The Research Translation Core, represented by Dr. Diana Rohlman, was invited to attend and present at the 14th summit of the Northwest Toxic Communities Coalition. Dr. Rohlman’s talk highlighted the innovative tools, methodologies and approaches used by the Superfund Research Program at Oregon State. One of the presented case studies highlighted the work being done at the Portland Harbor Superfund site. More information can be found here.
The article, “Environmental and individual PAH exposures near rural natural gas extraction” was recently published online. It isn’t uncommon for our researchers to publish the results of their work in scholarly journals. You can see we have been busily writing articles for years! This article however, is somewhat special. When we began this work, we committed to returning all the data, both environmental air sampling data and personal wristband sampling, back to the participants. That’s a big undertaking. We didn’t want to just hand over confusing charts and color-coded Excel files; we wanted to provide data that was useful and relevant to people. It’s important to us that we get it right. We’ve held focus groups and worked with community liaisons to figure out how we can do just that.
Following a disaster, we tend to be worried about finding food and shelter, reuniting with families and pets, and cleaning up the damage left behind. We don’t tend to think about toxic chemical exposures. With Hurricane Harvey, it’s a different story.
Harvey flooded at least 13 Superfund sites flooded. Millions of pounds of hazardous chemicals were released. In addition, small explosions and chemical spills were reported. The New York Times created maps showing the magnitude of the disaster. For example, this image from the New York Times shows flooded or damaged Superfund sites, in orange.
Native Americans have a long history of being under-represented in higher education. Currently, only 5% of Native American high school graduates go directly into a four-year college and a small percentage of those major in STEM-related degrees. In an effort to increase participation of Native American students in college programs, and introduce them to biomedical sciences, Oregon State Superfund Research Center holds several activities to bring Native Youth to campus to increase their awareness of opportunities in College and scientific careers.
This past fall, we traveled to the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) for training in computational analysis of RNA-seq data. During this two-day externship, we worked with PNNL scientists as they walked us through our data and gave us an overview of computational approaches they use to analyze RNA-seq data.
The McCormick and Baxter Superfund Site is located on the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon and has PAH contaminated soils and sediments from historical creosote operations. As part of an Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ) ten year study to assess the effectiveness of the sediment cap, passive sampling devices from Kim Anderson’s lab were deployed by U.S. EPA Region 10 divers in both sediment and water at the site. Included in this study was a newly designed passive sampling sediment probe which allowed for deployment in the rocky armoring of the sediment cap. Based on data from this study, the ODEQ reported that the sediment cap appears to be effective in meeting its remedial objectives. The full results of the study, used to inform ODEQ regulatory decision making, is available here (https://semspub.epa.gov/work/10/100031136.pdf), beginning on page 20.
Sydelle Harrison was awarded an SRP Externship to work with the Yellowhawk Tribal Health Center (Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation). The clinic is celebrating 20 years of self-governance this month and preparing to move into a new state of the art facility next year.
Working with the RTC, SRP trainee Sydelle Harrison coordinated a campus visit for students from the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) on May 13-14. Students went on a campus tour, ate lunch at the Eena Haws Native American Longhouse Annual Salmon Bake, and met with Dr. Rohlman (CEC, RTC) to learn about recent tribal-university collaborations (more information available here). The tour culminated in a hands-on lab activity wherein students learned how to isolate DNA from strawberries as a proxy for understanding how SRP investigators can learn underlying genetic determinants of disease by analyzing DNA. This event was a collaborative effort between the Research Translation Core, Training Core, Administrative Core and Community Engagement Core.
Amber Kramer is a first year Chemistry Graduate student working with
In collaboration with the SRP Chemistry Core, SRP trainees Holly Dixon and Greta Frey (CEC) worked with Drs. Rohlman and Kile on a passive wristband project. Following a significant air quality incident last year, the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community was interested in the passive wristband samplers developed by Dr. Kim Anderson. This year, the community recruited 10 individuals to each wear a wristband for one week. The wristbands were analyzed for 62 different PAHs, and results were returned to those participants that requested them. The study will be repeated in the fall with the same participants, as the community is interested in seasonal changes in air quality.
