Friday March 7th, 2025

Metabolic health issues are rising worldwide and concurrently humans are exposed to various chemicals from as early as gestation. Epidemiological studies have linked the prevalence of metabolic diseases to exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). To investigate the disruption of metabolic pathways by EDC mixtures from common exposure sources, I used a combination of in vitro and in vivo models. I have confirmed the ability of several chemicals to disrupt PPARγ signalling and increase lipid accumulation in vivo. Furthermore, I confirmed that these chemicals disrupt metabolic health in developmentally exposed zebrafish, through changes in metabolic activity, swimming behaviour and gene expression. Lastly, I observed an increased prevalence of fatty liver in zebrafish developmentally exposed to PFAS. My short-term goal is to understand the molecular perturbations caused by PFAS that lead to hepatic steatosis by studying perturbations in signalling and mitochondrial function in hepatocytes. My long-term goal is to become an independent researcher investigating the onset of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) and co-occurring cardiovascular diseases caused by environmental toxicants.