Dr. Michael Petriello (Research Experience and Training Coordination Core and Placental Mammal Model) and CLEAR postdoctoral trainee Dr. Stephanie Morgan presented their research at the 2024 Central and Eastern European Conference on Health and the Environment (CEECHE), in July at Aristotle University in Greece.

Over the summer, CLEAR partnered with Wayne State University's Humanities Clinic to create an accessible StoryMap resource for community members explaining the potential health impact of VOCs, how our interdisciplinary research teams are addressing the issue, and how community members can take action. The resource will go live in October.

The Community Engagement Core (CEC) visited more than 150 homes in Detroit by the end of the summer. After completing preliminary analysis on 62 homes, the team found levels of VOCs exceeding state or federal levels at approximately a third of them.

Dr. Donna Kashian (Research Experience and Training Coordination Core) was named by the International Association for Great Lakes Research as the President of its new board of directors.

Dr. Michael Petriello (Research Experience and Training Coordination Core and Placental Mammal Model), coauthored a study examining impact of per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS), which was featured in The Guardian. Results of the study indicate that when males are exposed to PFAS, it can accumulate in the testes and affect children’s health.

Tracie Baker and Mackenzie Connell present research at Gordon Research Conference

Dr. Tracie Baker (Zebrafish Model) and trainee Mackenzie Connell gave a talk and poster presentation at the Gordon Research Conferences on Addressing Environmental Endocrine Disruptors to Improve Planetary Health in Lucca, Italy.

CLEAR's Research Translation team partnered with undergraduate students in the Department of Communication during the Winter 2024 semester to create five new animation videos, extending its current "Suzie the Scientist" YouTube series to better communicate the health risks of VOCs to community members.

Dr. Yongli Wager (Sensing/ Remediation Study) led a panel discussion about AI’s role in addressing microplastics in waterways hosted by The Midwest Big Data Innovation Hub in April 2024.

CLEAR trainees Mackenzie Connell, Dr. Katherine Roth, Manisha Agarwal, Lisa Koshko and Sydney Scofield (Zebrafish Model and Placental Mammal Model) presented their research at the annual meeting of the Society for Toxicology at Salt Lake City, UT, in March.

Dr. Rahul Mitra (Research Translation) and postdoctoral trainee Dr. Brendan O'Leary (Field Study and Sensing/ Remediation Study) presented about forging intergenerational collaborations and fieldwork in urban brownfield sites at the NIEHS Partnerships for Environmental Public Health (PEPH) annual meeting in Durham NC.

CLEAR hosted the External Advisory Committee (EAC) and staff members from the NIEHS Superfund Research Program (SRP) in June to review CLEAR's implementation of EAC input from previous meetings, discuss CLEAR's projects and activities, and develop EAC's role and future efforts.

Our second annual symposium, held on May 16, showcased effective collaboration outcomes at CLEAR, and also featured Dr. Matt Cave (University of Louisville Superfund Research Center) and Dr. Anna Hoover (University of Kentucky Superfund Research Center) describing challenges and best practices for environmental health collaboration. Additionaly, special guests Dr. Teresa Holtrop (Kid's Health Connections), Shirley Mann Gray (Detroit Department of Health) and Dr. Sonia Hassan (WSU Office of Women’s Health) led discussions to organize a community-led coalition addressing VOC impacts in Detroit.

Lance Gable, J.D. (Research Translation) facilitated a science communication workshop in April titled “Regulating Volatile Organic Compounds: Environmental Health and the Law and Policy Landscape,” with 20 participants in-person and remotely.

Congratulations to Dr. Michael Petriello (Placental Mammal Model), along with co-investigators Dr. Gil Mor and Dr. Doug Ruden, for winning a $2.8 million R01 research grant from NIH. The grant researches the link between PFAS exposure and preterm birth outcomes in mice through inflammatory responses.

Postdoctoral trainee Dr. Brendan O'Leary (Field Study and Sensing/Remediation Study) was awarded a K.C. Donnelly Externship from NIEHS. He is collaborating with researchers at the University of Kentucky Superfund Research Center to deploy a real-time monitoring tool for assessing VOCs in urban neighborhoods.

Dr. Melissa Runge-Morris (CLEAR Co-Director) led a team that received a four-year, $5.2 million P30 environmental health sciences core center (EHSCC) grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) in support of the Center for Urban Responses to Environmental Stressors (CURES).

Carol Miller and Tracie Baker awarded $600,000 from Erb Foundation

Dr. Carol Miller (CLEAR Co-Director and Sensing/ Remediation Study) and Dr. Tracie Baker (Zebrafish Model) received a $600,000 grant from the Erb Family Foundation for their work with the Healthy Urban Waters collaborative.

