Projects 3 & 4 shine at Society of Toxicology's Annual Meeting

This month, CLEAR trainees attended, presented, and won at the Society for Toxicology annual meeting. The SOT annual meeting was held from March 10-14 in Salt Lake City, Utah.

For CLEAR Project 3, which focuses on the developmental effects of VOC exposure in zebrafish, trainee Mackenzie Connell presented her team’s poster with new results about benzene exposures at different development stages of zebrafish. Connell represents Dr. Tracie Baker’s WATER lab, which coordinates with CLEAR through the University of Florida.

Addtionally, Dr. Tracie Baker, Project 3 lead received the OTA (Out Toxicologists and Allies) Excellence in Mentorship Award at the Society for Toxicology Annual Meeting last month. The award is given to one individual per year dedicated to supporting early-career LGBTQUIA2S+ scientists and SOT members. The award also came with a donation in her name to the The Trevor Project, and organization dedicated to suicide prevention in LGBTQ+ youth.

 

CLEAR Project 4 was widely represented by co-lnvestigator Dr. Mike Petriello and trainees Dr. Katherine Roth, Manisha Agarwal, Lisa Koshko and Sydney Scofield.

Koshko and Scofield, both students in Project 4 co-lnvestigator’s lab Dr. Mariana Sadagurski, presented posters about VOC exposure and the associated metabolic effects. Scofield focused on how VOC exposure predisposes male mice to metabolic disease (conditions that yield health risks such as heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes), while Koshko focused on the molecular mechanisms that can set the foundation for metabolic reprogramming. When metabolic reprogramming occurs, cancer is more likely to develop. Therefore, the two posters discuss how VOC exposure can lead to various health risks.

Trainees Dr. Katherine Roth and Manisha Agarwal both won abstract awards at the conference this year. Both trainees are guided by Project 4 co-lnvestigator Dr. Mike Petriello. Dr. Roth was awarded the best abstract in the Cardiovascular Toxicology Section. Roth’s work focuses on PFAS (per- and polyfluorinated substances) mixture exposures in mice.

Agarwal won the Dr. Laxman Desai Graduate Student Best Abstract Award from SOT’s Association of Scientists of Indian Origin. Agarwal’s work discusses polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) effects on oxidative stress on mouse livers. PCBs are classified as semi-VOCs. Oxidative stress can cause inflammation in the body, damaging tissues and organs.