Newsworthy Items
CEET in the News
New program will educate residents, policy-makers and scientists on long-term social, economic and health effects of hazardous industrial sites
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Diesel Exhaust Known to be Carcinogenic in Humans
Trevor M. Penning, PhD, Director of the CEET, was a member of the World Health Organization, International Agency for Cancer Research Working Group which recently met and conducted a reassessment of the carcinogenic hazard of diesel exhaust. The findings were to give diesel exhaust the highest ranking: Group 1 “known to be carcinogenic in humans”. For further details, see Carcinogenicity of Diesel-engine and Gasoline-engine Exhausts and Some Nitroarenes (The Lancet, published online June 15, 2012 DOI:10.1016/S1470-2045(12)70280-2)
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Center Director presents on hydrofracking and public health effects at the NIEHS Center Directors Meeting
Trevor M. Penning, PhD, CEET Director, gave a well-received presentation on hydrofracking at the recent 2012 Center Directors Meeting held March 26-29 at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston.
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Penn's Environmental Toxicology Center Part of Group to Analyze Seafood Safety Following Gulf Oil Spill
PHILADELPHIA — Penn's Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology (CEET), is part of a consortium that has been awarded $7.85 million from National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) to determine seafood safety following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The consortium is led by the Environmental Health Sciences Core Centers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB). Read more...
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Penn Physician Receives Wagner Medal for Excellencein Mesothelioma Research
Steven M. Albelda, M.D., Vice Chief, Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Division, Director of Lung Research and Director, Thoracic Oncology Laboratories, and Co-Leader of the Affinity Group in Lung and Airway Disease in the Center for Excellence in Environmental Toxicology; has received the prestigious Wagner Medal for Excellence in Mesothelioma Research from the International Mesothelioma Interest Group (IMIG). The award was presented at the 2010 IMIG International Conference in Kyoto, Japan.
The Wagner Medal is the highest honor presented by IMIG to a leader in the field and is only awarded every two years. The award was created in honor of J. Christopher Wagner, who was a leader in the field of mesothelioma and made major contributions to the understanding of mesothelioma, its cause, and the goals for prevention. By his clinical observations and animal studies, he was the first to establish that mesothelioma was caused by asbestos. Dr. Albelda received the award for his work in gene therapy and investigating other novel approaches to treating mesothelioma.
Dr. Albelda has been a member of the Penn Medicine community since 1975 when he enrolled in the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. His clinical and research interests are primarily in thoracic oncology with a goal of developing novel approaches to the treatment of lung cancer and mesothelioma.
For more information on the award and IMIG, visit http://imig.org/.
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Aftermath Of Disaster
ACS Meeting News: Researchers Discuss Consequences of Deepwater Horizon Spill
Chemical & Engineering News,
September 20, 2010 Volume 88, Number 38
Ecosystems in and around the Gulf of Mexico were hard-hit by the Deepwater Horizon explosion that spewed millions of gallons of oil into the water for 87 days from April to July. Now, the Gulf’s environment is beginning to recover, according to researchers speaking at the American Chemical Society national meeting in Boston last month. Nonetheless, biochemist Trevor M. Penning of the University of Pennsylvania said seafood from the Gulf needs to be monitored for years, especially for the presence of polyaromatic hydrocarbons. PAHs, which are suspected carcinogens, are the most abundant hydrocarbons in crude oil and potentially the most hazardous fraction of the crude that was spewed into the Gulf, Penning told symposium attendees. In addition, PAHs are generated when meats or seafood are cooked.
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Institute of Medicine Elects Four New Members from Penn Penn Current, September 30, 2010
Four professors from Penn ’s School of Medicine, including CEET Investigator Caryn Lerman, PhD, have been elected to the Institute of Medicine (IOM), one of the nation’s highest honors in biomedicine. Established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences, IOM recognizes professional achievement in the health sciences and serves as a national resource for independent analysis and recommendations on issues related to medicine, biomedical sciences, and health.
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Successful Periodontal Therapy May Reduce the Risk of Preterm Birth, According to Penn Dental Study Penn News, September 15, 2010
A collaboration led by a periodontal researcher from the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine has found a possible link between the success of gum-disease treatment and the likelihood of giving birth prematurely, according to a study published in the journal BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.
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Penn Medicine Researcher Named 2010 American Chemical Society Fellow
Penn Medicine News, September 8, 2010
Trevor Penning, PhD, director of the Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, was named to the 2010 class of American Chemical Society (ACS) Fellows, an honor bestowed upon 192 scientists who have demonstrated outstanding accomplishments in chemistry and made important contributions to ACS, the world’s largest scientific society. The 2010 Fellows were recognized in late August during the Society’s national meeting in Boston.
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CEET Director Given National Postdoctoral Association 2010 Distinguished Service Award
Penn Medicine News, January 21, 2010
Trevor M. Penning, Ph.D., director of the Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, will receive The National Postdoctoral Association (NPA) 2010 Distinguished Service Award at the NPA’s 8th Annual Meeting, to be held March 12-14 in Philadelphia. Dr. Penning is recognized in the postdoctoral community as a longtime advocate on behalf of postdoctoral scholars, both on the home and national fronts.
ASBMB Today, March 2010
Journal of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
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American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: 100 Projects, $30 Million to Penn Research
The Almanac, September 8, 2009, Volume 56, No. 02
Ian Blair, PhD, Co-Director of the Oxidative Stress and Oxidative Injury Affinity Group, and Director of the Molecular Profiling Core,
has received a National Cancer Institute stimulus grant of $1.3 million that allows him to continue to study exposure to tobacco smoke and the 3,800 chemical components that make it a leading cause of death in America.
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CEET Awarded an Administrative Supplement under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
The CEET has received stimulus funding from the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences in the amount of almost $367,000. The award, a supplement to the grant which currently supports the Center (5P30-ES013508-04), will allow the CEET to increase capacity in its two facility Cores (Molecular Profiling Core and Integrated Health Sciences Facility Core) as well as its Community Outreach and Career Development Cores.
Other ARRA Funding Awarded to CEET Investigators:
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Angela Haczku, MD, PhD, a member of the Lung and Airway Disease Affinity Group, has been invited to become Associate Editor for Allergy - European Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, beginning January 1, 2010.
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Dr. Kevin Osterhoudt, a member of the CEET Community Outreach and Education Core, has been appointed to the Committee on Environmental Health of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) with a term beginning July 1, 2008.
The Committee on Environmental Health advises the AAP on issues pertaining to environmental health and toxic exposure. Committee policy statements address such issues as radiation disasters, air pollution, lead screening, and secondhand smoke. The committee supports legislative initiatives designed to protect the health of the fetus, infant, and child from debilitating or hazardous environmental agents.
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Penn School of Medicine Partnership Receives Community-Campus Health Annual Award
Edward Emmett, MD, Director of the CEET Community Outreach and Education Core, accepts the award from the Decatur Community Association.
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Genes, Environment and Health Initiative Invests In Genetic Studies, Environmental Monitoring Technologies
Studies Focus on Common Conditions, Personal Environmental Exposures
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has selected the first projects to be funded as part of the Genes, Environment and Health Initiative (GEI), a unique collaboration between geneticists and environmental scientists. Dr. Ian A. Blair, Co-Director of the CEET Oxidative Stress and Oxidative Stress Injury Core, was successful in obtaining a grant in the "Biological Response Indicators of Environmental Stress" to study "Exposure and Biological Response Biomarkers of Cigarette Smoke".
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