Environmental Health Sciences Research Center

University of Iowa College of Public Health

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Archives for 2024

Save the Date: 2025 Iowa PFAS Conference

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EHSRC is sponsoring the 2025 Iowa PFAS Conference, hosted jointly by the Iowa State Hygienic Laboratory and the College of Engineering at the University of Iowa. The conference will be held April 15-16, 2025, at the Graduate by Hilton Iowa City and the University of Iowa campus.

The conference is designed to exchange ideas and findings, provide learning and networking opportunities, and explore new ways to test and deal with PFAS in environmental and biological samples. It has the following objectives:

  • Create a learning environment to share ideas and findings about PFAS
  • Bring faculty members, researchers, staff, and students to one place where they can discuss PFAS-related projects
  • Create highly collaborative environment to work on current and future PFAS-related projects
  • Share information and resources with local agencies and public health officials
  • Discuss current and future plans to test and monitor for PFAS contamination
  • Establish collaborative work between faculty, researchers, local agencies, and public health professionals to address current and future PFAS exposure and health-related issues.

Introducing the 2024-2025 CERT Fellows

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The EHSRC Community Engagement Core is pleased to announce the 2024-2025 Community Engagement and Research Translation Fellows.  The CERT fellowship funding will facilitate developing relationships and solving environmental health challenges in collaboration with audiences appropriate to the Fellow’s research, including community members, community-based organizations, clinicians, or others, to create new outputs of their research that are produced in collaboration with these stakeholders.

 

Selected projects:

Improving Environmental Health Literacy and Dissemination within the Latino Community; Principal Investigator: Olivia Croskey DNP, ARNP, Clinical Assistant Professor, UI College of Nursing

Manufactured Home Residents Advocacy and Organizing for Environmental Health Concerns; Co-Principal Investigators: Jessica Andino, MPH, PhD Candidate in Community and Behavioral Health and Sophia Wilson, Masters of Public Affairs Student

 

For more info about the CERT fellowship visit https://ehsrc.public-health.uiowa.edu/member-resources-opportunities/cert-fellowship/

 

Spring 2025 Pilot Grant RFA

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Dr. Shoshannah Eggers pipetting samples in a fume hood.The RFA for the Spring 2025 Pilot Grant Program (PGP) is now available! The PGP provides up to $40,000 for innovative, environmental health-related research proposals aligned with the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Strategic Plan. Community engagement supplements up to $5,000 in additional funds are also available.

The expected start date for awards is April 1, 2025.

Deadlines:

  • January 15, 2025:  Preliminary communications as outlined in RFA
  • February 1, 2025:  Final Submission

Environmental Exposures and Health Risks Fact Sheets

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The Environmental Exposures and Health Risks fact sheets were created by the Environmental Health Sciences Research Center at the University of Iowa. These fact sheets have been made in response to concerns from community members about the connections between environmental contaminants and health outcomes such as cancer and other diseases. The packet contains information about arsenic, nitrate and radon. You can download them as a whole packet complete with an introduction, or as individual fact sheets.  The EHSRC will release a few more fact sheets about other common contaminants in the coming months.

View them here https://ehsrc.public-health.uiowa.edu/communityengagement/resources-information/

 

EHSRC Director to present UI CPH Distinguished Faculty Lecture

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“A Persistent Problem: PCB Exposure and Adverse Health Effects” by Dr. Hans-Joachim Lehmler

When: October 23, 2024, from 12:30-1:20 p.m.

Where: Callaghan Auditorium (N110 CPHB) and Zoom for those outside of Iowa City

Reception to follow in the CPHB atrium.

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are a group of 209 chemically related persistent organic pollutants that have been used in various industrial and commercial applications, such as capacitors and transformers. Despite being banned from production over 40 years ago due to their toxic effects, PCBs continue to be inadvertently produced as byproducts in manufacturing paint pigments and other industrial products.

PCBs pose significant human health risks, primarily through inhalation and dietary exposure. PCBs and their metabolites have been detected in human and animal tissues, including the brain, where they can cause various adverse health effects. For example, both laboratory and population-based studies have demonstrated that prenatal and early-life exposure to PCBs is associated with cognitive deficits, memory and learning impairments, and attention disorders in children.

