Cory Gerlach hanging out with the zebrafish at the Sinnhuber Aquatic Research Laboratory (SARL)
Cory Gerlach is an undergraduate student in the Tanguay lab and will be graduating this spring with an Honors Bachelor of Science in Bioresource Research. Besides winning awards, Cory has transformed his career with valuable research experience gained over the last two years.
In 2013, Cory won the best undergraduate research presentation at the PANWAT meetingin Seattle. The title of his PANWAT poster was “Mono-substituted isopropylated triaryl phosphate, a major component of flame retardant mixture Firemaster 550, is an AHR agonist that exhibits AHR-independent cardiac toxicity”.
In 2014, Cory won the best undergraduate poster presentation at the OSU EMT Research Day, and he received a Pfizer SOT Undergraduate Student Travel Award for the 2014 Annual Meeting of the Society of Toxicology (SOT) in Phoenix, AZ to present his recent findings.
Reflection of Experience by Cory Gerlach
My experience in the Tanguay lab has completely changed my career path.
Before I began my undergraduate research, I thought I would get a masters
in public policy or shift my focus from science to policy or law in some
graduate program. However, in the Tanguay lab I discovered my passion for
bench research, found that I was good at it, and learned that these basic
discoveries are crucial in order to affect policy and therefore improve
public health. Having Dr. Tanguay as a mentor has also helped me to keep
in mind the big picture of my research, and he has taught me that there is
always room for innovation and improvements to how we answer big research
questions. Continue reading →
Robert Tanguay presenting at the Norcal SOT Spring Symposium. (Photo Credit: Cal Dept. of Pesticide Regulation)
Robert Tanguay (Leader, Project 3, Director, Sinnhuber Aquatic Research Lab) traveled to California on April 29-20 for the Norcal SOT Spring Symposium . His presentation “Rapid In Vivo Assessment of Bioactivity in Zebrafish: High Content Data for Predictive Toxicology” was well received by scientists from the California Dept. of Pesticide Regulation, California EPA, and many others participating via the webcast.
The Tanguay group uses the embryonic zebrafish model to demonstrate the utility of high throughput screening for toxicology studies. The group evaluated the 1060 US EPA ToxCast Phase 1 and 2 compounds on 18 distinct outcomes. With four doses for each compound the group generated a dizzying number of data points highlighting the importance of bioinformatics analysis in these types of studies. The study shows how it is now possible to screen many of the tens of thousands of untested chemicals using a whole animal model in which one can literally see developmental malformations. —Gary W. Miller
Abstract
There are tens of thousands of man-made chemicals in the environment; the inherent safety of most of these chemicals is not known. Relevant biological platforms and new computational tools are needed to prioritize testing of chemicals with limited human health hazard information. We describe an experimental design for high-throughput characterization of multidimensional in vivo effects with the power to evaluate trends relating to commonly cited chemical predictors. We evaluated all 1060 unique U.S. EPA ToxCast phase 1 and 2 compounds using the embryonic zebrafish and found that 487 induced significant adverse biological responses. The utilization of 18 simultaneously measured endpoints means that the entire system serves as a robust biological sensor for chemical hazard. The experimental design enabled us to describe global patterns of variation across tested compounds, evaluate the concordance of the available in vitro and in vivo phase 1 data with this study, highlight specific mechanisms/value-added/novel biology related to notochord development, and demonstrate that the developmental zebrafish detects adverse responses that would be missed by less comprehensive testing strategies.
Lisa Troy, an 8th grade science teacher at The Sage School in Foxboro, Massachusetts chose the NIEHS-funded Hydroville Curriculum as a way to give her students a real-world problem to solve, teach them collaboration and teamwork skills, and expand their understanding of “doing” science. She was also very interested in environmental issues and once worked as an environmental consultant on EPA’s Superfund/RCRA Hotline.
Teacher Lisa Troy shares instructions for the team building activity (Toxic Popcorn). Photo credit: The Sage School
In the Hydroville Pesticide Scenario, students work in teams to examine and clean-up a large accidental spill of metam sodium near a river. In this scenario students take on roles of an environmental chemist, environmental toxicologist, soil scientist, and mechanical engineer. It creates a valuable experience to learn about these careers and how they work together to solve problems.
