Recent SWEHSC Collaborations
Dr. Woodruff presents to a packed room in Drachman Hall.
SWEHSC has had the pleasure of collaborating with Harvard University and the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), to host seminars with various researchers to showcase their work and engage in conversation. SWEHSC hosted Drs. Marc Weisskopf and Tracey Woodruff, and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health hosted Dr. Nathan Cherrington. Below are summaries of each presenter’s seminar at their respective locations.
Tracey Woodruff, PhD, MPH, presents “Fossil Fuels, Plastics, and Toxic Chemicals: The lifecycle of exposures and adverse health outcomes” at the Southwest Environment Health Sciences Center.
Tracey Woodruff, PhD, MPH, is the is the Alison S. Carlson Endowed Professor and Director of the Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment in the UCSF Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences. She is also the Director of the UCSF P30 Environmental Research and Translation for Health (EaRTH) Center. She is a recognized expert on environmental pollution exposures and impacts on health, with a focus on pregnancy, infancy and childhood, and health equity. She has pioneered methods for translating and communicating scientific findings for clinical and policy audiences, including systematic reviews in environmental health. Dr. Woodruff was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in recognition of her pioneering work advancing environmental health and reproductive justice. She has served on several National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine's Committees, including as a current member of the National Academies Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology (BEST) committee.
Dr. Woodruff presented on the impacts of environmental chemical exposures on health and health equity. Her research has provided data to identify chemical and non-chemical stressors. Identifying these stressors provides a route to reduce the burden of toxic chemical exposures, especially for pregnant women. However, these changes will only come about through the connection between research/clinical interventions and public policy changes for overall population health, which Dr. Woodruff advocates for through her research.
Dr. Weisskopf (center) among SWEHSC members and students.
Marc Weisskopf, PhD, ScD, presents “On the origin of things: Early life exposures and late life cognitive function in the St. Louis Baby Tooth – Later Life Health Study” at the Southwest Environment Health Sciences Center.
Marc Weisskopf, PhD, ScD, is the Cecil K. and Philip Drinker Professor of Environmental Epidemiology and Physiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in the departments of Environmental Health and Epidemiology, Director of the Harvard Chan NIEHS Center for Environmental Health, Co-Director of the JРВ Environmental Health Fellowship Program at Harvard, and Director of Epidemiological Studies for the Football Players' Health Study at Harvard. Dr. Weisskopf received his Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of California, San Francisco, and his Sc.D. in Epidemiology from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. His research focuses on the influence of environmental exposures on brain health across the life course.
Dr. Weisskopf presented on the St. Louis Baby Tooth – Later Life Health Study, which aimed to assess whether children were being exposed to radiation from nuclear fallout. By analyzing baby teeth, primarily from St. Louis, researchers revealed how radioactive isotopes, like Strontium-90, were absorbed. Weisskopf continues this important work, studying how early-life environmental exposures affect aging, disease risk, and overall health decades later. This presentation explored the lasting health impacts of environmental hazards.
Nathan Cherrington, PhD, presents “Exogenous probe drug strategy effectively identifies MASH: From environmental toxicology to biomarker success” at the Harvard T.H. Chan School for Public Health.
Nathan Cherrington, PhD, is the Musil Family Endowed Chair and 1885 Society Distinguished Scholar in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at University of Arizona. He also serves as Associate Dean for Research in the R. Ken Coit College of Pharmacy, Director of the Southwest Environmental Health Sciences Center, and Director of the Arizona Board of Regents Center for Toxicology. In addition, he is an associate editor for Toxicological Sciences and Drug Metabolism and Disposition. Dr. Cherrington is a fellow of the Academy of Toxicological Sciences, where he currently serves as Secretary/Treasurer. His research focuses on how underlying disease states and environmental stressors affect the body’s ability to metabolize and eliminate drugs.
Dr. Cherrington during his presentation at Harvard.
Dr. Cherrington presented on an exogenous probe drug strategy that offers a promising, non-invasive approach for identifying metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), one of the world’s most common liver diseases, through the measurement of impaired liver metabolism. His work highlights how metabolic pathways can be used for both biomarker discovery and the development of targeted therapies.