Lab News

April 2026

Carcinogeneis and Chemoprevention Data Club. 

events! 

April 2026

The Balbo Lab attended the Annual Masonic Cancer Center Research Symposium. 

There were several speakers describing their research at the university alongside student poster sessions, a vendor showcase, flash talks, and networking events! 

Click here to learn more about the event! 

April 2026

Silvia gave a presentation for the Speaking Science seminar series.

March 2026

Silvia is part of Team CAUSE, an international research team that will spend five years and up to $25 million studying DNA damage linked to cancer to inform improved prevention and treatment.

Click here to learn more about Team CAUSE! 

March 2026

Congratulations to Andrew for getting her Ph.D.! 

He defended his thesis called "Mass spectrometry methods to investigate occupational and environmental antineoplastic drug contamination and remediation strategies." 

March 2026

Michael attended the Society of Toxicology 65th Annual Meeting and ToxExpo! 

He presented a poster entitled, " DNA Adductomics to Support the Assessment of Alcohol's Genotoxicity"

March 2026

Congratulations to Foster for passing his oral preliminary exam! 

He gave a presentation to his committee called "Harnessing the Power of DNA Adductomics to Improve Exposure Assessment." 

February 2026

You are cordially invited to the 2nd Floor Lunar New Year Potluck!

This is a chance to catch up with colleagues while enjoying some delicious food.

Please bring your favorite dish to share.

February 2026

Silvia gave a presentation for the Fireside chats seminar series, "Let's Chat about Alcohol and Cancer Risk."

She focused on exploring the evidence linking alcohol consumption to increased cancer risk and broke down the science behind how alcohol affects the body, clarifying misconceptions, sharing practical insights for informed decision-making, and emphasizing the importance of continued research to better understand alcohol-related cancer risk.

Click here to watch the recap! 

January 2026

Congratulations to Jamie on her acceptance into the University of Minnesota's School of Public Health graduate program! 

She will be starting graduate school in the fall of 2026 in the Division of Environmental Health, with a concentration in Toxicology!

January 2026

The Balbo Lab organized a potluck lunch to celebrate the holiday season and the end of another successful year.

It is always fun to try new dishes and get another taste of established favorites. 

October 2025

Andrew's research was selected as the cover image for his recent publication in the Annals of Work Exposures and Health. 

He was able to showcase his wipe sampling method on surfaces in veterinary oncology clinics as well as on canine-patients! 

September 2025

Silvia, Foster, and Michael reconnected with Bérénice Chavanel and Jiri Zavadil while at EMGS 2025! In between presenting their research, they were able to go out for lunch!

September 2025

Foster gave a talk during the Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Bioinformatic Advances platform at EMGS 2025 in Rochester, NY where he received a travel award and second place for best student presentation! 

September 2025

Foster gave a talk during the Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Bioinformatic Advances platform at EMGS 2025 in Rochester, NY!

His research was called "Harnessing the Power of DNA Adductomics to Study DNA Mutations". 

September 2025

Michael gave a talk during the DNA Damage and Other Mechanisms in Populations platform at EMGS 2025 in Rochester, NY!

His research was called "Investigating DNA Damage Induced by Acetaldehyde in Vitro". 

August 2025

Elisabete is a student in the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences of the University of São Paulo (USP) in São Paulo, Brazil. 

She is joining the lab to learn new DNA adductomics and metabolomics techniques at the Masonic Cancer Center.

August 2025

The Balbo Lab traveled to Olivia, MN, the corn capital of the world, to participate in the annual Renville County Walk in the Park!

The Walk in the Park is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing aid and support to members of Renville County diagnosed with cancer. The community has graciously supported our research with multiple donations. It is always a great catch up and see how this amazing community comes together to help support each other. 

June 2025

Dr. Silvia Balbo was featured in an interview for Forbes, “U.S. Might Drop Daily Alcohol Guidelines, Report Says—But Expert Says Move Misses The Mark”, commenting on the proposed new guidelines and educating the public on the association between alcohol and cancer risk. 

Click here to read the article!

June 2025

Dr. Michael Terzidis came over from Thessaloniki, Greece to visit us at the Balbo Lab! 

