Program

8:30–9:00 a.m.

RETCC highlights from each Center:
Sharing the most exciting things trainees have been doing, with a focus on finding opportunities for collaboration and learning

9:00–10:30 a.m.

Ice breaker: “Two Truths and a Lie”
Interactive hypothetical situation/“Resilience game”: Groups of trainees will be given a hypothetical scenario and work together on a plan to address it, later presenting their innovative solutions to all trainees and RETCC leaders

Trivia game:
Similar to bar trivia or tic-tac-toe, trivia questions provided by each of the participating Centers will be part of a game with prizes for the most correct answers

11:00–11:20 a.m.

Columbia – Tracy Zacher
Beyond a Traditional IRB: Tribal Data Sovereignty Training

11:20–11:40 a.m.

TAMU – Galen Newman
Data Visualization Approaches for Community Engagement

11:40 a.m.–noon

UNC – Julia Rager
Solutions to improve trainee skills in data science and analytics: the TAME toolkit

1:40-2:00 p.m.

URI – Jarod Snook (T)
Quantifying organofluorine compounds in US water using passive samplers

2:00-2:20 p.m.

USC – Adam Smith
Fate and characterization of PFAS through conventional and next-generation water reclamation processes

2:20-2:40 p.m.

TAMU-UNC – James Dodds
Rapid detection of PFAS in human blood: Utilizing Ion Mobility Spectrometry-Mass Spectrometry for both targeted and suspect analyses

2:40-3:00 p.m.

BCM-Rice – Oara Neumann
Detection of Environmental Pollutants in Biological Samples Using Machine Learning & Surface-Enhanced Vibrational Spectroscopy

3:30–3:50 pm

UNC – Rebecca Fry/Andrew George
Data-Driven Solutions to Address Water Quality in NC Post-Hurricane Helene

3:50–4:10 p.m.

URI – Rainer Lohmann
PFAS in the Artic

4:10-4:30 p.m.

UC-Berkeley – Clare Pace
Spatial analysis of PFAS in drinking water in rural California communities and statewide

4:30-4:45 p.m.

TAMU – Eva Vitucci (T)
The Application of Non-Targeted Mobile Air Monitoring To Assess Volatile Organic Compounds in Non-Occupational Settings

4:45-5:00 p.m.

Columbia – Anirban Basu (T)
Uranium isotope tracing of groundwater contamination in the Northern Plains

5:00-5:15 p.m.

OSU – Alison Clark (T)
From personal exposure to applicable air concentrations: A Brownfield site case study

5:15-5:30 p.m.

MIT – Nicolette Bugher (T)
Partitioning parameters of N-nitrosamines: An intercomparison of determination methods

9:30–9:45 a.m.

U-Louisville – Jin Chen (T)
Advancing chemical Exposomics: Untargeted and targeted LC-MS approaches for Phase II metabolite analyses

9:45–10:00 a.m.

UC-Berkeley – Qi Meng (T)

Prenatal exposures to drinking water contaminants and adverse birth outcomes: a retrospective cohort study in California

10:00–10:15 a.m.

OSU – Reese Valdez (T)
Assessing susceptibility for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon toxicity in an in vitro 3D respiratory model for asthma 

10:15–10:30 a.m.

MIT – Lindsay Volk (T)
Discovery that youth is an incredibly powerful risk factor for NDMA-induced DNA damage and cancer

10:45–11:00 a.m.

Yale – Shasha Yang (T)
Multi-stage electrochemical oxidation with pulsed electrolysis for long-term 1,4-dioxane treatment in groundwater

11:00–11:15 a.m.

UNM – José Cerrato
Changes in dissolved organic matter composition induced by reactions with uranium

11:15–11:30 a.m.

MSU – P.S. Kirankumar (T)
Kinetics of dioxin sorption from soils by activated carbon amendments

11:30–11:45 a.m.

BCM-Rice – Sarah Glass (T)
Pyrolytic Treatment of PAH-Contaminated Soils to Eliminate Toxicity and Enhance Fertility

11:45 a.m.–Noon

UC-Berkeley – Juan Salazar (T)
In Situ Chemical Oxidation of Nonionic Organic Contaminants: The Effect of Soil Organic Matter and Minerals on Stoichiometric Efficiency 

1:00–1:20 p.m.

U-KY – Kelly Pennell
Combating Chronic Disease and Pollution: Innovative Nutritional and Engineering Interventions

1:20–1:40 p.m.

U-AZ – Raina Maier
Breakthroughs Yield Solutions for Cleaner Mining and Healthier Communities

1:40–2:00 p.m.

Duke – Erica Babusci (T)
Microencapsulation Enables Precision Microbiome Engineering for Superfund Site Remediation 

2:00–2:20 p.m.

UMBC-R01 – Upal Ghosh
Advancing bioremediation solutions through accurate determination of biokinetics for sorption-mediated microbial dechlorination of organochlorines

2:20–2:40 p.m.

UMBC-SBIR – Kevin Sowers
Field Application of Bioaugmented Activated Carbon at a Superfund Site to Demonstrate Scalability and Advance PCB Bioremediation Technology

2:40–3:00 p.m.

FSU-R01 – Dennis Ssekimpi (T)
Minimization of Toxic Intermediates from Trichloroethylene Biodegradation by Macrocyclic Adsorbents

3:30–3:50 p.m.

USC – Vaia Lida Chatzi
From Organoids to Populations: Translating PFAS Liver Toxicity into Human Health Evidence

3:50–4:10 p.m.

UAB – Pooja Singh
Heat stress exacerbates PM2.5 induced TRPV4/ERK1/2 mediated barrier dysfunction in airway epithelial cells

4:10–4:30 p.m.

LSU – Stephania Cormier
Astaxanthin protects against environmentally persistent free radical-induced oxidative stress in well-differentiated respiratory epithelium 

4:30–4:50 p.m.

BCM – Melissa Suter
Treatment with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) elicits distinct transcriptomic pathways in cultured primary trophoblasts

4:50–5:10 p.m.

UNM – Julie In 
Exposure to uranium-bearing dust promotes differentiation of intestinal cells, notably increasing the secretory lineages

5:10–5:30 p.m.

LSU – Slawomir Lomnicki
Environmentally persistent free radicals (EPFRs) persistence vs. bioactivity — a paradox resolved

9:30–9:50 a.m.

MSU – DM Isha Olive Khan (T)
Regulation of in vitro human hematopoietic differentiation by dioxins and dioxin-like compounds

9:50–10:10 a.m.

URI – Angela Slitt
Unraveling key factors and determinants of Per- and Polyfluorinated alkyl substance kinetics and tissue distribution

10:10–10:30 a.m.

Wayne S – Brendan O’Leary (T)
Geospatial Mapping and Analysis of VOC Presence in the Subsurface, Confined Spaces, and Occupants of Detroit Neighborhoods  

10:45-11:05 a.m.

Wayne S – Michael Petriello
Placental Sexual Dimorphism in Response to Airborne Superfund Pollutants

11:05-11:25 a.m.

TAMU – Arum Han
Organ-on-Chip Models of the Feto-Maternal Interface: Enabling Rapid Hazard Detection and Toxicity Mechanisms 

11:25-11:45 a.m.

Duke – Emily Green (T)
Environmental Microbiome Influences Developmental Toxicity of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons: Implications for Ecological Risk Assessment and Remediation