCPy within MENTOR/SHEDs pesticides model. Science of the Total Environment (corrected proof on line) http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2005.10.012

Committees:

Paul Lioy, Ph.D., Professor and Vice Chair , participated in the US EPA's Science Advisory Board Homeland Security Committee, Water Sentinel Program and Standard Analytical Methods, held in Washington , DC , on January 31, 2006.

Awards/Honors:

Environmental Health: From Global to Local was named the winner of the 2005 Award for Excellence in Professional and Scholarly Publishing, Jason Richardson, Ph.D., Assistant Professor , was the author of the Toxicology Chapter of this book.

Daniel Wartenberg, Ph.D., Professor , assumed the Presidency of the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology on January 1, 2006.

Clifford Weisel , Ph.D., Professor, was elected President of the International Society of Exposure Analysis (ISEA) which was established in 1989 to foster and advance the science of exposure analysis related to environmental contaminants, both for human populations and ecosystems.  He will serve one year as President Elect and two years as President of ISEA.

Iris Udasin, M.D., Associate Professor , was interviewed by NJ 101.5 on January 9, 2006, and by Channel 12 on January 11, 2006, regarding the World Trade Center Medical Monitoring Program at EOHSI's Clinical Center .

Grants Submitted:

Grace Lu-Yao, Ph.D., Associate Professor , submitted a grant entitled “Testosterone Supplementation and Risk of Prostate Cancer” to the New Jersey State Commission on Cancer Research on January 15, 2006.

Mona Thiruchelvam, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, submitted a grant entitled “Gender and the Parkinson's Disease Phenotype” to NIH on January 12, 2006.

Howard Kipen, M.D., Professor , submitted a grant entitled “Systematic comparisons of acute health effects from source-oriented particulate matter and components” to the Health Effects Institute on January 15, 2006.

Nancy Fielder, Ph.D., Associate Professor, submitted a grant entitled “Lead exposure, HPA axis dysfunction and blood pressure: hypertension risk”, to NIH on January 6, 2006.

Jason Richardson, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, and Stuart Shalat, Sc.D., Associate Professor, submitted a grant entitled “Environmental and genetic markers in children with ADHD” to NIH on Janaury 15, 2006.

Jeffrey Laskin, Ph.D., Professor , submitted a grant entitled “Effects of phthalates on inflammation and complications of prematurity” to the NIH on January 13, 2006.

April, 2005

RWJMS-Department of Environmental and Occupational Medicine
April, 2005, Monthly Report

Presentations:

Deborah Cory-Slechta, Ph.D., Professor and Chair, presented “Developmental Pesticide Exposures and the Parkinson’s Disease Phenotype” at the Developmental Neuroscience Symposium at Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, on April 1, 2005.

Michael Gallo, Ph.D., Professor, presented “Fostering Wellness in Cancer Survivorship” at Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey, on April 4, 2005.

Iris Udasin, M.D., Associate Professor, presented "Health Effects of Police Officers" at the World Trade Center Worker Conference in New York on April 30, 2005.  This conference was sponsored by the World Trade Center Medical Monitoring Program for which Dr. Udasin is the Principal Investigator.

Howard Kipen, M.D., Professor, presented "Particulate Air Pollution And Myocardial Infarction: Explaining The Connection" at the public hearing on Air Pollution – Effects on Public Health, Health Care Costs, and Health Insurance Costs, NJ Clean Air Council, Department of Environmental Protection in Trenton, New Jersey on April 13, 2005.

Glenn Green, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor, presented “Retronasal Transport and Active Nasal Blocking: Implications for Exposure Studies” at the Annual Meeting of the Association for Chemoreception Sciences in Sarasota Florida, on April 15, 2005.

Howard Kipen, M.D., Professor, presented "Defining Gulf War Illness: Factors, Clusters, and Diagnoses" at the Gulf War and Health Workshop, Institute of Medicine, in Washington, DC on April 20, 2005.

Publications:

Thiruchelvam M , Prokopenko O, Cory-Slechta DA, Richfield EK, Buckley B, Mirochnitchenko O. Overexpression of superoxide dismutase or glutathione peroxidase protects against the paraquat+maneb-induced Parkinson's disease phenotype. J Biol Chem. 2005 Apr 11; [Epub ahead of print]


Committees:

Paul Lioy, Ph.D., Professor and Vice Chair, participated as an observer in the National Homeland Security Exercise implemented in NJ by the Department of Homeland Security called TOPOFF-3 on April 4 and 5, 2005.   Paul Lioy, Ph.D., Professor and Vice Chair, participated as a member of the Clean Air Science Advisory Committee of the USEPA Science Advisory Board on the Review of the Staff Paper for the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Particulate Matter, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, on April 6 and 7, 2005.