He spoke at the Carcinogenesis and Chemoprevention program data club, focusing on organic synthesis of molecules, including 5,8-cyclopurines, to validate results from a variety of analytical techniques.  

He enjoyed a lunch with the Balbo Lab members and met with researchers at the Masonic Cancer Center!  

June 2025

Dr. Juan Garaycoechea came all the way over from Utrecht, Netherlands to visit us at the Balbo Lab! 

He spoke at the Carcinogenesis and Chemoprevention program data club, focusing on using research techniques to combine mouse genetics, advanced sequencing, biochemistry and mass spectrometry to provide a detailed mechanistic understanding of endogenous mutagenesis. 

He also met with researchers at the Masonic Cancer Center and enjoyed a lab get-together lunch!  

June 2025

Foster presented a poster at ASMS 2025 in Baltimore, MD!

His research was called "Harnessing the power of DNA adductomics to study DNA mutations,". 

June 2025

Michael presented a poster at ASMS 2025 in Baltimore, MD!

His research was called "Manipulating mobile phases to improve sensitivity in adductomic and nucleic acid-derived molecule analysis,". 

May 2025

Silvia and Kathleen Dubberley, an Alcohol Epidemiologist with the Substance Misuse Prevention Section of the Minnesota Department of Health, were featured speakers on a webinar called, "Sobering Truths: Alcohol’s Impact on Cancer Risk."

They had a discussion describing how alcohol consumption can increase the risk of certain types of cancer. They shared data related to the number of Minnesotans who may be affected by alcohol-related cancers, and discussed alcohol prevention strategies that can reduce cancer risk.

Click here to watch a recording of the webinar!

May 2025

Andrew gave a talk during the Healthcare Research Roundup at AIHA Connect 2025 in Kansas City, MO!

His research was called "deactivation and decontamination of antineoplastic drugs by two commonly used cleaning products," focused on evaluating the level of chemotherapy contamination on surfaces following different cleaning protocols to increase worker safety. 

April 2025

The Shipman award was established by Mrs. Lois B. Shipman to recognize the distinguished career of her husband. Harold Shipman was an outstanding public health engineer and alumnus of the School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota. 

He was awarded $1000 to recognize outstanding academic achievement.

April 2025

Dylan presented his abstract entitled, “Using Compound Discoverer to improve DNA adductomics strategies to characterize DNA damage” at the 2025 MCC Symposium. 

This research focuses on the further optimization of our DNA adductomic approaches to characterize endogenous DNA adducts. This allows for increased detection of endogenous DNA adducts in DNA repair-deficient mice, while using Compound Discoverer to identify putative DNA adducts.

April 2025

Foster presented his abstract entitled, “Harnessing the power of DNA adductomics to study DNA mutations” at the 2025 MCC Symposium. 

This research focuses on developing methods to understand better the role of DNA adducts and mutations in NNK-induced lung carcinogenesis and will investigate the effects of inflammation in intensifying this process.

April 2025

At the University of Minnesota School pf Public Health Research Day, Andrew presented his research entitled, "Improving cancer detection, treatment, and strategies for cancer prevention." 

This followed the format of a 3 minute thesis, using only one slide, no notecards, and a strict time limit! 

More information about 3MT can be found HERE! 

February 2025

Michael presented his research called, "Investigating DNA Damage Induced by Acetaldehyde" for the MPaT seminar series!

His talk focused on describing the genetic disorder Fanconi Amenia and the mass spectrometry approaches used to identify potential DNA adducts  unique to this population to better understand the pathway of oral carcinogenesis in these patients. 

February 2025

Jamie joined the Balbo lab! 

She recently graduated from Hamline University with her B.S. in Biology, and she is planning to work on ongoing cyclophosphamide and acetaldehyde projects.

January 2025

Silvia was featured on Minnesota Public Radio! 

Alcohol consumption is the third leading preventable cause of cancer in the U.S., after tobacco use and obesity; yet, less than half of Americans are aware that drinking alcohol increases cancer risk.

The outgoing U.S. Surgeon General recently asked Congress to expand warning labels on alcohol to link consumption with increased risks for some types of cancer, including mouth, liver, colon, and breast cancer. 

