On March 7th, ITEHP co-hosted the Spring 2014 Symposium, Cognitive Impairment Caused by Developmental Neurotoxic Exposure: Mechanisms, Consequences and Therapeutic Treatment, at the Searle Center. All images are courtesy of Steve McCaw, NIEHS.
Susan Murphy, Ph.D., welcomes guests to the Spring 2014 Symposium, which was hosted by Duke’s Integrated Toxicology and Environmental Health Program, the Duke Superfund Research Center, and the Duke NICHES Children’s Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Research Center.
Dr. Edward Levin introduces the symposium theme, Cognitive Impairment Caused by Developmental Neurotoxic Exposure: Mechanisms, Consequences and Therapeutic Treatment. Dr. Levin is the director of the Neural and Behavioral Toxicity Assessment Core in the Duke Superfund Research Center.
Dr. Phil Landrigan visits Duke to present his talk titled, The Vunerable Developing Human Brain is Impacted by Toxic Environmental Exposures. Landrigan encouraged attendees to get involved in community outreach activities and to practice research translation to non-scientific audiences.
Dr. Frederica Perera from Columbia University explains her work in a talk titled, Molecular Epidemiology and the Impacts of Prenatal and Early Childhood Exposure to Environmental Neurotoxicants in a New York City Cohort. Studies show the odds of impacts on brain development in kids with high exposures to PAHs are almost three-times greater than kids without exposure. To learn more about children’s environmental health, visit the Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health website.
Dr. Kim Dietrich talks about childhood exposure to lead in his presentation: The Societal and Economic Costs of Cognitive and Behavioral Impairments due to Developmental Neurotoxicity Across the Lifespan: the Case of Lead. Dietrich’s research shows that beyond IQ levels, there is a relationship between lead exposure and criminal behavior in adolescents and adults.
Dr. Scott Kollins of Duke University presents Unpacking the ADHD Phenotype: Relevance for Understanding the Effects of Environmental Exposures. He explains there is an increase in the prevalence of ADHD and environmental exposures. A recent study conducted by Duke’s NICHES program finds an association between ADHD and secondhand smoke. For more information, follow this link.
Dr. Ed Levin returns to the podium to present his research in Long-term Cognitive Impacts from Early Life Exposure to Pesticides and Nicotine in Rats and Zebrafish. His research shows there are normal sex differences in brain function that are obliterated or reversed from environmental exposures. Click here to see Dr. Levin and Dr. Slotkin’s most recent publication on the effects of prenatal co-exposure to dexamethasone and chlorpyrifos. For a summary of this article and another by T.Slotkin, check out Duke Superfund’s ToxInsider blog.
Dr. Theodore Slotkin presents a talk titled, Nicotine, Tobacco, and Brain Development, from Fetus to Adolescent: Finding the Smoking Gun. His research shows that the drug taken continuously impacts the brain far more than the episodic drug.
Dr. Charles Vorhees presents Cognitive and Behavioral Effects of Developmental Exposure to Manganese and Stress in Rats. He presented data showing how early life exposure to manganese effects rats’ sociability, depression, and anxiety.
Thank you for attending our Spring 2014 Symposium!