CLEAR trainees Sarah Black, Tierney Shaible, Anthony Maxwell, Dr. Qisen Wang, Aditi Singh, and Dr. Brendan O’Leary were awarded seed funding of $10,000 by the Research Experience and Training Coordination Core.

Dr. Glen Hood (Field Study), along with trainee Sarah Black, was awarded a grant from the One Health Pilot Project Initiative to study how urban heat islands and air pollution may interact and impact urban agriculture.

Postdoc trainee receives two ASCE awards

Postdoctoral trainee Dr. Ebissa Gadissa Kedir (Sensing/ Remediation Study) was granted two awards by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) in May, the Visiting International Fellowship & the ASCE StAR Award.

F. Gianluca Sperone (Field Study and Data Management & Analytics Core) was one of three university-wide winners of the 2023-2024 General Education Teaching award from Wayne State University.

Dr. Tracie Baker (Zebrafish Model) received the OTA (Out Toxicologists and Allies) Excellence in Mentorship Award at the Society for Toxicology annual meeting. The award also came with a donation in her name to the The Trevor Project, and organization dedicated to suicide prevention in LGBTQ youth.

Trainees Dr. Katherine Roth and Manisha Agarwal won abstract awards at the Society of Toxicology annual meeting. Both trainees are guided by Dr. Mike Petriello (Placental Mammal Model).

Dr. Yongli Wager is the project lead for CLEAR's Sensing/ Remediation Study. 

"I am particularly interested in comprehending how pollutants like VOCs and microplastics behave in both natural and engineered systems, and how they affect both environmental quality and human health. My work involves developing cutting-edge technologies for real-time monitoring, utilizing Internet of Things (IoT) sensors and edge computing. Additionally, I am passionate about creating data tools that pinpoint sources and pathways through which these pollutants enter the environment. I also collaborate closely with communities to implement strategies aimed at reducing pollution sources."

Sarah Black is a doctoral student of biological sciences at Wayne State University, working with Dr. Glen Hood (Field Study). She was selected as the CLEAR Leadership Fellow for AY 2024-2025.

"To quote my favorite TV show, 'Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful and committed people can change the world.' CLEAR has always promoted students like myself to dream big. Recently, there was a funding competition for students to invent pilot studies (contamination related) that could alter the paradigm of our fields – if we work with someone outside of our normal team. Suddenly, I was able to consider more seriously an idea (‘odorscape’- contamination disrupting sensory cues in plant communication with animals) and partner with chemists who could help me develop and bring it to reality. Working with CLEAR is a privilege because it promotes interdisciplinary lens that allows multiple peoples' talents to shine while working on a common goal."

* denotes CLEAR faculty researchers

Agarwal M, Roth K, Yang Z, Sharma R, Maddipati K, Westrick J*, Petriello MC*. Loss of flavin-containing monooxygenase 3 modulates dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyl 126-induced oxidative stress and hepatotoxicity. Environ Res. 2024 Jun;250:118492. doi:10.1016/j.envres.2024.118492.

Connell ML, Meyer, DN, Haimbaugh A, Baker TR*. Status of single-cell RNA sequencing for reproductive toxicology in zebrafish and the transcriptomic trade-off. Curr Opin Toxicol. 2024 Jun;38:100463. doi:10.1016/j.cotox.2024.100463.

Llewellyn MJ, Griffin EK, Caspar RJ, Timshina AS, Bowden JA, Miller CJ*, Baker BB, Baker TR*. Identification and quantification of novel per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination in a Great Lakes urban-dominated watershed. Sci Total Environ. 2024 Sep;941:173325. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.173325.

Maxwell A, Swanson G, Nguyen AT, Hu A, Richards D, You Y, Stephan L, Manaloto M, Liao A, Ding J*, Mor G*. Hydroquinone impairs trophoblast migration and invasion via AHR-twist-IFITM1 axis. Placenta. 2024 Sep;155:88-99. doi:10.1016/j.placenta.2024.07.315.

Maxwell DL, Oluwayiose OA, Houle E, Roth K, Nowak K, Sawant S, Paskavitz AL, Liu W, Gurdziel K, Petriello MC*, Richard Pilsner J. Mixtures of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) alter sperm methylation and long-term reprogramming of offspring liver and fat transcriptome. Environ Int. 2024 Apr;186:108577. doi:10.1016/j.envint.2024.108577.

Straughen JK*, Loveless I, Chen Y, Burmeister C, Lamerato L, Lemke LD, O’Leary BF, Reiners JJ, Sperone FG*, Levin AM, et al. The impact of environmental benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene exposure on blood-based DNA methylation profiles in pregnant African American women from Detroit. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2024; 21(3):256. doi:10.3390/ijerph21030256.