MPR News guest host Catharine Richert talks with Silvia Balbo about how alcohol can increase our risk for cancer and how we can use that information to make the best decisions for our health.

Click here to learn more about the interview!

January 2025

Silvia was featured on CBS News to discuss the new surgeon general's update about the connection between alcohol consumption and cancer. 

Click here to watch what Dr. Balbo has to say!

Click here to find more about the U.S. Surgeon General's Advisory!

November 2024

This lightning round talk focused on promoting awareness of the potential exposure to chemotherapy drugs in a veterinary workplace setting alongside secondary home exposure from canine-patients to better implement intervention strategies.

November 2024

This lightning round talk focused on describing the methods used for the identification of DNA adducts present FA individuals, setting the stage for their development as tools to investigate oral carcinogenesis in these patients and monitor their cancer risk.

November 2024

This lightning round talk described how integrating various analytical techniques can result in an innovative approach improving mechanistic elucidation and genotoxicity testing.  

October 2024

Dr. Aida Ferreiro-Iglesias came all the way over from Lyon, France to visit us at the Balbo Lab! 

She spoke at the Carcinogenesis and Chemoprevention program data club, focusing on the Mutographs study, which analyzes clear cell Renal Cell Carcinoma across 11 countries and identifies exposures to carcinogens like Aristolochic Acid and tobacco. She also met with graduate students and researchers at the Masonic Cancer Center and enjoyed a lab get-together lunch!  

October 2024

This research uses mass spectrometry-based approaches to identify and quantify exposures to antineoplastic drugs in homes and clinics.

It can be used to support strategies for exposure prevention and mitigation while identifying workers and caregivers who may be more susceptible to related detrimental health effects.

September 2024

Silvia and Laura attended the 36th Annual Fanconi Anemia Scientific Symposium in Charlotte, NC. 

Silvia presented a poster called "Understanding DNA Damage in the Oral cavity of FA Patients." 

September 2024

This gathering aims to highlight the groundbreaking work at the intersection of the microbiome and cancer at the University of Minnesota and beyond, fostering collaboration and knowledge exchange among clinicians and researchers.  

To learn more about the symposium, click HERE! 

September 2024

The Balbo Lab was able to reunite with Jiri Zavadil, our collaborator from the International Agency for Research on Cancer, at EMGS!

Jiri and his colleagues were presenting their research focusing on the mutagenicity of ethanol and acetaldehyde in oral cancer. 

To learn more about this conference, click HERE! 

September 2024

Andrew presented his research entitled "Assessment of antineoplastic drug contamination in occupational and home settings" for EMGS 2024 in Palm Springs, CA.

September 2024

Silvia chaired Symposium 3: Application of -omics approaches to advance genetic toxicology and understand carcinogenesis!

This session gave an overview of some of the most innovative applications in the area of chemical toxicology with a particular focus on genetic toxicology. Presenters will talk about their research and how it will evaluate opportunities for the integration of these methodologies to expand our understanding of the role of environmental exposures in carcinogenesis.

September 2024

Foster presented his research called, "Integrated DNA Adductomics and Genome-Scale Mutagenesis Analysis to Characterize Driver DNA Alterations from Environmental Genotoxins" at the Towards the development of a global genotoxicity AOP network symposium!

His talk focused on describing how the integration of various analytical techniques can result in an innovative approach improving mechanistic elucidation and genotoxicity testing.  

September 2024

Andrew presented his research called, "Assessment of Antineoplastic Drug Contamination in Occupational and Home Settings" during the Genotoxicity Risk Assessment & Public Health working group session!

This talk focused on quantifying antineoplastic drug surface contamination in veterinary oncology clinics in combination with potential secondary contamination from dogs in home environments.

September 2024

Michael presented his research called, "Chemical characterization of DNA damage in oral cells of Fanconi Anemia patients" for the Application of -omics approaches to advance genetic toxicology and understand carcinogenesis symposium!

His talk focused on describing the methods used for the identification of DNA adducts present FA individuals setting the stage for their development as tools to investigate oral carcinogenesis in these patients and monitor their cancer risk.

August 2024

The Balbo Lab traveled to the corn capital of the world in Olivia, MN to participate in the Renville County Walk in the Park! 

