From May 19-22, nine Duke Superfund Center researchers representing research projects 1-4 participated in the 20th symposium on Pollutant Responses in Marine Organisms (PRIMO20), in Charleston, SC. This was the first time Charleston hosted PRIMO, and the close proximity meant our researchers were active in all aspects of the conference.
The PRIMO conference began in 1981 and meets every two years to bring together top scientists from around the world to present research and discuss exposures to chemical contaminants and other stressors, mechanisms of toxicity, and health consequences for marine and aquatic organisms. The conference promotes a comparative biology approach to research and research translation to enhance the utility of marine organisms as models for research on human and ecosystem health and disease.
Highlights
- Recent Superfund Trainee and PhD, Casey Lindberg, won the Founder’s Award for best platform presentation by a student. Her presentation was titled: “Chemical and Environmental Stressor Co-Exposures in Contaminant-Resistant Atlantic Killifish,” a culmination of her work at the Duke Superfund Research Center. Congrats, Casey!
- DUSRC Director Richard Di Giulio and investigator Seth Kullman served on the local organizing committee. Dr. Di Giulio also helped secure funding from NIEHS to support student travel to the conference
- Eight Superfund investigators and trainees presented their research
- Investigator David Hinton, Dr. Kullman, Postdoctoral Associate Rafael Trevisan, and PhD student Stacy Schkoda served as session chairs
- Four of our Duke Superfund trainees served as local ambassadors for international participants and assisted with conference logistics
Duke Superfund trainees and Duke Integrated Toxicology & Environmental Health Program students at the conference
Rafael Trevisan-Postdoctoral Research Associate 
Danielle Mello-Postdoctoral Research Associate 
Melissa Chernick-Research Technician II 
Anna Lewis-PhD student
