Metals Core

Overview

Under the leadership of Dr. Robert Wright MD MPH, a Pediatrician and Environmental Epidemiologist, the Metals Core brings together faculty to address the health effects of metals across the lifespan. In addition, the Metals Core has expanded its goals to include not only metal toxicity but also susceptibility to metals. This is a critical concept to lifespan epidemiology, as age itself likely alters susceptibility to metals.

The primary public health goals of our program are to address the health effects of toxicants and the etiology of complex diseases and disorders. Our program is structured in a manner that allows us to address both the initial logical question of "Is a metal toxic and if so, at what dose?" And perhaps the more critical question "What factors increase or decrease that toxicity?" The first question can be viewed as an initial stage of research development, the second as the integration of metal exposure into the field of complex disease epidemiology.

While much of our work deals with genetic susceptibility to metals, we also recognize that social context and nutrition are important susceptibility factors. We encourage researchers to address these issues as well. The work conducted by core members is primarily on non-cancer endpoints with a particular emphasis on neurologic phenotypes. Our faculty members have developed research which has been critical to defining public health policy around metals. Core faculty have led initiatives on the study of the both the benefits and risk of fish consumption, the role of the social environment in modifying chemical toxicity in humans, the role of nutritional supplements in mitigating the toxicity of metals, as well as initiatives looking at epigenetic marks as biomarkers of metal exposure.

2011-2012 Metals Core Seminar Series

“Superfund Metal Mixtures, Biomarkers, and Neurodevelopment”

All seminars begin at 12:30pm. Each research presentation will be followed by a separate Superfund business meeting. Schedule and locations may be subject to change. Please refer to the Superfund Research Program Events Calendar for the most current and detailed information.

Sept 26, 2011— SPH FXB, room G12
Douglas Ruden
Oct 17, 2011—SPH Bldg. 1, room 1302
Project 1
Nov 7, 2011—Landmark 3rd Fl. E, room 008
Project 2
Dec 5, 2011—SPH Bldg. 1, room 1302
Project 3
Jan 9, 2012—SPH Bldg. 1, room 1302
Project 4
Feb 6, 2012— Landmark 3rd Fl. E, room 008
Project 5
Mar 5, 2012— SPH Bldg. 1, room 1302
Project 6
Apr 2, 2012—SPH Bldg. 1, room 1302
Environmental Statistics and Bioinformatics Core
May 7, 2012— Landmark 3rd Fl. E, room 008
Research Translation Core

Highlights

Title: Fish Consumption, Dental Amalgams, and Other Aspects of Mercury Toxicity

Core Director

Robert Wright, Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Environmental Health (HSPH), Department of Environmental Health

Core Members

Dr. Chitra Amarasiriwardena, Ph.D., Instructor and Director of the Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory at HSPH.
Dr. David Bellinger, Ph.D., M.Sc., B.A., Professor of Neurology and Environmental Health, Harvard Medical School & Harvard School of Public Health
Dr. Joseph D. Brain, S.D., S.M., S.M., Center Director, Cecil K. and Philip Drinker Professor of Environmental Physiology, Department of Environmental Health
Dr. David C. Christiani, M.D., M.P.H., M.S., Professor of Occupational Medicine and Epidemiology (HSPH), Professor of Medicine (HMS), Department of Environmental Health (HSPH), Harvard Medical School
Dr. Bruce Demple, Ph.D., B.A., Core Co-Director, Professor of Toxicology, Department of Cancer Cell Biology
Dr. Douglas W. Dockery, Sc.D., M.S., M.S., Professor of Environmental Epidemiology (HSPH), Associate Professor of Medicine (HMS), Chair, Department of Environmental Health (HSPH)
Dr. Adrienne Ettinger, Research Associate (HSPH), Department of Environmental Health
Dr. John J. Godleski, M.D., B.S., Associate Professor in Environmental Health (HSPH), Associate Professor of Pathology (HMS), Department of Environmental Health (HSPH), Harvard Medical School
Dr. Philippe Grandjean, M.D., Ph.D., Adjunct Professor of Environmental Health (HSPH), Professor of Environmental Medicine (University of Southern Denmark), Department of Environmental Health (HSPH), University of Southern Denmark
Dr. Robert F. Herrick, S.D., M.S., B.A., Senior Lecturer on Industrial Hygiene, Department of Environmental Health
Dr. David J. Hunter, Sc.D., M.P.H., B.S., Professor of Epidemiology and Nutrition, Departments of Epidemiology and Nutrition
Dr. Lester Kobzik, M.D., B.S., Professor in Environmental Health (HSPH), Professor of Pathology (HMS), Department of Environmental Health (HSPH), Harvard Medical School
Dr. Susan Korrick, M.D., M.P.H., B.A., Assistant Professor of Medicine (HMS), Department of Environmental Health (HSPH), Harvard Medical School Lecturer in Occupational Health (HSPH)
Dr. Emily Oken, M.D., M.P.H., Assistant Professor of Medicine (HMS), Department of Ambulatory Care and Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Dr. Louise Ryan, Ph.D., B.A., Professor of Biostatistics, Department of Biostatistics (HSPH), Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Dr. Joel Schwartz, Ph.D., B.A., Professor of Environmental Epidemiology (HSPH), Associate Professor of Medicine (HMS), Department of Environmental Health (HSPH), Harvard Medical School
Dr. James P. Shine, Ph.D., B.S., Associate Professor of Aquatic Chemistry, Department of Environmental Health
Dr. Thomas J. Smith, Ph.D., M.P.H., B.A., Professor of Industrial Hygiene, Department of Environmental Health
Dr. John D. Spengler, Ph.D., M.S., B.S., Core Co-Director, Akira Yamaguchi Professor of Environmental Health and Human Habitation, Department of Environmental Health
Dr. James H. Ware, Ph.D., M.S., B.A., Dean for Academic Affairs, Frederick Mosteller Professor of Biostatistics, Department of Biostatistics
Dr. Marianne Wessling-Resnick, Ph.D., B.S., Core Co-Director, Professor of Nutrition, Department of Genetics and Complex Diseases.
Dr. Marc Weisskopf, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Environmental Health and Epidemiology, Departments of Environmental Health and Epidemiology
Dr. Jennifer Weuve, Research Associate, HSPH Department of Environmental Health
Dr. Rosalind Wright, Assistant Professor of Medicine and Environmental Health, Channing Laboratory, HMS
Dr. Zhi-Min Yuan, M.D., Ph.D., M.S., James Steven Simmons Associate Professor of Radiobiology, Department of Cancer Cell Biology