This is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing emotional and supportive services to newly diagnosed cancer patients in Renville County. 

Silvia thanked cancer survivors and community members at the Renville County Walk in the Park for their donation to the Balbo Lab! 

June 2024

Silvia gave a talk at the 47th annual Research Society on Alcohol (RSA) Scientific meeting.  

May 2024

Silvia gave a presentation entitled, "ASMS Speaker Tips & Tricks: Delivering your best presentation." 

In preparation for the American Society of Mass Spectrometry,  Silvia was the main speaker at a webinar exploring effective strategies, practical recommendations, and actionable suggestions for organizing and delivering clear and engaging presentations. 

To learn more about and watch her presentation, click HERE! 

April 2024

Ayesha attended the University of Minnesota Undergraduate Research Symposium and presented her research on the quantitation of a novel DNA-RNA crosslink in rats treated with the tobacco specific nitrosamine NNK. 

Her poster looked great and she had many people stop by to ask her questions about her work! It was a great way to wrap up her time spent learning an completing her undergraduate directed research!

April 2024

Michael attended this years Mini Research Symposium, which highlighted the work of undergraduate students, pre- and post-doctoral scholars, research staff, and residents/fellows in cancer research. 

He presented his research focusing on the chemical characterization of DNA damage in oral cells of Fanconi Anemia patients. A link to be abstract can be found HERE! 

April 2024

Silvia visited Foster at International Agency for Research on Cancer!

She gave a well attended talk at a seminar called, "DNA Adductomics, new frontiers in the characterization of chemical carcinogenesis."

April 2024

At the University of Minnesota School pf Public Health Research Day, Andrew presented his research entitled, "Chemotherapy is not only toxic to patients' cancer..." 

This followed the format of a 3 minute thesis, using only one slide, no notecards, and a strict time limit! 

More information about 3MT can be found HERE! 

March 2024

Silvia and Andrew gave a talk at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health Division of Environmental Health Sciences doctoral seminar. 

Silvia presented "How to be the best bad presenter" with tips and tricks to delivering a good presentation. Andrew talked about how to make a good research poster for conferences. 

February 2024

Congratulations to Kevin on getting his Ph.D.! 

He defended his thesis called, "Expanding computational resources for the discovery of molecular biomarkers of exposure."

January 2024

Andrew presented his research to  the Carcinogenesis and Chemoprevention Data Club at the Masonic Cancer Center. 

His talk focused on the identification of antineoplastic drug residue on clinical surfaces and on dogs post chemotherapy treatment.

November 2023

Congratulations to Dylan for getting his M.S.! 

October 2023

Foster headed over to Lyon, France to learn from our collaborators at the International Agency for Research on Cancer!

He will be working in our collaborator Dr. Jiri Zavadil's lab on research that aims to identify driver DNA adducts contributing to mutational signatures induced by environmental toxicants. 

October 2023

Michael attended the 11th Annual Masonic Cancer Center Research symposium, where he presented his research entitled "DNA Adductomics to Characterize Acetaldehyde-Induced DNA Damage".

This focuses on the development of DNA adducts as biomarkers in humans of exposure and risk from alcohol consumption. 

October 2023

Matt attended the 11th Annual Masonic Cancer Center Research symposium, where he presented his research entitled "Metabolism of Deuterium-Labelled Carcinogen N'-Nitrosonornicotine in Smokeless Tobacco Users".

October 2023

Michael attended the annual department of pharmacology retreat, where he gave a presentation of his research entitled "High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry-Based DNA Adductomics to Characterize Acetaldehyde-Induced DNA Damage".

This focuses on the development of DNA adducts as biomarkers in humans of exposure and risk from alcohol consumption. 

September 2023

Dr. Christian Abnet came to visit the Balbo Lab before the Microbiome and Cancer Symposium!

He is a leading expert in the etiology of esophageal and gastric cancer and in the study of the oral microbiome. He waorks at the National Cancer Institute and serves as a principal investigator for the Nutrition Intervention Trial, the Golestan Cohort Study, several case-control studies, and the Connect for Cancer Prevention Study cohort. 

