Pharmacology, Toxicology and Environmental Health Commons^™

Anticancer Efficacy Of Methyl-Cantharidimide (Mca) In Liver Cancer, Yidong Li

Theses and Dissertations

Cancer is still one of the major public health challenges worldwide to the present day. Multi-drug resistance (MDR) that occurs in cancer chemotherapies is a non-negligible cause of cancer treatment failure and tumor recurrence. Overexpression of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters is one of the most frequent mechanisms of MDR occurrence. Therefore, the establishment of a chemotherapy agent whose anticancer efficacy would not be affected by the overexpression of ABC transporters is in demand. Methyl-cantharidimide (MCA), a cantharidin (CTD) analog, has been approved in China for clinical liver cancer treatment. This study revealed that MCA was efficacious in the ABCB1-, ABCG2-mediated …

Evaluation Of Pulmonary Toxicity To Inhaled Erbium Oxide Nanoparticles In Golden Syrian Hamsters, Randy Liang

Theses and Dissertations

Erbium oxide nanoparticles (Er2O3 NPs) are used in various products from simple pottery to semiconductors and such usage leads to an elevated risk of accidental occupational exposure. In the present study, the pulmonary toxicity of Er2O3 NPs was assessed by examining tissues and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) from the lungs of Golden Syrian Hamsters following inhalation exposure. The study’s goal was to determine the severity and mechanism of toxicity upon exposure to inhaled Er2O3 NPs. Animals were divided into 4 groups all being exposed for 4 hours a day for 8 days: Group-1: room air, Group-2: vehicle control (water), Group-3: …

Evaluation Of The Mechanism Of Cell Death After Exposure To Amorphous Silicon Dioxide Nanoparticles In Rat Pleural Mesothelial Cells And Golden Syrian Hamsters, Rachel P. Renda

Theses and Dissertations

Amorphous Silicon Dioxide Nanoparticles (SiO2 NPs) are widely used in the industrial processes, chemical, and cosmetics industries. Amorphous SiO2 NPs are abundant in the earth’s crust and can be released into the air through industrial and manufacturing activities. Such particles are overlooked and not as commonly studied when compared to their crystalline counterpart. Amorphous SiO2 NPs are pulmonary toxicants; however, the mechanism of toxicity is uncertain. In the current study, toxicity was assessed using both in vitro and in vivo systems to understand a possible mechanism of cell death. Rat Pleural Mesothelial Cells (RPMCs) were exposed to 50-800 μg/ml SiO2 …

When Words Flow Like Water: How The Enbridge Line 3 Pipeline Environmental Impact Statement Failed To Prevent Hydrogeologic Harm In Minnesota, Carly Gutzmann

Journal of Earth and Life Science

For the aquifers of Minnesota, the environmental impact statement (EIS) was a promise of protection that never left the page. An environmental impact statement is meant to be an aid in the decision making process in order to ensure that projects consider potential environmental harms that may occur. However, they are often used instead as another regulatory box to check, rather than as active considerations when planning. As such, a project plan can be flawed from the start—if project developers only consider environmental impacts after they have already put considerable time, effort, and funding into their project as-is, they may …

Investigation Of Genx Exposure To Pathways Associated With Colorectal Cancer Risk, Emily J. Ferguson

Theses and Dissertations--Toxicology and Cancer Biology

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are persistent environmental contaminants widely detected in drinking water and food sources, resulting in chronic human exposure. Among these compounds, hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid (HFPO-DA), commonly known as GenX, has been introduced as a short-chain replacement for legacy PFAS such as perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). Although GenX is believed to be a safer alternative, emerging research suggests it can still affect human health.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer and the second leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States, highlighting the need to better understand environmental …

Ion-Imprinted Polymer-Based Sensors For Toxic Metal-Ion Detection In Water: Coordination Chemistry, Transduction Strategies, And Environmental Applications, Ghita Yammouri, Gymama Slaughter

Center for Bioelectronics Publications

Toxic metal contamination in aquatic environments remains a persistent threat to human health and ecosystems. Yet, the high cost, infrastructure demands, and centralized nature of conventional analytical methods constrain routine monitoring. Ion-imprinted polymers (IIPs), a subclass of molecularly imprinted polymers, have emerged as promising synthetic recognition materials for metal-ion sensing because they generate coordination-defined binding sites with high selectivity, chemical stability, low cost, and reusability. This review summarizes recent advances in Ion-imprinted polymer (IIP)-based sensing technologies for toxic metal-ion detection in water from 2016 to 2026. It examines the fundamental recognition chemistry of IIPs, major synthesis strategies used to generate …