Paul Lioy, Ph.D., Professor and Vice Chair, participated as a member of the International Air Quality Advisory Board of the International Joint Commission of the United States and Canada Meeting on Mercury health effects Washington, DC, on April 13 and 14, 2005.

Paul Lioy, Ph.D., Professor and Vice Chair, serves as Vice Chair of the WTC Expert Technical Panel on the status of Clean up and unmet health needs, participated in meetings in Washington, DC, on the status of the EPA proposal for additional indoor testing and clean up on April 27, 2005.


Grants:

Grace Lu-Yao, Ph.D., Associate Professor, received funding from the U.S. Department of Defense for a project entitled “Assessment of Primary Androgen Deprivation Therapy for Non-metastatic Prostate Cancer among Elderly Men” in the amount of $158,000.

February, 2005


RWJMS-Department of Environmental and Occupational Medicine
February, 2005, Monthly Report

Committees:

Deborah Cory-Slechta, Ph.D., Professor and Chair, served as the Chair of the Perfluorooctanoic Acid Risk Assessment Review Panel for the Scientific Advisory Board, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, on February 22-23, 2005.

Grace Lu-Yao, Ph.D., Associate Professor, as selected as a member of the search committee for Associate Director for Population Science search at CINJ.

Paul J. Lioy, Ph.D., Professor and Vice Chair, accepted invitation to serve on the Executive Leadership Group formed for a University Homeland Security Coordinating Group (UHSCG) of the recently established New Jersey Chemical-Biological-Radiological-Nuclear-Explosive (CBRNE) Center for Training and Research at UMDNJ created by Executive Order #20 issued by Governor Codey on February 3, 2005.

Publications:

Rodriguez VM, Thiruchelvam M, and Cory-Slechta DA. 2005. Sustained Exposure to the Widely Used Herbicide Atrazine: Altered Function and Loss of Neurons in Brain Monoamine Systems Environ Health Perspect: doi:10.1289/ehp.7783. [Online 24 February 2005] http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/docs/2005/7783/abstract.html

Presentations:

Paul J. Lioy, Ph.D., Professor and Vice Chair, presented expert testimony at a Public Hearing on Airbourne Particulate Matter Emissions and Health Effects held at the State House in Trenton on February 7, 2005.

Paul J. Lioy, Ph.D., Professor and Vice Chair, presented “ New Jersey Autism Study: The Role of Behavior in Ingestion of Environmental Toxins” at EOHSI on February 14, 2005.

Paul J. Lioy, Ph.D., Professor and Vice Chair, presented at the New Jersey American Industrial Hygiene Association on “ Exposure Analysis and Assessment: The Science and its Application to the Aftermath of the WTC Collapse” on February 17, 2005.

Grants:

Panos Georgopoulos, Ph.D ., Professor, and Paul Lioy, Ph.D., Professor and Vice Chair, received funding in the amount of $250,000 from the Department of Health and Senior Services to study Development of a Computer-Based Planning and Management Support System for Emergency Situations Involving Atmospheric Release of Hazardous Materials in New Jersey.


Research Activities:

Grace Lu-Yao, Ph.D., Associate Professor, initiate a multi-center study to assess the long-term impact of testosterone supplement among elderly men.

January, 2005


RWJMS-Department of Environmental and Occupational Medicine
January, 2005, Monthly Report

Committees:

Deborah Cory-Slechta, Ph.D., Professor and Chair, was selected as Chair of the Perfluorooctanoic Acid Risk Assessment Review Panel for the Scientific Advisory Board, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Paul J. Lioy, Ph.D., Professor and Vice Chair, served as a member of the external review panel at the Department of Environmental Health at the Harvard School of Public Health on January 10 and 11.

Publications:

Lewis JS, Thomas TJ, Pestell RG, Albanese C, Gallo MA, Thomas T. Differential effects of 16{alpha}-hydroxyestrone and 2-methoxyestradiol on cyclin D1 involving the transcription factor ATF-2 in MCF-7 breast cancer cells. J Mol Endocrinol. 2005 Feb;34(1):91-105.

