Doctoral Dissertation Research: Endocrine disruptors and developmental programming in humans

该奖项全部或部分由《2021年美国救援计划法案》（公法117-2）资助。了解自然和文化环境在生命早期生长和发育中的作用，对于提高对人类生物变异和可塑性的认识非常重要。本博士论文项目利用生物培养框架来研究生命早期暴露于内分泌干扰化学物质（EDCs），这可能对人体生理功能产生长期影响。研究人员正在研究EDC暴露对婴儿激素谱的影响，增加对EDC暴露的全球和时间模式的理解，以及发育中的内分泌系统对EDC的敏感性。该项目为一名女研究生提供STEM领域的培训，并在当地社区开展外展活动。研究人员还编写信息报告，提交给利益相关者，并与当地组织合作，根据研究结果提出政策变更建议。该项目还包括通过各种科学传播活动向中学生和公众进行科学推广。本研究的主要目的是量化EDC暴露对不同环境下婴儿激素谱的影响。使用一种新颖的非靶向代谢组学方法，研究者正在通过三种生物基质和两种环境采样方法从母婴双体中量化EDC暴露。研究者正在利用生物栽培研究中使用的理论框架来理解和解释EDC暴露的影响。该项目以健康和疾病的发育起源假说为基础，利用激素和接触概况调查发育中的内分泌系统对EDCs的敏感性。从进化医学的角度来看，该项目还研究了当前EDCs的来源和水平是否会压倒对环境暴露的进化防御，从而造成进化不匹配。该项目结合了当地生物的概念，包括收集定性数据，以说明当地环境的各个方面如何影响到EDCs的接触模式及其健康后果。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). Understanding the role of the natural and cultural environments in early life growth and development is important for advancing knowledge about human biological variation and plasticity. This doctoral dissertation project utilizes a biocultural framework to investigate early life exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), which may have longer-term consequences for human physiological function. The investigator is examining the impacts of EDC exposure on infant hormonal profiles, adding to an understanding of global and temporal patterns in exposure to EDCs as well as the sensitivity of the developing endocrine system to EDCs. The project provides training in a STEM field to a female graduate student and involves outreach in a local community. The researcher is also creating informational reports to deliver to stakeholders and is collaborating with local organizations to generate recommendations for policy change based on the results of the study. The project also includes science outreach to middle school students and the general public through various science communication initiatives. The primary aim of this study is to quantify the effect of EDC exposure on infant hormonal profiles in different environments. Using a novel, nontargeted metabolomics approach, the investigator is quantifying EDC exposures across three biological matrices and two environmental sampling methods from mother-infant dyads. The investigator is drawing upon theoretical frameworks employed in biocultural research to understand and interpret the impacts of EDC exposure. The project builds on the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease Hypothesis by investigating the sensitivity of the developing endocrine system to EDCs using hormonal and exposure profiles. From an Evolutionary Medicine perspective, the project also addresses whether current sources and levels of EDCs overwhelm evolved defenses to environmental exposures, creating an evolutionary mismatch. Incorporating the concept of Locally Situated Biologies, the project includes collection of qualitative data to contextualize how patterns of exposure to EDCs as well as their health consequences are influenced by aspects of the local context.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.