September 2023

Dr. Giorgia La Barbera came all the way over from Copenhagen to visit us at the Balbo Lab! 

She spoke at the Carcinogenesis and Chemoprevention program data club with a talk focusing on the development of a DNA adduct database with comprehensive information on both DNA adduct source and structure. She was able to meet with graduate students, researchers at the Masonic Cancer Center, and enjoy a lab get-together lunch!  

September 2023

Andrew's poster presentation called "DNA adductomics analysis to characterize DNA damage in the liver of Atlantic cod exposed to crude oil" received the First Place Best Student Poster award!

He was presented this award by the Elsevier Mutation Research Genetic Toxicology and Environmental Mutagenesis journal during the conference banquet.

September 2023

Michael was presented with the EMGS student and new investigator travel award at the conference banquet. 

This award provides Michael with registration to attend EMGS 2023 as well as funds for travel to Chicago, IL! He will be a featured presenter at the conference with his research with a poster. 

September 2023

Silvia was the chair of a symposium at EMGS 2023 focusing on Adductomics: an approach to explore the health effects of the exposome. This talk emphasized recent advances, discoveries, and applications in adductomics. 

Her talk was entitled, "DNA adductomics, new frontiers in DNA damage characterization" which provided information on the current state of the field, highlighted the latest developments, and considered the path forward for DNA adductomics to become a standard method to characterize DNA damage.

September 2023

Silvia gave a talk at EMGS 2023 during the Advancing the battery of in vivo testing assays in genetic toxicology symposium which focused on providing an update on the recent development of various in vivo genotoxicity assays. 

Her talk was entitled, "High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry based methods to improve the characterization of genotoxicity" going into detail on MS-based methods to support the identification of biomarkers for precision medicine and its employment in biomonitoring.  

September 2023

Michael presented his research focusing on DNA adductomics to characterize alcohol-induced DNA damage as a flash talk during EMGS 2023!

September 2023

Foster presented his research investigating the DNA adductome of lung carcinogenesis as a flash talk during EMGS 2023!

September 2023

Andrew presented his research entitled "DNA adductomics analysis to characterize DNA damage in the liver of Atlantic cod exposed to crude oil" for EMGS 2023 in Chicago, Illinois.

This focuses on the identification of potential PAH-derived DNA adducts and endogenous oxidative DNA adducts in Atlantic cod resulting from crude oil exposure using mass spectrometry. 

September 2023

Michael presented his research entitled "High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry-Based DNA Adductomics to Characterize Acetaldehyde-Induced DNA Damage" for EMGS 2023 in Chicago, Illinois.

This focuses on the development of DNA adducts as biomarkers in humans of exposure and risk from alcohol consumption 

September 2023

Foster presented his research entitled "Investigating the DNA adductome of lung carcinogenesis" for EMGS 2023 in Chicago, Illinois.

This focused on the identification of DNA adducts to be used as biomarkers for early detection and support the development of strategies for the prevention and treatment of lung cancer.  

Click HERE to learn more about EMGS 2023 

August 2023

The Herman Charles Cohen fund will be used to provide dissertation improvement funds to a worthy Ph.D. student in the Department of Horticultural Science each year. 

The award will be used for the “behind-the-scenes” activities that go into crafting an outstanding dissertation, including conference travel and lab testing expenses! 

August 2023

The Balbo Lab traveled to the corn capital of the world in Olivia, MN to participate in the Renville County Walk in the Park! 

This is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing emotional and supportive services to newly diagnosed cancer patients in Renville County. 

Silvia thanked cancer survivors and community members at the Renville County Walk in the Park for their donation to the Balbo Lab! 

July 2023

The Balbo Lab celebrated and wished Chiara well as she accepted a new position at Pfizer! 

She spent 3 years in the lab working on her Master's and as a researcher on numerous projects like the development and optimization of analytical methods for the identification and detection of colibactin DNA adducts. 

We will miss seeing Chiara in the lab, but we will visit her in Boston! 

June 2023

Congratulations to Valeria for getting her Ph.D.! 

She defended her thesis called "DNA Modifications as Biomarkers for Precision Medicine in Patients Treated with Alkylating Drugs." 

