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OEHHA Distinguished Lecture Series: Advances in Toxicology and Risk Assessment

The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) is hosting a Distinguished Lecture Series on Advances in Toxicology and Risk Assessment.  These lectures are intended to promote a better understanding of key emerging scientific issues with the aim of improving risk assessment.  Pre-eminent researchers in toxicology have been invited to present their findings and discuss their application to risk assessment. All the lectures will be held in Sacramento and simultaneously webcast on the website of the California Environmental Protection Agency (http://www.calepa.ca.gov/Broadcast/).  The lectures will begin at 10am and are open to the public at no cost.  No registration is required.  

The inaugural series in 2008 will focus on Epigenetics and Environmental Diseases.  The invited speakers will present on epigenetic mechanisms that may be involved in common human diseases such as neurodevelopmental disorders, breast cancer, and prostate illness.  The first six lectures in the series are listed below.

Download a complete list of lectures as a pdf file here

  • Opening Lecture: Epigenetics: the Interface between Environment and the Genome
    Wednesday, February 20, 2008,
    Sacramento City Council Chamber, City Hall, 915 I Street, Sacramento

    • Dr. Shuk-Mei Ho, Jacob G. Schmidlapp Professor and Chair
    Department of Environmental Health, University of Cincinnati

    Dr. Ho is the Chair of the Department of Environmental Health at the University of Cincinnati Medical School.  She is an expert in hormonal carcinogenesis and steroid hormone action.  Dr. Ho utilizes genomic, epigenomic, proteomic, and bioinformatic analyses for the discovery of diagnostic and prognostic markers for human diseases and for the prediction of patients’ responses to interventions. In addition, her current programs emphasize mechanisms of fetal-based adult disease development, cadmium-induced disorders, and oxidative stress/inflammation-mediated cellular changes.  In this inaugural lecture, Dr. Ho presented fundamental theories governing laboratory techniques that have been commonly used in epigenetic research.  She highlighted epigenetic mechanisms that have been recognized to be involved in the development of common human diseases. Dr. Ho also presented recent findings that shed light on how environmental chemicals can alter biological systems through epigenetic mechanisms.

  • Introduction to Epigenetics
  • Video of presentation
  • Slides

    • People who want to have further discussions with Dr. Ho after her lecture please contact Dr. Ling-Hong Li for arrangement.   For any other questions, please contact either Dr. Ling-Hong Li (OEHHA Sacramento: lli@oehha.ca.gov) or Dr. David Morry (OEHHA Oakland: dmorry@oehha.ca.gov).

  • Developmental Origins of Disease and Dysfunction: Role of Environmental Exposures
    Wednesday, February 27, 2008
    Sacramento City Council Chamber, City Hall, 915 I Street, Sacramento

    • Dr. Jerrold J. Heindel, Scientific Program Administrator
    National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

    Video of the presentation

    Slides of Dr. Heindel's presentation are available for download here.

    Dr. Heindel is the scientific program administrator at the Extramural Research and Training Division of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). He led the efforts at the NIEHS to develop the research program on the developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD).  Dr. Heindel will present an overview the scientific basis for the DOHaD concept and discuss existing experimental data on how nutritional deficits and exposure to environmental chemicals during development can increase susceptibility to cancer, infertility, obesity, cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases.

    This lecture will begin at 10am, Wednesday, February 27, 2008.  People who cannot attend in person can watch the live webcast on the website of the City of Sacramento (http://www.cityofsacramento.org/webtech/streaming_video/live_council_meetings.htm)

    To submit questions or comments while viewing the webcast, send emails to lli@oehha.ca.gov.

  • Environmental Influences on Mammary Gland Development and Function
    Thursday, April 17, 2008
    Sacramento City Council Chamber, City Hall, 915 I Street, Sacramento

    • Dr. Suzanne E. Fenton, Research Biologist
    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

    Slides of Dr. Fenton's presentation are available for download here

    People who cannot attend in person can watch the live webcast on the website of the City of Sacramento (http://www.cityofsacramento.org/webtech/streaming_video/live_council_meetings.htm)

    View a video of the presentation here:

     

  • Epigenetic Mechanisms in Autism Spectrum Disorders
    Thursday, May 22, 2008
    Sierra Hearing Room, California EPA, 1001 I Street, Sacramento

    • Dr. Janine M. LaSalle, Professor
    Department of Medical Microbiology & Immunology, University of California, Davis

  • Gene Pathways Targeted during Phthalate-induced Testicular Dysgenesis
    Tuesday, June 24, 2008  
    Sierra Hearing Room, California EPA, 1001 I Street, Sacramento, CA

    • Dr. Kevin W. Gaido, Senior Investigator and Director
    Center for Integrated Genomics, The Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences

  • Early Life Estrogen Exposures Alter the Prostate Epigenome and Increase Cancer Risk
    Wednesday, July 23, 2008
    Sierra Hearing Room, California EPA, 1001 I Street, Sacramento

  • View a video of the presentation here:
  • Slides: Slides of Dr. Prins presentation are availible here

    • Dr. Gail S. Prins, Professor
    Department of Urology, University of Illinois at Chicago

    Dr. Prins is a Professor of Physiology in the Departments of Urology and Physiology & Biophysics at the University of Illinois at Chicago.  The research at Dr. Prins' laboratory focuses on hormonal regulation of prostate gland growth and carcinogenesis.  Dr. Prins will present her findings that indicate early-life exposure to natural, synthetic or environmental estrogens, such as low levels of bisphenol A, increased susceptibility to precancerous prostate gland lesions with aging.  Dr. Prins will discuss recent data indicating that neonatal estrogen reprogramming may promote prostate disease in the aging male through epigenomic alterations during development.

For questions, please contact Dr. Ling-Hong Li (OEHHA Sacramento: lli@oehha.ca.gov) or Dr. David Morry (OEHHA Oakland: dmorry@oehha.ca.gov).

 
 
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