Hfpo-Da Aquatic Toxicity And Bioaccumulation, Bailey Dawn Rappold

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been detected globally in environmental media and biota. Legacy compounds PFOA and PFOS have been observed to be toxic and bioaccumulative in low doses and have been removed from production and industrial processes. Replacement PFAS chemicals are less understood and present a gap in current knowledge in their toxicological effects. This research utilized extended chronic toxicity studies to assess the impacts of HFPO-DA, a short chain replacement PFAS, on the standard aquatic toxicology organism Pimephales promelas. Organisms were exposed for 29 to 30 days at environmentally relevant concentrations of the toxicant, 7.8125 ng/L …

External Validation Of A Knowledge-Based Clinical Toxicology Consultant For Diagnosing Single Exposures, Hugo Lerogeron, Joel D. Schipper, Jay L. Schauben, Laurent Guéguen, Valentine Lacotte, Kim An Nguyen

Publications

Introduction

Clinical prediction models assist healthcare providers in estimating disease likelihood using multiple patient-specific factors. While these models are increasingly used, few undergo the essential process of external validation, which limits their clinical utility. In toxicology, timely diagnosis is crucial and expertise scarce, making knowledge-based systems an excellent choice to support medical decision making. A knowledge-based system developed using data from the Florida Poison Information Center Network has shown promise but lacks external validation. This study aims to evaluate its performance using data from the Lyon Poison Information Center to assess its generalizability

Methods

To externally validate the Florida diagnostic …

Spatial Temporal Modeling Of Infectious Disease Patterns In Texas, Robert E. Lashbrook

Earth & Environmental Sciences Theses

The Texas Department of State Health Services monitors numerous notifiable conditions statewide, including Campylobacter, Salmonella, Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC), Rabies, and West Nile virus (WNV). Given the substantial health, economic, and public health burden associated with these conditions, improving prediction is an important step toward reducing their overall impact. This study evaluated whether external demographic, social, climate, and environmental data could improve prediction of county-year disease activity across Texas. County level data was analyzed using supervised machine learning models, including linear regression, ridge regression, multilayer perceptron, random forest, XGBoost, as well as K-means clustering to identify broader …

A Hybrid Response Surface Methodology And Machine Learning Framework For Quantifying Effects Of Physicochemical Parameters On Pfas Distribution, Harsh V. Patel, Jazmin Green, Hyoshin Park, Stephanie Luster-Teasley Pass, Renzun Zhao

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

Predicting PFAS adsorption across diverse adsorbents and environmental matrices remains challenging because adsorbent physicochemical properties, PFAS molecular descriptors, and operational conditions simultaneously influence adsorption. This study develops and evaluates a unified hybrid modeling framework that integrates Response Surface Model (RSM) with machine-learning algorithms to quantify how six key variables, surface area, Log K_ow, pH_pzc, pK_a, log dose, and log-initial concentration, affect PFAS distribution coefficients (Log K_d). A data set of more than 1000 adsorption observations spanning 15 PFAS compounds, multiple adsorbent types, and a broad operational range was compiled and preprocessed using …

Nutrient-Driven Transcription Factor-Dna Interactions And Their Signaling Mechanisms In Metabolic Disease, Evelyn A. Bates

Theses and Dissertations--Nutritional Sciences

Metabolic homeostasis is maintained through tightly coordinated signaling networks that integrate diverse physiological inputs. Central to this regulation are transcription factors, which sense nutrient, hormonal, and vitamin-derived signals and translate them into coordinated gene expression programs. Transcription factor activity is governed by DNA binding, recruitment of coregulatory proteins, and interactions with specific response elements in gene promoters, which allows them to selectively modulate diverse metabolic pathways. Owing to their multifactorial and tunable nature, transcription factors have emerged as promising targets for the treatment and diagnosis of metabolic diseases, including metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). This dissertation explores the molecular …

Evaluating Sampling Strategies To Monitor Southern Fox Squirrel (Sciurus Niger Niger) Populations, Casey Robin Hitchens

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Reliable population monitoring is essential for evaluating wildlife translocations and informing conservation management, yet traditional monitoring approaches are often labor intensive and require prolonged sampling. This study evaluated marking techniques, survey methods, and population estimation approaches for monitoring a translocated population of southern fox squirrels (Sciurus niger niger) at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina, USA (MCRDPI). From January-June 2023, I conducted six live trapping and camera trapping sessions across five survey sites. I compared the performance of color-coded collars and tail shaves for individual identification and the recapture probability between live traps and camera traps. Logistic mixed-effects …

Rna-Sequence-Driven Identification Of Differentially Expressed Genes In Α-Crystallin-Deficient Zebrafish, Kehlie Hopper

