Veronica DePascuale, Summer Student Fellow (2017) will be presenting her work on hypoxia effects on DNA methylation at the ASLO meeting in January 2018. She received ASLO multicutural program traveling fellowship. Congratulations, Veronica!

Alia Hidayet will be joining the lab this summer as a graduate student (MIT-WHOI Joint Program). Alia received her undergraduate degree from University of Washington. She is awarded NSF Graduate Research Fellowship for 2017-2020.

Congratulations, Alia!

Jennifer Panlilio received best student poster awards from Neurotoxicology (NTSS) and Reproductive and developmental toxicology study sections (RDTSS). Jenny presented a poster on domoic acid effects on neurodevelopment (Poster title: Domoic acid exposure during a critical period in development causes myelination deficits and alters the startle response)

Keegan Krick received Pfizer SOT Undergraduate Student Travel Award. He presented a poster titled “Developmental Exposure to PCB153 Alters Genes Related to Circadian Rhythm and Metabolism in Zebrafish (Danio rerio)”

Two posters from the lab will be presented at the SOT 2015 annual meeting in San Diego, CA.  Lead author of both these posters is Dr. Lilah Glazer, postdoc in the lab.

1. When Zebrafish “Misbehave”—Learning about Delayed Effects of Low-Level Embryonic Contaminant Exposure from Adult Zebrafish Behavior. (Abstract # 267; Poster board # 435). In Poster Session: Developmental Neurotoxicology—Nonmammalian Models on March 23rd (Monday) 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM, CC Exhibit Hall.

2. Hepatic Metabolite Profiling of Atlantic Killifish (Fundulus heteroclitus) from PCB-Resistant and Sensitive Populations. (Abstract #2497;  Poster Board #129). In late breaking poster session – Alternatives to Mammalian Models and Animal Models on March 26th (Thursday) 8:30 AM to 12:00 Noon, Sails Pavilion.

Please come and visit the posters to learn more about zebrafish behavior and metabolomics!

The Aluru lab received a ONES (Outstanding New Environmental Scientist) award from NIH’s National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). This is a 5-year, $2.05M grant for research. The project title is “Role of de novo DNMTs in Toxicant Induced Alterations in DNA Methylation.” The research project will provide new understanding of the role of DNA methyltransferase (DNMT) enzymes in the mechanisms of epigenetic changes induced by exposure to environmental chemicals. The studies will use zebrafish as a model system, and the results will be relevant both for human health as well as the health of vertebrate animals (including marine vertebrates) exposed to environmental chemicals.

More about NIEHS ONES

It’s Hard to Kill a Killifish (from Oceanus Magazine)

Lily Helfrich. Photo by Allie Gage, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Coming off her junior year at Northwestern University, Lily Helfrich spent the summer working with biologist Neel Aluru on Atlantic killifish (Fundulus heteroclitus), a fish abundant in coastal waters of the East Coast. The species is of particular interest to scientists because it can thrive even in areas contaminated with high levels of polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, from past industrial activity.