X Xu, CP Weisel Human respiratory uptake of chloroform and haloketones during showering. Journal of Exposure Analysis and Environmental Epidemiology 15(1)6-16, 2005.

QY Meng, BJ Turpin, L Korn, CP Weisel, M Morandi, S Colome, J Zhang, T Stock, D Spektor, A Winer, L Zhang, JH Lee, R Giovanetti, W Cui, J Kwon, S Alimokhtari, D Shendell, J Jones, C Farrar & S Maberti "Influence of ambient (outdoor) sources on residential indoor and personal PM 2.5 concentrations: Analyses of RIOPA data.Journal of Exposure Analysis and Environmental Epidemiology 15(1) 17-28.

Presentations:

Deborah Cory-Slechta, Ph.D., Professor and Chair, was the keynote speaker and presented “ Combined Effects of Pb Exposure and Stress: Implications for Human Health Risk Assessment and Screening” at a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Workshop “Air Quality Criteria for Lead” on January 31, 2005.

Daniel Wartenberg, Ph.D ., Professor, was the featured epidemiologist on a three-hour nationwide webcast by North Carolina State University’s Center for Transportation and the Environment in cooperation with the US Federal Highway Administration on, “Transportation and Public Health: The State of the Science,” on January 12, 2005.

Russell McIntyre, Th.D., Professor, gave a workshop on “Medical Ethics for the 21 st Century: What Every Physician Show Know” at the Annual Leadership Conference for the American Board of Physician Specialists on January 14 in Clearwater, FL.

Research Activities:

Daniel Wartenberg, Ph.D., Professor, has been honored as a “Libra Scholar” in the Department of Applied Medical Sciences at the University of Southern Maine, in conjunction with his faculty renewal leave there this semester.

Tina Fan, Ph.D., Assistant Professor was interviewed by the New Jersey Herald News on January 19 regarding the research for the new U.S. EPA-funded grant where she will conduct a detailed analysis of air pollution in Paterson and its impact on the local residents.

 Grace Lu-Yao, Ph.D., Associate Professor, served as the leader of the prostate cancer focus group and initiated a multi-center study to assess the long-term risk of cancer and CVD associated with testosterone supplements.

Paul J. Lioy, Ph.D., Professor and Vice Chair, participated in a research workshop on the Exposure Modeling Aspects of the Detroit Human Exposure Study on Air Pollution on January 11 in Washington, DC.

 July 2004

Presentations:

Vikram Vyas, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, gave an invited lecture at the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Trenton, NJ, on July 16. The title of the presentation was “Application of Advanced Geostatistical Methods for Characterization of the Kirkwood-Cohansey Aquifer of Southern New Jersey”.

Grants:

Iris Udasin, M.D., Clinical Associate Professor, received a grant from NIH/CDC in the amount of $1,975,938. The grant title is “ Clinical Center for Monitoring Health in World Trade Center Responders” and runs from July 1, 2004, to June 30, 2009.

Paul Lioy, Ph.D., Professor, Panos Georgopoulos, Ph.D., Professor and C. Weisel, Ph.D., Professor, received an award from the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission for of $616,609.00 to conduct a three-year project on “The Baseline Quality of Ambient and Personal Air within the New Jersey Meadowlands District”.

Publications:

Carrillo-Zuniga G, Catriona C, Shalat SL, Freeman NCG, Black K, Jimenez M, Calvin JA, Ramirez J, Marchenko Y, Donnelly KC.  Potential sources of childhood exposure to pesticides.  J Children Health 2004;2:29-39.

Research Project:

Charles Powers, Ph.D., Professor and P.I. of the Consortium for Risk Evaluation with Stakeholder Participation (CRESP) has completed the field phase of its investigation of possible radiation leakage from former underground nuclear tests at Amchitka Island, Alaska, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. This phase, which ran for a two-month period (June-July) this summer, consisted of three separate expeditions to the Aleutians to conduct oceanographic/geophysical and biological sampling, the latter including Aleut subsistence foods, commercial fisheries and ecological risk. Michael Gochfield, M.D., Ph.D., Professor, served as the health and safety officer and participated in the second expedition. Laboratory analysis of specimens is commencing and a final report to the U.S. Department of Energy is anticipated in 2005.