Due to decades of heavy industrial activity, the North Birmingham area has been severely polluted with toxic chemicals including heavy metals such as cadmium, arsenic, and manganese. The population in the proposed North Birmingham National Priorities List (NPL) site (Affected Areas; zip codes 35207 and 35217) is predominantly African American and has higher rates of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI), and asthma compared to less industrialized areas (Control Area) of Jefferson County (zip code 35214). Considering the high prevalence of lung disease in the United States, particularly COPD, asthma, and respiratory tract infections, the proposed research is relevant to public health. The Clinical Biorepository and Animal Exposure Core (Core E) has two specific aims:
Specific Aim 1 : Manage the identification, recruitment, informed consent process, enrollment, clinical data collection, and biological specimen collection from subjects living in the Affected and Control Areas;
Specific Aim 2 : Expose adult mice (C57BL/6) of both sexes to arsenic, manganese, cadmium or real-life filtered dust from Affected and Control Areas for 4-6 hrs per day for three weeks; mice will be transferred to various projects so they can complete their proposed specific aims. The activities of the Clinical Biorepository and Animal Exposure Core will be essential to the overall success of this Superfund Program. The comprehensive biorepository of human specimens would constitute a unique resource that would further the NIEHS/Superfund mission. Furthermore, exposing mice to heavy metals in concentrations that are present in ambient air will create a model that mirrors and recapitulates the environmental exposures at the NPL site. The Core will be comprised of a pulmonologist with ample experience in clinical research, a toxicologist with extensive experience in mouse inhalation and lung injury study, a research coordinator, and a research associate. Core activities will be closely integrated and supported by the Data Management and Analysis Core (DMAC), Community Engagement Core (CEC), the biorepository infrastructure of the UAB Center for Clinical Translational Science (CCTS), and the Inhalation Exposure Facility within the UAB Animal Facility. All research personnel will be required to fulfill and maintain the training requirements of the UAB IRB and the IACUC. The IRB and the IACUC will review and provide oversight of all research-related activities. Procedures will be in place to ensure safety of human subjects and humane handling of vertebrate animals. The UAB CCTS Biorepository follows best practices defined by international societies to ensure that validated and reliable procedures and protocols are in place for specimen handling and sample integrity. The centralized, standardized and comprehensive expertise and organization of this Core represents a value-based, economy of effort for the overall proposed center.
The overall objectives of the Clinical Biorepository and Animal Exposure Core (Core E) are: (1) to provide the personnel, facilities, and organizational structure necessary to recruit human subjects, generate a research database, and procure and store biological specimens; and (2) to provide a facility to study the chronic effects of inhalational exposure to aerosolized heavy metals in animal models.
