(Taken from the Applicant's Description) Despite a marked increase in the human life span, questions about the role of environmental and occupational agents as modulators of disease and dysfunction continue to arise. These questions are provoked by such observations as the increased incidence of asthma in children, reports that Parkinson's disease (PD) has an environmental rather than a genetic basis, of correlations between ultra fine particles and cardiovascular respiratory morbidity and even mortality, and of endocrine-like chemical and reproductive dysfunction, among others. The goal of the University of Rochester NIEHS Environmental Health Sciences Center (EHSC) is to define the scope of the contribution of toxic agents to disease processes and dysfunctions and to understand the mechanisms by which they occur. The Center strives to provide a sound scientific basis for evaluating the health risks posed by chemical exposures to human populations and ultimately to prevent their occurrence. This is achieved through the efforts of four Research Cores. Studies within the Neurotoxicology Research Core seek to identify mechanisms by which toxicants affect nervous system function and thereby contribute to behavioral, neurological and psychiatric disturbances of the nervous system, such as Parkinson's disease, autism, and cognitive impairments. The Osteotoxicology Research Core focuses primarily on the extent to which lead exposure serves as a risk factor for disturbances of skeletal function, particularly its involvement in dental caries in osteoporosis. The Pulmonary Toxicology Research Core examines inflammatory and oxidative stress-induced mechanisms of lung injury and how disease states such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and others modulate these mechanisms. The Protein Modulators of Toxicity Research Core seeks to identify the ways in which toxicants modulate biologically active proteins critical to normal homeostatic function, thereby inducing changes contributing to disease processes. The scientific efforts of the Research Cores are promoted and assisted through five Facility/Service Cores: Transgenic Services, Pathology/Morphology/Imaging, Biostatistics, University Facilities and Shared Instrumentation. In addition, collaborations and new directions are significantly enhanced through the Enrichment Program of the EHSC, which includes a Pilot Project Program, a Visiting Scientist Program, the EHSC Seminar Series and the Rochester Conference Series. The Community Outreach and Education Program with its new Director, has instituted a Community Advisory Board that provides communication between the EHSC and the Community and has established educational programs for various segments of the community, including students and teachers, medical professionals and even senior scientists
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