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EPA-funded project will study how toxicants may affect human health

A scientist in a laboratory

Image: College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences

A Texas A&M University researcher will lead a federally funded investigation into the effects of environmental toxicants on human health, with an emphasis on how they may damage the heart.

The project has received a $6 million grant from the Environmental Protection Agency to fund a multi-institutional collaboration between the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences and the Bioinformatics Research Center at North Carolina State University, under the leadership of Ivan Rusyn, an A&M professor of veterinary integrative biosciences.

His team will develop and validate a novel approach to studies of chemical safety in both human cells and in mice.

He says the growing list of chemical substances in commerce and the complexity of environmental exposures represent an enormous challenge to the regulatory agencies that examine the toxic potential of chemical exposures.

News coverage: Texas A&M research project receives $6 million grant from EPA (The Eagle, June 30)