Ten Outstanding Scientists Chosen as Environmental Health Science Communication Fellows

Charlottesville, VA, March 1, 2008 -- A new group of 10 scientists will continue to increase public awareness and understanding of environmental health science as Science Communication Fellows. The Fellows are part of a program that trains junior scientists to communicate and promote new research findings to a general audience.

The program is sponsored by the non-profit Environmental Health Sciences (EHS) organization. Each Fellow will receive a $5,000 stipend for the year-long appointment.

The 2008 Fellows are accomplished scientists representing a wide range of interests, experiences and universities. They bring to the program a commitment to public education and collective skills as educators, writers and lecturers. Their professional and academic backgrounds range from environmental toxicology, to epidemiology, to nanotechnology.

Every month, the Fellows will identify important new research findings about the environment and its links to human health, which have just been published or about to be published in peer-reviewed journals. They will translate the findings to make them more accessible to working reporters and to a broader public audience.

New findings during the past two decades have led to significant changes in how environmental health is studied and clinically practiced. Most of the public and many journalists are unaware of how profoundly this research domain has evolved and have not yet developed a thorough understanding of the significance or context of new results.

The program addresses these concerns by alerting journalists and the public to new findings. The Fellows will work with writing staff at EHS, publisher of Environmental Health News (www.environmentalhealthnews.org) and the Daily Climate (www.dailyclimate.org), to produce original reviews and commentary on the broader implications of significant and innovative research.

Unique to the program is the use of scientists to find and place into context important new research findings. This innovative training program, placing the Fellows at the interface between science and journalism, addresses the large gap between current frontiers of environmental health science and public understanding of the discipline.

A selection committee of seven prominent scientists chose the Fellows. Members of the selection committee are: Lynn R. Goldman, Johns Hopkins University; Louis J. Guillette, Jr., University of Florida-Gainesville; Patricia A. Hunt, Washington State University; Richard J. Jackson, University of California-Berkeley; Shuk-mei Ho, University of Cincinnati; Shanna H. Swan, University of Rochester; and Frederick vom Saal, University of Missouri-Columbia.

The 2008 Science Communication Fellows

• Jennifer Adibi, M.P.H. and Sc.D., is a research fellow at the Harvard School of Public Health. She combines her training in epidemiology and molecular biology to study how exposure to widespread endocrine disrupting compounds, such as phthalates, before and during pregnancy affect placental function and fetal development.

• Benson T. Akingbemi, DVM and Ph.D., is an assistant professor at Auburn University. He is a reproductive biologist who mainly studies male reproduction. His research focuses on how environmental chemicals (synthetic estrogens, phytoestrogens and phthalates) regulate steroid hormone receptors, androgen hormone synthesis and sperm production, which can affect reproductive health.

• Niladri Basu, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, University of Michigan, is an environmental toxicologist who studies how chemical pollutants affect brain and nerve function in wildlife and humans. He uses laboratory tests to confirm and diagnose early neurological effects of chemical exposure.

• Abby D. Benninghoff, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow, Oregon State University, uses her background in marine science and biochemical toxicology to understand how pollutants can interfere with crucial chemical signaling messages in cells to disrupt normal endocrine activity at the gene level in wildlife and humans.

• Heather Hamlin, Ph.D., is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Florida. She uses endocrine and molecular research approaches to understand how environmental contaminants alter reproduction and development in fishes and other vertebrates.

• Kim Harley, Ph.D., is an assistant research scientist at the University of California, Berkeley and an Associate Director of UC Berkeley's Center for Children's Environmental Health Research. She is an epidemiologist who studies environmental exposures and reproductive health. Her work concentrates on pesticide exposure to mothers and children living in a migrant farm worker community. She is particularly interested in the association between chemical exposures and fertility, birth outcome and child development.

• Stacey L. Harper, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow, Oregon State University, studies how very small substances, called nanomaterials, interact with cells, tissues and systems of plants and animals. Her goal is to determine how the widely used particles in manufacturing and consumer products affect the health of living organisms.

• Michael D. Laiosa, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Rochester, combines his training in immunology and biochemistry to investigate how toxic agents, such as dioxin, PAHs, and metals, interfere with development and signaling of the immune system and trigger autoimmune diseases.

• Carys L. Mitchelmore, Ph.D., is an assistant professor at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science's Chesapeake Biological Laboratory. She uses biochemical and molecular research techniques to understand the metabolism and effects of pollutants in aquatic organisms. She is particularly interested in how pollutants cause oxygen stress and DNA damage in an array of species, including corals.

• Martha Susiarjo, Ph.D., Research Associate, Washington State University, is interested in genetics and reproductive biology. She studies the effects of genetic and environmental factors on mice meiosis (egg and sperm division), focusing on how estrogen receptors and estrogen compounds influence the genetic quality of the egg and sperm. Starting in March, she will continue her research on epigenetics at the University of Pennsylvania.

Environmental Health Sciences (EHS), publisher of the daily news service EnvironmentalHealthNews.org, sponsors the Science Communication Fellowship. EHS, based in Charlottesville, Va., is a non-profit organization that promotes public understanding of links between environmental factors and human health. The Science Communication Fellows program is funded by a grant from the Kendeda Fund.

Contact: Environmental Health Sciences: Pete Myers 434.220.0348 or Wendy L Hessler 402.397.9928 or 402.672.1715 (cell), whessler@ehsic.org

Science Communication Network: Amy Kostant, amy@ems.org, 202.463.6670

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