Superfund Training Core

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Abstract: Interdisciplinary research remains an important feature of the NIH Roadmap. An integrated investigation of chemicals in Louisville will address the effects of exposure on health outcomes related to cardiometabolic disease. The central hypothesis of the UofL Superfund Hazardous Substance Research and Training Project is that exposure to the environmental chemicals, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) causes/exacerbates insulin resistance, leading to cardio-metabolic disease. Preliminary results from our biomedical projects provide evidence that obesity places individuals at higher risk to adverse health outcomes related to VOCs exposures, while our non-biomedical projects will address the lack of methods to systematically measure exposure to these chemicals in residents distal and proximal to industrial areas. This Training Core will train our pre- and post-doctoral fellows not only in laboratory-based research, but also in effective communication of the research findings to others in the Superfund Research Projects, as well as to the Community at large. The Training Core will develop graduate courses for our Trainees to be shared with the UofL Schools of Engineering, Dentistry, Medicine and Nursing and the College of Arts & Sciences, providing the latest information about the chemistry and human health effects of volatile organic compounds. The Training Core also will contribute to the professional and undergraduate training programs by providing our trainees as seminar speakers or lecturers to UofL undergraduate Biology & Chemistry honors students, to nursing, dentistry, and medical students, and to teachers and high school students in the Jefferson County School System to communicate the role of chemical exposure in human disease. Finally, our trainees will participate in meetings with the West Louisville Task Force and the Metro Louisville Public Health and Wellness Department with our Community Engagement and Research Translation Cores to engage in discussion and answer questions about the Superfund research projects. Each trainee will be assigned a specific project that each trainee will develop in order to experience how to translate research findings into concepts that can be transmitted effectively to the community, various local/state agencies, and university audiences alike.