Spring 2020 Seminar Series (Pharm 848-S/ENV 848-S)
Duke Integrated Toxicology & Environmental Health Program
Thursday, April 16, 2020, 11:45 am – 1:00 pm, Field Auditorium, Grainger Hall
COVID-19 UPDATE: This seminar originally scheduled for April 16 will be postponed until Fall 2020. Our website will be updated as soon as a new date for Dr. Hartman’s seminar is confirmed.
JESSICA HARTMAN, Ph.D. 
Duke University Nicholas School of the Environment
Toward Precision Toxicology: Mechanisms Underlying Metabolic Effects on Chemical Toxicity
Individuals respond differently to the same environmental exposures, such that among a population of exposed individuals, only a few will get sick. This interindividual variation in toxicity arises from some combination of genetics and environment (including pollutant exposures and lifestyle); Dr. Hartman’s research focuses specifically on the role of metabolism in driving these differences. In this seminar, Dr. Hartman will discuss two major projects she is leading. In the first project, she is studying how differences in subcellular localization of the xenobiotic metabolism enzyme cytochrome P450 2E1 (CYP2E1) can drive differences in toxicity from chemical exposures including acetaminophen and trichloroethylene. The second project is focused on how lifestyle factors such as diet and physical exercise can influence organismal energy metabolism and alter the vulnerability of the organism to chemical exposures. Both projects illustrate how differences in metabolism can underlie differential susceptibility to environmental chemical-driven pathologies.
BIOGRAPHY: Jessica Hartman, Ph.D. is a postdoctoral fellow in the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University, working in the lab of Dr. Joel Meyer. Dr. Hartman completed her Ph.D. in the Biochemistry Department at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in the lab of Dr. Grover P. Miller, where she studied cytochrome P450 2E1 (CYP2E1) enzyme kinetics. In her F32- and, more recently, K99-funded postdoctoral position, she has extended her research to include in vivo models (cell culture and Caenorhabditis elegans), with a particular focus on metabolic influences on mitochondrial function and toxicity. Thus far in her career, Dr. Hartman has published 26 peer-reviewed papers, served as primary mentor to 24 undergraduate students (5 current), and received multiple awards including the prestigious Gabriel Plaa Education Award (2018 Society of Toxicology meeting) for her commitment to mentorship and research in mechanistic toxicology.