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  • Home
  • About Us
    • Overview
    • Our Team
    • Our Trainees
    • Our Partners
    • Contact Us
  • News
    • Upcoming Seminars
    • Previous Seminars
    • Blog
    • SRP Newsletter
    • Featured News Stories
    • Social Media
  • Resources
    • Community Resources
    • All About PAHs
    • Infographics
    • Videos
    • Mercury, The Community, and Me
    • Unsolved Mysteries of Human Health
    • K - 12 Educational Materials
    • Glossary of Project Terms
    • Research Resources
    • Zebrafish Model
    • Passive Sampling Devices
    • OSU Disaster IRB
    • SRP Analytics Portal
    • Multimedia approach to sampling and Health Risk Assessments
    • Indigenous Risk Assessment
  • Community Topics
    • Portland Harbor Superfund Site
    • Butter Clams
    • Hurricane Harvey
    • Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill, PAHs, and Health
    • Black Butte Mine Partnership
    • Effectiveness of Remediation Techniques
    • How Humans Metabolize PAHs
    • St. Helens Air Quality Study
  • Our Research
    • PAH Fate and Exposure
    • PAH Health Outcomes
    • Predicting Toxicity of PAH Mixtures
    • Mechanisms of PAH Susceptibility
    • PAH Remediation and Transformations
    • Divider Item
    • Virtual Lab Tours
    • Publications
    • Citation for Publications
  • Support Cores
    • Administrative Core
    • Chemical Mixtures Core
    • Community Engagement Core
    • Data Management and Analysis Core
    • Research Translation Core
    • Training Core

Our Trainees

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Kyle Burns

What is the goal of your research?

The goal of my research is to utilize an in vitro model that combines 3D lung epithelial cells with macrophages to incorporate an immune component into the model used by the Tilton lab. This model will be used to evaluate toxicity of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon mixtures which are commonly found in air pollution following incomplete combustion processes such as the burning of gasoline or wildfires.

What excites you about Superfund research?

I enjoy learning about different methods and techniques used to evaluate hypotheses. The variety of approaches used within the program means there is plenty to learn while doing my own research and through conversations with others.

As a scientist, what do you hope your research helps accomplish?

I hope the new model can be used to better represent the human lung in vitro and improve our understanding of the mechanisms of toxicity of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon mixtures.

What was an interest or experience you had that contributed to your decision to become a scientist?

I always was curious and had an interest in science, and I loved chemistry and physics in high school. During undergrad, I joined a pharmaceutical sciences research lab that introduced me to research. I enjoyed the critical thinking aspect and how there was more than a single correct way to answer a question. I quickly realized that I wanted to do more research in the future.

What are your career goals?

I’ve tossed around a few ideas but I’m not sure yet since I want to do a little bit of everything.

What are your hobbies? What do you like to do when you aren’t doing science?

I enjoy playing guitar, banjo, and other similar instruments, and playing board games, but my favorite hobby is going on hikes and spending time outdoors.

Research Project(s):

PAH Health Outcomes

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The Superfund Research Center is federally funded and
administered by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
(NIEHS grant #P42 ES016465), an institute of the National Institutes of Health.

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