Welcome to the Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology
Mission
The Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology (CEET) was launched in 2005 and receives grant support from the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences. It is one of only twenty-two designated Environmental Health Science Centers in the nation.
The CEET mission is to understand the mechanistic link between environmental exposures and diseases of environmental etiology. Understanding these processes can lead to early diagnosis, intervention and prevention strategies. The end result will be to improve environmental health and medicine in our region.
The CEET is a flexible entity that marshals excellence in basic, translational, patient oriented and population based research in the School of Medicine and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia to facilitate an integrative approach to environmental health/medicine. Although primarily housed in the School of Medicine, the 50 CEET Investigators belong to 16 departments and 5 Schools at the University of Pennsylvania.
The CEET marries its relevant research excellence to diseases of environmental etiology that affect our urban region. The CEET includes a research core in Lung and Airway Disease (asthma, lung cancer, mesothelioma, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) because of the poor air-quality and air-pollution in our region (ozone, fine particulate matter, allergens, SO2, NO2 and CO emissions). The CEET also has a research core in Endocrine and Reproduction Disruption because of the high incidence of adverse pregnancy outcomes that lead to low-weight birth and birth and developmental defects in our region. These organ-based cores are linked to our cores in disease mechanism, which include Oxidative Stress and Oxidative Stress Injury and Genes and the Environment.
The CEET enables its investigators to conduct predictive toxicology by employing Toxicogenomic and Toxicoproteomic approaches to identify the genomic and proteomic fingerprints that can be assigned to toxicant class, and to different stages of diseases of the environment. It is engaged in identifying and validating Biomarkers for these diseases.
The CEET conducts research relevant to the 45 Superfund Sites that permeate the region. Studies elucidate mechanisms of chemical toxicity; exposure levels, risk assessment and health hazard; bioremediation approaches; and effects on ecosystems and biodiversity.
The CEET works with and disseminates research findings to Select Local Communities to empower them with new knowledge so that they are better informed to tackle issues of health disparities and environmental justice. To improve the environmental health of these and similar affected communities, the CEET is actively involved in the education of health care professionals (Residency Program in Occupational and Environmental Health, Nursing concentration in Occupational and Environmental Health, and Masters of Public Health Programs).
The CEET will also disseminate its mission and its research findings to all stakeholders including community organizations, local, state and federal officials and agencies (Pennsylvania Department of Health, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Environmental Protection Agency) to affect change in environmental health and public health policies.
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Center Directors
Director
Trevor M. Penning, Ph.D.
Trevor M. Penning, Ph.D., Professor of Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Biophysics, and OB/GYN is the Director of the Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology (CEET) at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Dr. Penning was interim-chair of Pharmacology from 1994-1996, and was Director of the Office of Postdoctoral Programs, and Associate Dean for Postdoctoral Research Training, School of Medicine from 1997-2001, and was Director of Biomedical Postdoctoral Programs (BPP) from 2001-2005. As Director of BPP, he oversaw the appointments, training and education of 850 postdoctoral fellows across the Schools of Medicine, Veterinary Medicine, and Dental Medicine. He is internationally recognized for his research on steroid hormone enzymology and mechanisms by which polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons cause cancer. His research is now focused on the emerging role of Aldo-Keto Reductases (AKRs) in hormonal and chemical carcinogenesis. <http://www.med.upenn.edu/akr> He has published over 150 peer-review articles and is the recipient of five U.S. patent applications. He has served on the Editorial Boards of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, Chemical Research in Toxicology, and Steroids. He was elected to the Johns Hopkins Society of Scholars in 1998. He is a consultant to the WHO International Agency for Research on Cancer. He was Program Chair for the Division of Chemical Toxicology of the American Chemical Society 2005-2006.
Deputy Director
Edward A. Emmett, M.D., M.S.
Edward A. Emmett MD, MS. Professor and Director of Academic Programs in Occupational Medicine will be Deputy Director of the Center. Dr Emmett is active in clinical practice, research and education in Occupational and Environmental Medicine. His past experience includes Founding Director of the Divisions of Occupational Medicine in the Schools of Public Health and Medicine and of the Center for Occupational and Environmental Health at Johns Hopkins University from 1978 to 1988. and Chief Executive of the National Occupational Health and Safety Commission for Australia from 1988 to 1996.
Dr. Emmett's research contributions include studies of occupational and environmental skin diseases, ultraviolet radiation effects on skin and eyes, the toxicity of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, PCBs, organometals, monomers used in plastics and resins, and other substances. He is currently studying the effects of community pollution by perfluorooctanoates.
Dr. Emmett is a recipient of the Fight for Sight Citation for Clinical Research, and of the Kehoe Award of Merit from the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. He is on several editorial boards has been a member of many national and international committees. He is certified by the American Board of Toxicology and the American Board of Preventive Medicine in Occupational Medicine. Current activities include Chair of the Human Health and Environment program of the Pennsylvania Consortium for Interdisciplinary Environmental Policy and working with the United Auto Workers Union (UAW) and General Motors Corporation as their “Risk Communicator” to better translate research results into preventive actions at the workplace.
CEET External Advisory Committee
Stephen S. Hecht, Ph.D. (Chair)
Wallin Land Grant Professor of Cancer Prevention
American Cancer Society Research Professor
University of Minnesota Cancer Center
Tom Baillie, Ph.D.
Vice President, Drug Metabolism
Merck Research Laboratories
Peter C. Dedon, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor of Biological Engineering and Toxicology
Associate Director, Biological Engineering Division
Deputy Director, Center for Environmental Health Science
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Allison D Fryer, Ph.D.
Professor Physiology and Pharmacology
Oregon Health & Science University
Michael Gallo, Ph.D.
Professor of Environmental and Community Medicine
Rutgers University
Past Director, Rutgers NIEHS Center of Excellence
Kenneth S. Korach, Ph.D.
Program Director, Environ Disease Medicine Program
Chief, Lab Reproduction & Developmental Toxicology
NIEHS/NIH
Kenneth Ramos, Ph.D.
Professor and Chair
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
University of Louisville
Peggy M. Shepard
Executive Director
West Harlem Environmental Action, Inc. (WE ACT)
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