June 2023

This award provides Michael with registration to attend EMGS 2023 as well as funds for travel to Chicago, IL! He will be a featured presenter at the conference with his research with a poster. 

Click here to learn more about EMGS 2023 

June 2023

Kevin presented an oral session at the ASMS 2023 conference in Houston, Texas.  His research focused on the development of a sensitive high-resolution LC-MS/MS approach for global profiling of urinary mercapturic acid conjugates. 

June 2023

Chiara presented a poster at the ASMS 2023 conference in Houston, Texas. Her research focused on the direct chemical characterization of double-stranded oligonucleotides crosslinked by the microbiome-derived genotoxin colibactin by high-resolution mass spectrometry. 

Click here to learn more about ASMS 2023 

May 2023

The Chateaubriand Fellowship is a grant offered by the Embassy of France in the United States. It supports outstanding Ph.D. students from American universities who wish to conduct research in France through a merit-based competition. 

Foster will be working in our collaborator Dr. Jiri Zavadil's lab at the International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France on research that aims to identify driver DNA adducts contributing to mutational signatures induced by environmental toxicants. 

May 2023

Andrew presented his research entitled "Investigating antineoplastic drug contamination in veterinary canine patients by LC-SRM-MS/MS" for AIHA 2023 in Phoenix, Arizona.

He was awarded First Place Gold Best in Show Poster and Best Student Poster by the Opioids Working Group. 

This focused on promoting awareness of the potential exposure to chemotherapy drugs in a workplace setting and intervention strategies.  

Click here to learn more about AIHce EXP 2023 

April 2023

Dr. Emily Balskus took a short trip from Harvard to visit us at the Balbo Lab! She spoke at the Masonic Cancer Center Seminar Series with a talk on deciphering the human microbiome with chemistry. She was able to meet with students, researchers, and enjoy a lab get-together dinner!  

Click here to watch here seminar talk! 

April 2023

This award provides Andrew with registration to attend AIHce EXP 2023 as well as funds for travel! He will be a featured presenter at the conference with his research with a poster. 

Click here to learn more about AIHce EXP 2023 

April 2023

Andrew will present his research with a poster on the investigation of antineoplastic drug contamination in veterinary canine patients by LC–SRM–MS/MS. 

March 2023

Kevin will present his research with a talk on the development of a sensitive high-resolution LC-MS/MS approach for global profiling of urinary mercapturic acid conjugates. 

Click here to learn more about ASMS 2023 

March 2023

Chiara will present her research on the direct chemical characterization of double-stranded oligonucleotides crosslinked by the microbiome-derived genotoxin colibactin by high-resolution mass spectrometry. 

Click here to learn more about ASMS 2023 

February 2023

Andrew presented his research entitled "Assessment of chemotherapy drugs in veterinary occupational settings" for the American Industrial Hygiene Association Healthcare Working Group Hazardous Drug Team. 

This focused on promoting awareness of the potential exposure to chemotherapy drugs in a workplace setting and intervention strategies and education opportunities to increase worker safety. 

January 2023

Chiara received the Microbiome and Cancer Seed Fund from the Masonic Cancer Center. This is a seed fund of up to $2,500 sparked from new collaborations between cancer and the microbiome. 

November 2022

Michael gave a presentation of his research at a seminar for the department of pharmacology!

His research focuses on investigating the role of acetaldehyde in the carcinogenesis of individuals with Fanconi anemia and ALDH2 mutations. 

November 2022

Andrew shared his research titled "Assessment of chemotherapy drugs in occupational settings", with the Center for Occupational and Environmental Health (COEH) at the University of California, Berkeley. 

This focused on promoting awareness of the potential exposure to chemotherapy drugs in a workplace setting and intervention strategies and education opportunities to increase worker safety. 

October 2022

Andrew presented his research virtually at a conference in Olso, Norway. The Forum for  Offshore Environmental Monitoring is sponsored by the Norwegian Environmental Agency. 

This is an annual event for operators, authorities, suppliers, institutions, and people with an interest in marine monitoring, mainly related to offshore petroleum operations.

His work is a collaboration with the Univesity of Stavanger that focuses on the identification of DNA adduct using mass spectrometry. 

