Doctoral Dissertation Research: Endocrine disruptors and developmental programming in humans

该奖项全部或部分根据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早期生命生长和发育中的作用，对于推进人类生物变异和可塑性的知识非常重要。这个博士论文项目利用生物文化框架来研究早期生活中暴露于内分泌干扰物（EDCs），这可能对人类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，增加对暴露于EDC的全球和时间模式以及发育中的内分泌系统对EDC的敏感性的理解。该项目向一名女研究生提供STEM领域的培训，并在当地社区开展外联活动。研究人员还在编写信息报告，以提供给利益攸关方，并与当地组织合作，根据研究结果提出政策改革建议。该项目还包括通过各种科学传播举措向中学生和公众推广科学。本研究的主要目的是量化EDC暴露对不同环境中婴儿激素谱的影响。使用一种新的非靶向代谢组学方法，研究人员正在量化来自母婴二对体的三种生物基质和两种环境采样方法的EDC暴露。研究者正在利用生物文化研究中采用的理论框架来理解和解释EDC暴露的影响。该项目建立在健康和疾病的发育起源假说的基础上，通过使用激素和暴露概况调查发育中的内分泌系统对内分泌干扰物的敏感性。从进化医学的角度来看，该项目还解决了目前的来源和水平的内分泌干扰物是否压倒了进化的防御环境暴露，创造了一个进化的不匹配。该项目阐述了“局部生物学”的概念，包括收集定性数据，以了解暴露于内分泌干扰物的模式及其健康后果如何受到当地环境的影响。该奖项反映了NSF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.