Superfund Research Program News
UNC launches new Institute for Environmental Health Solutions
May 1, 2018
UNC-Chapel Hill has launched the Institute for Environmental Health Solutions, aimed at protecting those who are particularly vulnerable to diseases caused by environmental factors. Dr. Rebecca Fry, Institute director, works with a team of interdisciplinary researchers to translate scientific discoveries into effective, easy-to-apply solutions that improve people’s health.
Building capacity for Well Empowered communities: Preventing exposure to toxic metals in private wells
March 14, 2018 In February, researchers from the UNC Superfund Research Program (SRP) presented results of the final phase of an 18-month-long pilot study about well-water contamination to community members in North Carolina’s Stokes and Wayne counties. Members of SRP’s Well Empowered research team had worked to identify toxic metals contamination in private wells and… Read more »
UNC Conducts Hands-on Environmental Health Learning at Durham Women’s Health Awareness Event
On Saturday, April 1, faculty and students from two NIEHS-funded centers in the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health – Superfund Research Program (SRP) and the Center for Environmental Health and Susceptibility (CEHS) collaborated with community partners to conduct hands-on learning sessions with women attending the annual Durham Women’s Health Awareness Day. This event,… Read more »
SRP researchers identify two new genera of bacteria associated with PAH degradation in soil
Researchers in Dr. Singleton’s lab (Project 5) have isolated and described two novel polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)-degrading bacteria obtained from contaminated soils of former manufactured gas plant (MGP) sites in NC. These microbes represent specific strains within larger groups of previously uncharacterized bacteria described by the research team as “Pyrene Group 1 (PG1)” and “Pyrene Group… Read more »
Study investigates role of cadmium and microRNAs in preeclampsia
February 10, 2017
Drs. Rebecca Fry and Samira Brooks have explained an underlying biological mechanism by which exposure to cadmium may increase the risk of developing preeclampsia during pregnancy. Their study was published in Food and Chemical Toxicology.
ESE doctoral student receives NIEHS Superfund Research Program award
Elizabeth Martin, doctoral student in environmental sciences and engineering and trainee in the UNC Superfund Research Program, has been named recipient of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences’ Karen Wetterhahn Memorial Award.
Study finds disparities in drinking water quality in Wake County, NC
In Wake County, some predominantly African-American neighborhoods in urban areas completely lack access to nearby municipal water systems. As a result, residents are exposed to notably higher quantities of microbial contaminants via well water.
Fry leads community talk on metals exposure and health
Rebecca Fry, PhD, presented the first Tarheel Tox Talk, a new public outreach program from the UNC Curriculum in Toxicology. The informal, community presentation at a Chapel Hill restaurant Oct. 4 focused on metal contamination, especially that caused by inorganic arsenic, in drinking water. Dr. Fry, who directs the UNC Superfund Research Program (SRP) Center,… Read more »
SRP Trainee Spotlight: Dami Adebambo
Class of: 2017/2018 Degree: PhD, NC State University, Dept. of Biological Sciences Hometown: Lagos, Nigeria I am from Lagos, Nigeria but I’ve lived in North Carolina for a little over 7 years now. My initial interest in science sparked from my older sister, who is a computer scientist, and my parents’ wishes for me to become… Read more »
Laine winner of 2016 KC Donnelly Externship Award
Jessica Laine was recently awarded a KC Donnelly Externship from the NIEHS Supefund Research Program. Laine is a doctoral student in epidemiology at the University of North Carolina under the direction of Rebecca Fry, Ph.D., and David Richardson, Ph.D. For her externship, Laine will work with Mary Gamble, Ph.D., at the Columbia University SRP Center…. Read more »