September 2022

Congratulations to Silvia for receiving her third R01!

This grant is funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIHAAA) and entitled Dissecting the role of acetaldehyde in oral carcinogenesis. 

The long-term goal is to unravel the mechanisms through which alcohol-derived acetaldehyde induces mutations and cancer in the oral cavity, and to develop biomarkers to identify individuals at higher risk of oral cancer and support effective prevention strategies. 

September 2022

Andrew presented his research at the 2022 ISEE Conference, focusing on the effects of environmental exposures in people, stimulating communication between health professionals, promoting methodological advances, and strengthening environmental health policy.

His work focuses on the assessment of chemotherapy contamination in veterinary oncology settings. 

September 2022

Chiara presented her research at the 2022 Microbiome & Cancer Symposium, showcasing exciting research at the intersection of cancer and the microbiome at the University of Minnesota, highlighting potential new opportunities, and sparking new synergies between researchers across relevant fields of expertise.

Her work focuses on the chemical characterization of Colibactin-DNA Interstrand crosslinks in short oligonucleotides by HRMS.

August 2022

The Balbo Lab participated in the Driven to Discover (D2D) Research program for the project "Developing tobacco and nicotine related biomarkers" during the Stevens County Fair. 

Use of tobacco products can cause various diseases of the oral cavity, including cancer. By analyzing a variety of oral samples that participants provided, this project aims to develop a test to determine whether those at risk can be identified.

August 2022

Silvia spoke to cancer survivors and the community members at the Renville County Walk in the Park to thank them for their donation to the Balbo Lab! 

August 2022

The Balbo Lab traveled to the corn capital of the world in Olivia, Mn to participate in the Renville County Walk in the Park! 

This is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing emotional and supportive services to newly diagnosed cancer patients in Renville County. 

August 2022

Andrew shared his research on the assessment of chemotherapy drugs in occupational settings with the board of directors at the Midwest Center ERC CE meeting. This focused on promoting awareness for the potential exposure to chemotherapy drugs in a workplace setting as well as interventinos strategies and education opportunities to increase worker safety. 

July 2022

This award will support Andrew's attendance at the 34th International Society for Environmental Epidemiology (ISEE 2022) Annual Conference, September 18-21, 2022, in Athens, Greece.

He will be presenting his research on the assessment of chemotherapy drugs in occupational settings.  

To learn more about the award, click HERE!

June 2022

They traveled to Madison, WI for the fourth annual North American Mass Spectrometry Summer School (NCQBCS)! This was a four-day class covering the fundamentals of mass spectrometry from leading experts in the field. Tutorial lecture topics included: Mass Analyzers, Ionization, Tandem MS, Chromatography, Shotgun Proteomics, Instrument Acquisition and Setup, Data analysis, and PTMs. Lectures and workshops for scientific and professional development were headed up by Dr. Josh Coon. 

June 2022

Kevin presented his research at the 70th ASMS Conference on Mass Spectrometry and Allied Topics (ASMS 2022). This conference aims to promote and disseminate knowledge of mass spectrometry and similarly related topics. This conference has over 2,700 poster presentations and 384 talks.

His poster presentation was entitled, "Changing the Discovery DNA Adductomics Paradigm: From Manual Curation to Automated Data Processing Pipelines"

June 2022

Members of the lab attended ASMS 2022 as it took place in Minneapolis, MN this year. 

This was a four-day conference that focused on all things mass spectrometry. We were able to listen to oral sessions, look at posters presenting different research, take part in workshops, and learn from professionals in academia and industry. 

June 2022

Congratulations to Andrew for receiving his second Torske Klubben Fellowship through the UMN Graduate School!

His project will focus on characterizing DNA damage in cod exposed to crude oil and elucidating the chemical structure of the DNA adducts. Hopefully, this research will help with developing effective tools for monitoring the effects of the oil industry in the Norwegian North Sea.

He will receive $16,000 for tuition and research. 

May 2022

Andrew presented his research at the 2022 American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Expo (AIHce EXP) to address topics related to occupational safety and health.  

His work focuses on the assessment of chemotherapy contamination in veterinary oncology settings. 

