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PCB study led by EHSRC Director Hans-Joachim Lehmler featured as “Extramural Paper of the Month” in NIEHS Environmental Factor

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Exposure to a mixture of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) can harm the brains of female mice, according to a recent study led by University of Iowa researchers. The results shed light on how PCB exposure directly and indirectly affects brain health. The study, published in the journal ACS Chemical Neuroscience, was led by Hans Lehmler, professor of occupational and environmental health and director of the UI Environmental Health Sciences Research Center.

The paper was recently selected by NIEHS as an Extramural Paper of the Month and is featured in the January 2025 edition of the Environmental Factor, the agency’s flagship newsletter.

Click here for a summary of the study from the University of Iowa College of Public Health.

Fig. 5 from "Interactions of Polychlorinated Biphenyls and Their Metabolites with the Brain and Liver Transcriptome of Female Mice" by Bullert et al. (Lehmler lab): Gene set analysis comparison conducted for striatum samples of females orally exposed to the MARBLES mix.
Gene set analysis comparison conducted for striatum samples of females orally exposed to the MARBLES mix. From Bullert et al. (2024): “Interactions of Polychlorinated Biphenyls and Their Metabolites with the Brain and Liver Transcriptome of Female Mice.” ACS Chem Neurosci. © 2024 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society

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.

EHSRC Director Hans-Joachim Lehmler delivers Distinguished Faculty Lecture for UI College of Public Health

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Poster for Dr. Hans-Joachim Lehmler's 2024 Distinguished Faculty Lecture for the UI College of Public Health. Includes a graphical image of a young boy's profile, a brain, and a generic diagram of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).EHSRC Director, Dr. Hans-Joachim Lehmler, delivered the 2024 UI College of Public Health Distinguished Faculty Lecture. Dr. Lehmler’s lecture, “A Persistent Problem: PCB Exposure and Adverse Health Effects,” addressed ongoing research on the mechanisms by which polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) negatively impact human health. 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.

To view a recording of the lecture, click here.

Dr. Diane Rohlman and Dr. Edith Parker honor Dr. Hans-Joachim Lehmler with a framed copy of the poster for his Distinguished Faculty Lecture on PCBs for the UI College of Public Health.
EHSRC members Diane Rohlman (Associate Dean for Research, left) and Edith Parker (Dean, right) with Dr. Lehmler

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