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Several new initiatives have been formulated and are outlined in the Future Initiatives section. These initiatives are based within the broad research cores that have been described for our Center. Each of the research core write-ups contains more details of the future plans for the individual cores. We anticipate that we will continue to grow, make new discoveries, attract new research funds, and continue to train excellent graduate and medical students in environmental health sciences. With the recruitment of Dr. Tang, we expect to add a new dimension to collaborative research between all of our Research Cores because of his interest in molecular epidemiology and his focus on DNA adducts. Dr. Tang was a co-author of the seminal paper published in Science in 1995 illustrating that benzo(a)pyrene diol epoxide binds to the same sites in the p53 gene where there are mutations in lung cancers of smokers. These sites where benzo(a)pyrene diol epoxide binds seem to be at CpG sites with methylated cytosines. There are tissue differences and individual variability in the p53 methylation pattern that are likely to be an epigenetic determinants of susceptibility to mutations in p53 and to cancer development. Other studies will investigate whether environmental factors, such as nickel exposure, may increase the methylation of p53 and increase mutations by benzo(a)pyrene and other carcinogens that bind to p53 (Collaboration with Dr. Tang and Dr. Costa). Dr. Tang has already formulated collaborations with Dr. Rom to study p53 carcinogen adducts in smokers and non-smokers; with Dr. Frenkel on various chemopreventive strategies and with Dr. Chen on using the gene chip technology to study gene expression changes in animals exposed to toxic and carcinogenic chemicals by inhalation.
We also intend to compete for a Superfund Program Project, which will increase our research in the area of biomarkers and molecular epidemiology. We are awaiting reviews of our EPA Particulate Matter Research Center (M. Lippmann and R.B. Schlesinger, Co-Directors) which would add to the strong funding base in the area of health effects of particulate air pollution. We will continue to study the environmental factors that contribute to asthma, and we will expand in our efforts in chemoprevention. We will continue to focus on existing strengths in pulmonary toxicology, metal toxicology and carcinogenesis, environmental carcinogenesis, and epidemiology to identify mechanisms by which environmental factors may cause disease and injury, and will continue to pursue ways to prevent and intervene in the disease process.
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