Affiliates

Dr. Brian Fligor, Sc.D., Audiologist and Instructor, Children's Hospital, HMS.
Dr. Yueliang Leon Guo, MD, PhD, MPH - Prof and Dir, Dept Occ. and Env. Health, National Chengkung University Medical Center, Tainan, Taiwan.
Dr. Mauricio Hernandez-Avila, M.D., Sc.D., Director, National Institute of Public Health in Mexico
Dr. Howard Hu, Professor of Environmental Health, Chair, Department of Environmental Health, University of Michigan.
Dr. John Jarrell, M.D., Visiting Scientist at HSPH (Professor of OB/GYN, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada)
Dr. Kasia Kordas, PhD. Assistant Professor of Nutrition, Pennsylvania State University. Department of Nutrition.
Dr. Karl T. Kelsey, M.D., M.P.H., B.A., Professor of Cancer Biology and Environmental Health, Brown University Medical School
Dr. Robert Lenkinski, Ph.D., Professor of Radiology, Beth Israel-Deaconess Hospital, HMS.
Dr. Heather Nelson, Associate Professor, University of Minnesota School of Public Health
Dr. Tim Maher, Ph.D., Sawyer Professor of Pharmaceutical Science, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
Dr. Karen Peterson, Associate Professor of Nutrition, HSPH.
Dr. Quazi Quamruzzaman, MD, Director, Dhaka Community Hospital Trust, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Dr. Debra A. Schaumberg, ScD, OD, MPH, Assistant Professor of Medicine and Ophthalmology Harvard Medical School
Dr. David Senn, Ph.D., Research Associate, HSPH Department of Environmental Health.
Dr. Donald Smith, Ph.D., Department of Environmental Toxicology, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA
Dr. David Sparrow, Sc.D., Senior Investigator, Normative Aging Study, Veterans Administration Hospital, Boston
Dr. Hui-Zhen Jenny Su, ScD, Prof, Dept Occ and Env Health, National Chengkung University Medical Center, Tainan, Taiwan
Dr. Mara Maria Tellez-Rojo, Sc.D., Senior Investigator, Center for Population Studies, National Institute of Public Health in Mexico
Dr. Nasser H. Zawia, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Rhode Island
Dr. Antonella Zanobetti, Sc.D., Research Scientist, HSPH

Links

Harvard School of Public Health Superfund Research Program
http://www.srphsph.harvard.edu/

Harvard School of Public Health, Center for Children's Environmental Health
http://es.epa.gov/ncer/childrenscenters/harvard.html

Metals Epidemiology Research Group
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/merg/history.htm

Harvard Interdisciplinary Training Program in Neurotoxicology
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/merg/t32/

Harvard NIEHS Center for Environmental Health