I was very pleased with how involved my students were in their roles. Since they were responsible for their own area of expertise, they took ownership of the skills and information that they learned. The students also enjoyed fitting their solution into the constraints of a budget, as well as considering stakeholders’ varying viewpoints. Their parents attended the presentations and took on roles as stakeholders when asking questions. Their presence increased the feeling of a real town meeting, and it was fun to see the students dressed up! ~ Lisa Troy
Students do a number of background activities to learn about the science needed to solve the problem. Topics include reading labels, toxicity testing, analyzing pumps, soil texture and permeability, and decision analysis. Photo credit: The Sage School
Communicating with a Scientist
The students were learning about toxicity, LD50, and NOEL (No Observable Effect Level) through a seed germination lab. Lisa Troy had read about Dr. Tanguay in the recent YALEe360 article, and she shared his research with the students. The students were very excited to speak to a “real” scientist who is engaged in meaningful work and making a difference. A highlight for the students was when they Skyped with Dr. Robert Tanguay.
Students were especially interested to learn how zebrafish are being used as models of human response to chemicals in research all over the world. They shared a long list of questions with Dr. Tanguay in preparation for the Skype event.
The students were intrigued by the idea that, through research such as Dr. Tanguay’s, chemical manufacturers will know much more about the effects of individual chemicals and the possible synergistic effects of mixing chemicals. They were reassured to learn of the human treatment of the fish, as well.
Dr. Robert Tanguay (Project 3 Leader and Center Research Coordinator) used Skype to answer questions directly from the students. Photo credit: The Sage School
Not only was Dr. Tanguay’s interview incredibly valuable, it taught my students an important lesson about research: that you can contact scientists and experts in their fields and obtain information directly from the source. Science is not just in a textbook. ~Lisa Troy
To increase career connections, Lisa Troy asked the parents, teachers, and administrators to identify any skills that were important to them in their work or life experience from a list she generated of all the skills the students learned or used during the course of Hydroville. They checked nearly all of the skills!
As the year progresses and we study other topics, I will continue to reinforce the concepts and skills the students acquired during Hydroville and know that they will be well prepared for the future. ~Lisa Troy
[This post was written in collaboration with Lisa Troy. We truly appreciate her sharing her experience with us. If you are an educator and want more information or have a story to share, please contact us.]
Steven O’Connell sampling at the Portland Harbor Superfund Site
In the past few years, our Center has been conducting research to learn more about oxygenated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (OPAHs). OPAHs are one of the degradation products of parent PAHs. OPAHs are studied because they are present in the environment and pose an unknown hazard to human health.
Focus on this class of compounds has really increased in the last few years, although it’s interesting to note that there were reports of some of these compounds in the 1970’s and earlier. There are several reasons researchers want to study these compounds. OPAHs seem to be found in similar concentrations to the highly studied parent PAHs in a variety of samples ranging from diesel exhaust to urban air. Additionally, not a lot is known about the toxicity of these compounds, although early evidence suggests that they may be on par with PAHs. That’s why the OPAH research of students Andrea Knecht and Britton Goodale in Dr. Robert Tanguay’s Lab (Project 3) has been so important.
Why measure OPAHs at the Portland Harbor Superfund Site?
It makes a lot of sense to try and measure OPAHs at Portland Harbor Superfund. PAHs have been responsible for remediation at some sites for years now, and are the precursors of OPAHs. In some cases, remediation approaches employ ultra violet (UV) light to try and degrade PAHs and thereby cleanup that site. However, it is possible that PAHs could degrade to OPAHs during the process. If no one is monitoring the products of this UV treatment, the site could remain hazardous. That’s why Norman Forsberg’s upcoming paper and Marc Elie’s work with ultra violet light in the Anderson laboratory (Project 4) is so interesting.
What still needs to be understood?
The formation and concentration of these compounds in the environment at contaminated sites are poorly understood. It is important to continue three areas of research that have been going on at OSU.
Detection: If the compounds are not present, then there’s less to worry about.
Good times with lab mates when Steven O’Connell (right) first started working in the Anderson lab.
Toxicity: Addresses concerns over compounds that are detected in environmental samples.
Processes by which OPAHs are made or degraded.
With that knowledge, it will become easier to understand potential risks with this compound class.
Why is this paper important in advancing the science?
My paper is very analytical. If you watch the television series Bones, I would be most like Hodgins, except there would be less talk of “particulates” and more talk of cleaning instrumentation. But seriously, by providing two methods on very different instrumentation to measure over 20 OPAHs, I provided a helpful platform for other scientists to use and build upon to measure this compound class in a variety of applications.
