About the EHSRC
Center Members
Pilot Grant Program
Research Cores
- Environmental Lung Disease
- Inflammation & Innate Immunity
- Nanotoxicology
- Oxidative Stress & Metabolism
Core Facilities
- Environmental Modeling & Exposure Assessment Facility
- Integrative Health Sciences Facility
- Pulmonary Toxicology Facility
Career Development Program
Community Outreach and Engagement
Center Publications
Seminars
The EHSRC is funded by NIH P30 ES005605
Pulmonary Toxicology Facility
The overarching goal of the Pulmonary Toxicology Facility (PTF) is to provide the facilities and expertise for investigators to enhance the productivity and quality of their pulmonary toxicology research and to assist them in exploring new investigative areas in asthma, pulmonary biology, inhalation toxicology, or aerosol science. In addition, investigators are supported with expertise and assays to evaluate exposures to rural airborne toxicants, asthma triggers and pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs). This facility provides assistance to test hypotheses regarding the pulmonary biology of asthma and other environmental lung diseases, and the physicochemical properties and toxicologic effects of endotoxin, allergens, bioaerosols, and other airborne toxicants.
Specific Aims
Specific aims for the Pulmonary Toxicology Facility include the following:
- Provide consultation and services to Center investigators interested in using animal models for environmental health research
- Perform acute, subacute, and subchronic inhalation exposures (and sham exposures) to groups of rodents with rigidly controlled gases, vapors, aerosols, or combined exposures
- Assess biomarkers and sensitive physiologic endpoints to identify early biologic responses, low-dose functional changes, and susceptibility or host resistance factors
- Develop innovative animal models, including transgenic and knockout mice, to identify causal agents of disease or novel inhalation therapies
- Develop improved nanoparticle and bioaerosol generation, sampling, and analysis methodology
- Facilitate pre-doctoral and post-doctoral training
PTF Leadership
Director: Peter S. Thorne, Ph.D.
Exposure Generation Specialist: Patrick T. O'Shaughnessy, Ph.D.
Aerosol Measurement Specialist: Thomas M. Peters, Ph.D.
Biochemist: Nervana Metwali, PhD
Toxicologist: Andrea Adamčaková-Dodd, PhD.
Research Scientist: Wei Xie, PhD
Research Scientist: Jong Sung Kim, PhD