URMC Toxicology

One of the main priorities of the Diversity and Inclusion Group (DIG) established in our report posted at the end of 2020 sought to increase the education of our members about how to confront racism in American society. Recently the Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP) put out a nicely curated collection on Environmental Racism (https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/curated/environmental-racism-2021) which highlights the many exposure and health inequalities experienced by many black... Americans. In particular, we recommend two pieces; one by our very own Dr. Debbie Cory-Slechta (https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/10.1289/EHP8186) which makes suggestions in moving science forward with the goals of eliminating racial inequalities and the second which is the editors editorial (https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/10.1289/EHP9511) which comments on how the EHP will be making changes in policy for authors and reviewers regarding race. See more

Our EHSC Community Engagement Core Director, Katrina Korfmacher, PhD, was highlighted by the Center for Community Health & Prevention, URMC on her work with local higher education institutions St. John Fisher College regarding wastewater surveillance for COVID-19. For more information click link below! *Reposted from the UR Environmental Health Community Page

Yesterday Tim successfully defended his thesis titled, The Neurotoxicity of Inhaled Paraquat, a Translationally Relevant Route of Exposure under the direction of Dr. Debbie Cory-Slechta where his work focused on investigating the role of inhaled paraquat, an herbicide widely utilized in the US, in the development of Parkinson's Disease. With this achievement, he earned his doctorate in Toxicology! Congratulations, Dr. Anderson!! We are excited to watch you take the next step in your career at the EPA!

Big day for our Environmental Health Science Center, which houses the Toxicology Training Program! Recently, the University of Rochester Environmental Health Sciences Center (EHSC) received a $7.7 million, five-year renewal grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Science (NIEHS) which marks a five decade long support for research that has helped expand our understanding of how exposure to environmental agents, such as heavy metals, air and water pollution, and pesticides, impact human health! #environmentalhealth https://www.urmc.rochester.edu//grant-recognizes-national-

Being named a Pandemic Hero is no small feat but Dr. Irfan Rahman has been called such especially this past year. Dr. Rahman’s research prior to the pandemic made great strides in studying human susceptibility to lung disease and infection and have since been helpful during the pandemic time to study the susceptibility factors for better understanding of Covid-19 infection. Check out the article in the link below which highlights some of the work done by our pre- and post-doctoral trainees in the Rahman lab! Link: https://sites.mc.rochester.edu//dr-irfan-rahman-is-our-pa/