Through this funded NSF RISE project, Texas Southern University (TSU) will conduct interdisciplinary basic science research on the “Characterization of Biomolecular Response to Environmental Stress.” Three research areas of the project are:
- Investigate the environmental fate and transport dynamics of environmental PGE and vanadium to humans and assess human exposure to these elements through inhalation of nanosized atmospheric particulate matter and ingestion of contaminated surface soil and associated potential health risks.
- Examine the effect of PGE and vanadium on transcription factors, MAP kinases, and proinflammatory cytokines in human lung epithelial cells and use computer models to capture and predict the dynamics of transduction pathways
- Characterize PGE and vanadium exposure to gut epithelium and representative prokaryotic members of the gut microbiota and develop a microbial biosensor for human disease.
The research activities in the project will involve the disciplines of computational informatics, physics, environmental science, environmental toxicology, cell biology, and microbiology. Further, project research will be integrated within science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education programs. Ultimately, the outcomes of the funded project will increase the number of minority and under-represented students who pursue advanced graduate degrees (specifically PhD), thereby meeting our nation’s critical future workforce demands in STEM fields. Below is a conceptual model/flowchart of how the project’s work will be carried out.
