Medical Student Research Fellowship for Summer 2010

Mentor: Arnold Schecter, MD, MPH
Department: Allied Health UT School of Public Health
Room number: V8.112E
Mail Code: 9128
Phone number: 214-648-1096 (Cell: 214-336-8519)
E-mail: arnold.schecter @utsouthwestern.edu
Project title: Project 1: Persistent Organic Pollutants in food, women and children. Project 2: Assist in editing the major reference text on dioxins and other related persistent organic pollutants or POPs.

Human subjects IRB approved project number (where applicable): For exposed workers: IRB: 052009-015. No IRB approval needed for book editing.

Animal subjects IRB approved project number (where applicable): NA

Project Type (patient-based research, animal-based research, or basic research; this characterization is only to permit a general classification for grouping similar types of projects)

Brief Description of Project:

Project 1: Persistent organic pollutants or POPs such as DDT, dioxins, Bisphenol A, PBDEs, phthalates and related chemicals are toxic, synthetic, persistent in the environment and humans and bioaccumulate. Health studies depend on a description of levels of these compounds, body burdens, in the general population and in specially exposed persons. Contaminated food is one route of intake.

Characterization of these compounds is being done as chemical techniques mature. Collection of samples and analysis at highly specialized laboratories is a major project of our team. After such characterization, health studies are sometimes performed by us.

Project 2: The reference text, "Dioxins and Health", Ed. Arnold Schecter, will be expanded in this 3rd edition to include other persistent organic pollutants such as Bisphenol A, brominated flame retardants, phthalates and other similar compounds. It will be published by John Wiley and Sons in 2011. All aspects of editing a major medical/public health text will be offered to an interested student working under my supervision.

Previous Research Activities or Publications with Medical Students:

Summer 2009 with Darrah Haffner: Characterization of PBDEs in flight personnel to better study the hypothesis that such workers are at risk for elevated body burdens from exposure to PBDEs in electronics, seats, fabrics, carpet liners and plastic used elsewhere in airliners during flight. This has produced one publication to date, one abstract, and we are in the process of finishing the chemical analyses of additional flight personnel and then will write a longer and more comprehensive manuscript for publication. Darrah also took part in our PBDEs in US food study and coauthored manuscripts at least one of which is online in an NIH journal.