With NSF support, Southern University at Baton Rouge will strengthen its science, technology, engineering and mathematics educational and research enterprise by expanding interdisciplinary research focused on the effects of environmental pollutants on health at the molecular level. Research topics include: (1) Biochemical Role(s) of Plant and Environmental Estrogens in Hormone-dependent Cancers, (2) Release of Inflammatory Mediators Following Exposure to Particulate Pollution, (3) Interaction of Fluorinated Surfactants with Natural Organic Matter (NOM), (4) Mechanisms of Butadiene-Induced p53-Mediated Apoptotic Signaling, (5) Molecular Basis of Degenerative Diseases Mediated by Oxidative Stress, and (6) Responses of Endothelial Cells to 1,3-Butadiene.
The intellectual merit of the research program in environmental toxicology at SUBR is that it makes a significant contribution to the body of knowledge of molecular environmental toxicology in general and to molecular mechanisms associated with the ill effects of 1,3-butadiene in particular. The broader impact the broader impact of the research in environmental toxicology is that it will make a significant contribution to SUBR's mission of becoming nationally competitive as a Doctoral/Research University-Intensive institution. At the same time the program is helping to address the under-representation of Blacks and other minorities in the sciences.
