June 2024 Notes from the Director
The past two months have been eventful for CIEHS members. Members are continuing to publish their research and obtain extramural funding for their research (see below).
The Superfund Research Center (SRC) had an external advisory committee review. Congratulations to Dr. Ted Smith on his appointment to lead the SRC Community Engagement Core. Since Dr. Smith is Associate Director of the CIEHS Community Engagement Core his new appointment will strengthen the ties between CIEHS and the SRC. Our expectation is that the Cores in the two Centers will synergize.
The CIEHS hosted the Midwest DNA Repair Symposium (MDRS) for its 25th anniversary June 1-2. The MDRS was started in 1999 by Drs. Chris States, Glenn McGregor and Mats Ljungman when they were all in Michigan and the initial meeting was at the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor chaired by Dr. Ljungman. The following year, Drs. States and McGregor moved to UofL and the meeting was held here in 2000 and again in 2010. The meeting this year was supported by an R13 grant from the National Cancer Institute, and with funds provided by the UofL EVPRI, the CLB Envirome Institute and CIEHS, as well as by several companies. The meeting was a success with 126 registered participants representing 31 institutions. The program included three eminent DNA double strand break repair researchers as keynote speakers: Drs. Bevin Engelward (MIT), Jeremy Stark (City of Hope) and Karen Vasquez (UT Austin). Twenty-three platform and 53 poster presentations were selected from submitted abstracts. There was much interaction between attendees. Awards were presented for best platform and poster presentations in multiple categories. Special thanks to Colleen Quinter, Sarah Jump and Luis Salazar Guzman for their help in organizing and running the symposium, and to Drs. Alexandra Nail, Mayukh Banerjee and Mats Ljungman for their help with organizing the program.
As noted elsewhere in this newsletter, CIEHS has awarded more than 30 travel awards to trainees. The number of awards we can grant in the future will depend on donations to the fund. CIEHS will match donations. Please consider a contribution by payroll deduction, the most painless way to contribute.
This month also saw Dr. Jennifer Schlezinger visit UofL as a speaker in the environmental health seminar series. She collaborates with CIEHS investigators Drs. Matt Cave and Jamie Young Wise. Dr. Schlezinger presented on her research on the health impacts of PFAS exposure and met with several CIEHS investigators.
On a more personal note, my summer is off to a good start. I spent one weekend running my Porsche on the track and drove to Cleveland for a Rolling Stones concert – an awesome show! I hope that your summer also is off to a great start and continues to be enjoyable (pictured below).
