Updates

  • In December 2016, our lab traveled to the NIEHS Environmental Health Science Fest in Durham, North Carolina!

Our lab enjoying North Carolina BBQ!

The entire PRoTECT Team at dinner - representing Northeastern University, University of Georgia, University of Puerto Rico, and University of Michigan.

  • Congrats to our own, Max Aung, on being selected for the Health Policy Research Scholars program. Health Policy Research Scholars is a national leadership program supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to build equity by investing in scholars from populations traditionally underrepresented in graduate programs whose research, connections, and leadership will inform and influence policy toward a Culture of Health.

  • Dr. Deborah Watkins, previous Postdoctoral Fellow in the Meeker Lab, has been promoted to Research Assistant Professor here at the U-Michigan, School of Public Health! Congratulations Deb!

  • As 2016 starts, we say goodbye and wish the best to longtime lab member Kelly Ferguson, as she begins a position as a Principle Investigator in the Epidemiology branch at the National Institute of Environmental Health Science! Here is an announcement of her new position!

  • The 2015 Superfund Research Program annual meeting in Puerto Rico featured presentations by graduate students Lauren Johns and Amira Aker, as well as attendance by John Meeker, Kelly Ferguson, and Lia Delaney!

  • The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences has awarded $9.5 million to the University of Michigan to study the impact of the environment on children's health as part of the new NIEHS Children's Health Exposure Analysis Resource (CHEAR) Program. Dr. John Meeker is the director of the Michigan hub of the CHEAR Laboratory Network (M-CHEAR). This grant will allow U-M to support scientists across the country whose research focuses on the causes of adverse child health such as preterm birth, reproductive tract anomalies, obesity, asthma/allergies, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, autism and early onset of puberty. (September, 2015)

  • On August 30th, the lab traveled to Sao Paulo, Brazil for the 27th annual conference of the International Society of Environmental Epidemiology - Addressing Environmental Health Inequalities! Kelly Ferguson, Lauren Johns, Monica Silver, and Amira Aker are presenting at ISEE 2015!

  • Lauren Johns has been awarded the competitive 2015 PROTECT PhD Trainee Development Award that will provide funding for travel to an academic conference. This award was based on Lauren's very successful progress in her Individual Development Plan (IDP) activities over the past two years! Congratulations Lauren! ( July, 2015)

  • On April 29 2015, Kelly Ferguson gave a talk at the 8th Copenhagen Workshop on Endocrine Disrupters. Her talk, entitled “Developmental effects of phthalates: what are the mechanisms?” introduced the PROTECT cohort and summarized preliminary findings on the relationship between maternal phthalate exposure during pregnancy and changes in hormone, inflammation, and oxidative stress levels.

  • PhD student Ryan Lewis was recipient of the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA)'s John A. Leonwich Award for educational excellence in non-ionizing radiation for 2015 and was honored at the annual AIHA conference, this June, in Salt Lake City. (June, 2015)

  • Kelly Ferguson received the Excellence in Research Award for Students and was featured in the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation's 2014 Annual Report! ( January, 2015)

  • In 2014, Kelly Ferguson participated in the Reach the Decision Makers Fellowship, part of the UCSF Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment. As the culmination of this project, Kelly and the rest of the Detroit Reproductive Advocacy Matters (DREAM) team traveled to Washington DC to meet with key policy makers at the EPA. Following the release of the proposed NAAQS rule on ozone, the group submitted comments advocating for the inclusion of pregnant women and communities with multiple risk factors as vulnerable populations. While in DC, the group met with Janet McCabe, Acting Assistant Administrator of the Office of Air and Radiation, and with Thomas Burke, Deputy Assistant Administrator of the Office of Research and Development to discuss these comments, and push for inclusion of these populations in future risk assessment processes.