SPARK Symposium Presentations

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) is a condition that develops in infants when exposed to alcohol in utero, leading to physical impairments such as reduced eye size and disrupted retinal function. Alpha-crystallin A is a key structural protein required for proper lens development and maintenance of transparency, while Alpha-crystallin B plays a protective role against cellular stress during eye development. In this study, I compared AB wild-type (ABWT), αA-crystallin knockout (cryaa), and αB-crystallin knockout (cryaba) zebrafish to investigate how the loss of these proteins influences eye development under ethanol exposure. The cryaa mutants exhibited reduced eye size even under control conditions, …

Murder On The Menu, Andrea Florian, Leslie Deleon, Angela Simpkins, Anamika Chhetri

SPARK Symposium Presentations

You're invited to a birthday party in Maryland! There will be many guests and even...seafood cuisine at a fancy restaurant! All is well until one of our guests comes down with a peculiar sickness. Do you think you can figure out what happened?

Honeymoon Horror Story, Andrea Florian, Aunalise Terreri, Kiley St. John, Sienna White

SPARK Symposium Presentations

On what was supposed to be a romantic honeymoon getaway, a newly married couple’s paradise quickly turns dark. The wife, Julia Harper, is found dead under mysterious circumstances, and suspicion falls on her neuroscientist husband. As lies unravel, investigators discover that this honeymoon was never about love, but revenge. In the end, all that’s left is betrayal and secrets…Can you solve this murder mystery?

The Last Ball, Andrea Florian, Lili M. Wrenne, Mehrael Adly, Jia Howell

SPARK Symposium Presentations

Sixty-year old, billionaire, Walter Spencer has been found dead at his annual birthday celebration. Guests reported odd behavior before he passed with wild mood swings, speaking gibberish, and experiencing hallucinations. Close friends of Walter say his young 25-year-old wife was the last to see him. Are you able to solve his mystery?

A Sweet Deception, Andrea Florian, Ellis Stafford, Bridget Mcloud, Awi Siam

SPARK Symposium Presentations

Have you ever wanted to be a detective and solve a murder? Well, here is your chance! Bradley Thompson, an investment banker at JP Morgan, was murdered in his home, and we are relying on you to piece together the toxicological clues and find his killer! This murder-mystery activity will involve selecting different toxicological tests and evaluating evidence to determine who committed this heinous crime.

Data For Forthcoming Article: "Employing Zebrafish To Understand Genetic Drivers Of Epilepsy-Related Comorbid Behaviors", Colleen Carpenter-Swanson

Biology Faculty Data

Forthcoming from Frontiers in Pharmacology:

"Children with epilepsy frequently experience a range of significant comorbidities beyond seizures, such as motor dysfunction, cognitive impairment, and neurodevelopmental delays. In some cases, these comorbidities contribute more significantly to overall disease burden than the seizures themselves. To improve quality-of-life (QOL) for these children, treatment options should be selected that control seizures and ameliorate comorbidities. Unfortunately, such therapeutics remain largely elusive. Addressing this issue requires suitable preclinical models. Here we used CRISPR-generated zebrafish with single-gene mutations linked to pediatric epilepsy and applied clinically-relevant behavioral assays to study the effects of these mutations. Using high-throughput locomotion-based …

Murder Of The Magic Mushroom Man, Andrea Florian, Alexa Cabral, Olivia Fawkes, Emily Gomez

SPARK Symposium Presentations

Rowan Tucker is an heirloom vegetable farmer that lives in Newbury, VT on an 80-acre farm. Most of the money in Rowan’s name was from selling psilocybin mushrooms that he disguised as payments under “crop-selling”. He was found dead presenting symptoms early that morning of confusion, hallucinations, vomiting, sweating, and extreme salivation. How did he get murdered? Who did it?

A Ubiquitous Organophosphate Flame Retardant Disrupts Energy And Glucose Homeostasis In Mice, Krystal M. Sewell, Kelly Oriakhi, Sara Y. Ngo Tenlep, Megan L. Weaver, Mansura Shahad Bawa, Se-Hyung Park, Shubh Saraswat, Xiaohua D. Zhang, Robert N. Helsley, Samir Softic, Cetewayo S. Rashid

Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences Faculty Publications

Organophosphate flame retardants (OPFRs) are used in many consumer products, and their presence in our environment raises concerns about potential health dangers. In humans, exposure to OPFRs, such as tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (TDCPP) is associated with metabolic disorders such as obesity, hyperglycemia, and insulin resistance. Our current study seeks to determine how TDCPP exposure affects body composition, glucose homeostasis, and energy balance in a rodent model. C57Bl/6 J mice were divided into two weight-matched groups and fed purified low phytoestrogen diets containing either 0.1 % DMSO (control) or TDCPP 415 mg/kg resulting in an approximate exposure of 50 mg/kg/day. Both male …