Despite these well-documented effects, many questions remain about the specific mechanisms by which PCBs affect brain function. Recent studies have begun exploring the cellular and molecular pathways involved in PCB-induced neurotoxicity by focusing on brain regions and individual cells. Understanding these mechanisms is crucial for developing targeted strategies to protect vulnerable populations, such as children and pregnant women, from the harmful effects of PCB exposure.

About Dr. Lehmler

Dr. Hans-Joachim Lehmler has been named the 2024 College of Public Health Distinguished Faculty Lecturer. He is a professor in the Department of Occupational and Environmental Health in the University of Iowa College of Public Health, and the director of the Environmental Health Sciences Research Center (EHSRC).

Dr. Lehmler received an MS and PhD in Organic Chemistry from the University of Bonn, Germany, in 1993 and 1995, respectively. He then served in several roles at the University of Kentucky before coming to the University of Iowa in 2003.

Dr. Lehmler is an internationally recognized authority on the chemical synthesis and toxicology of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). He is at the forefront of environmental research with approximately 300 peer-reviewed publications, documenting PCBs’ toxicity, mechanisms of action, toxicokinetics, and environmental persistence.

He has directed the EHSRC since 2020. Through research and engagement, the center addresses the adverse health effects of current and emerging environmental contaminants, especially among rural and agricultural populations. He has served as deputy director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences-funded Iowa Superfund Research Program since 2020. In this role, Dr. Lehmler employs a multi-disciplinary approach to tackle public health problems associated with airborne PCBs. He also leads a highly productive chemical toxicology laboratory, supervising multiple student and postdocs. We are delighted to celebrate his creative approach to solving complex health issues through interdisciplinary research.

 

This article was originally published on the UI College of Public Health Website

 

 

Community Engagement Office Hours- Fall 2024

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All are welcome to join the Community Engagement Office Hours and chat about project ideas, questions, and best practices in community engagement. These virtual (zoom) meetings are an informal way to connect with others who share an interest in community engagement and public health research. Drop in for a few minutes or stay the whole hour!

Facilitated by Jackie Curnick, Brandi Janssen, Nichole Nidey, and Shannon Watkins

Dates/Times:

  • Monday September 16th, 10-11 am
  • Thursday October 24th, 2-3 pm
  • Wednesday December 4th, 10:30- 11:30 am

If you’d like to be added to the calendar invite and receive the zoom link for the December meeting, please email Brandi-Janssen@uiowa.edu 

Season 2 Iowa Climate Podcast

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Stream season 2 of the Iowa Climate Podcast! This podcast was produced by the Community Engagement Core, including student intern Anna Kirchhoff.

Stream all episodes now on soundcloud and spotify!

Season 2 Episodes:

  • Prairie Restoration & Interdisciplinary Involvement- Mike Fallon, University of Iowa
  • Sustainable Agriculture Solutions- Dr. Lisa Schulte Moore, Iowa State University
  • Renewable Energy & Community Initiatives- Dr. Kamyar Enshayan, University of Northern Iowa
  • Human Health in Today’s Environment- Audrey Tran Lam, University of Northern Iowa

 

Info about Season 1 and the accompanying teaching curriculum is available here 

EHSRC members discuss important issues in The Conversation

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Check out these important articles featured on the site The Conversation!

“North America’s summer of wildfire smoke: 2023 was only the beginning” by  Dr. Charles Stanier, Dr. Gregory Carmichael, and Dr. Peter Thorne

 

 

“Chlorine is a highly useful chemical that’s also extremely dangerous- here’s what to know about staying safe around it” – Dr. Aliasger K Salem 

 

Make your voice heard with the Environmental Health Needs Assessment

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The EHSRC Community Engagement Core is conducting a regional needs assessment, and would like your thoughts! The 15 minute survey will be  open until March 15th 2024. Please share with your colleagues and communities!

Eligibility: participants must be age 18 years and over and reside in the Midwest

As an incentive to complete this survey, participants can enter into a drawing to win $25.

https://uiowa.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_7QB22Sb6WJQ7Szs

 

This survey focuses on environmental health, which relates to the relationships between people, their health, and the environment. Important issues include air, soil, and water quality, the effects of climate change and natural disasters on our communities’ well-being, and access to safe food and housing. The survey asks about “environmental health issues,” which means problems in the environment that can affect human health. This could include problems in the natural environment (soil, water, air) or the built environment (building materials, indoor air quality). The survey also has questions that focus on especially worrisome environmental health issues, such as natural disasters and climate change.

For questions email Jackie Curnick at jcurnick@uiowa.edu