He was awarded:

1. Best in Show Student Poster

2. Best Student Poster - AIHA Fellows Special Interest Group

3. Best Student Poster - Sampling and Laboratory Analysis Committee

4. Best Student Poster - Opioids Working Group 

As well as being selected as the top pick from the Occupational Epidemiology Committee. 

May 2022

Andrew presented his research at the 21st International Symposium on Pollutant Responses In Marine Organisms (PRIMO21) in Gothenburg, Sweden. This conference aims to provide an interdisciplinary scientific forum to present and discuss research on the environmental effects of anthropogenic activities on the health of aquatic ecosystems.  

His work focuses on the identification of biomarkers of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon environmental contamination through DNA adductomic analysis of liver DNA of Atlantic cod exposed to crude oil.

May 2022

Andrew presented his research at a The National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) Symposium is an annual event hosted by the Midwest Center for Occupational Safety and Health to address a topic related to occupational safety and health.  

His work focuses on the assessment of chemotherapy contamination in veterinary oncology settings. 

Click here to view his presentation!

May 2022

Congratulations to Foster for being selected as one of this year's Top 10 Outstanding Abstracts at the 10th Annual Masonic Cancer Center Research Symposium!

His abstract entitled "LC-HRMS characterization of cyclophosphamide-derived DNA damage to identify predictive biomarkers" focused on his biomarker research. 

He presented on May 2nd as well as attending the finalist lunch with a keynote speaker Dr. Laura Esserman and dinner with a keynote speaker Dr. Tucker LeBien.  

May 2022

Congratulations to Andrew and Chiara for presenting their research at the 10th Annual Masonic Cancer Center Research Symposium!

Her abstract entitled "Detection of colibactin-DNA crosslinks in oligonucleotides by high-resolution mass spectrometry" focused on underlying the chemical details and mechanism of intrastrand crosslink formation by colibactin in collaboration with Harvard University. 

His abstract entitled "LC-MS/MS surface sampling method development of chemotherapy contamination in occupational settings" focused on understanding the potential antineoplastic surface contamination present in veterinary oncology clincs. 

April 2022

Welcome to the Balbo Lab Marta!

Marta is a graduate student at the University of Milan studying Medicinal Chemistry. She was selected as part of a joint program between the two universities to complete her Master's thesis over the course of 9 months.   

April 2022

Renville County Walk in the Park is honored to be able to help fund cancer research! Silvia talked at the cancer survivors dinner to give an update on our research and thank the wonderful Renville County residents and supporters!

April 2022

Welcome to the Balbo Lab Matt! 

Matt returned to the University of Minnesota after working at Borregaard USA. He was a research scientist working on formulation chemistry and QC. 

As part of the Balbo lab, he will work on our cyclophosphamide project and DNA adductomics work, specifically on the correlation between NNK and LPS. 

April 2022

Andrew presented his research at a combined joint symposium between the University of Minnesota School of Public Health Division of Environmental Health Sciences and the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health Environmental Health and Engineering Division. 

His work focused on the assessment of chemotherapy contamination in veterinary oncology settings. 

March 2022

Michael finished his three 8-week rotations across different labs as part of the University of Minnesota Medical School College of Pharmacy. 

He has chosen to complete his Ph.D. with Dr. Silvia Balbo investigating the role of acetaldehyde in the carcinogenesis of individuals with Fanconi anemia and ALDH2 mutations. 

January 2022

Andrew has been invited by his co-advisor, Dr. Susan Arnold, to work on a literature review. This will focus on providing an experience in identifying academic course curricular risk assessment methods in Occupational Health and Hygiene. He has joined the InTERACCT Team, a collaborative group composed of industrial hygiene experts from various universities. 

November 2021

Dylan is part of the UMN college of pharmacy working on his Master's. 

November 2021

Michael started an 8-week rotation in the Balbo Lab to learn more about mass spectrometry and DNA adductomics! 

This program is part of the University of Minnesota Medical School College of Pharmacy. 

September 2021

Our proposal for the Pilot and Feasibility Award - for the Spring 2021 program of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CFF) has been approved for funding!

September 2021

Foster and Andrew start their 2nd and 3rd years of graduate school this September. They will be taking a mix of in-person and online classes during the Fall Semester while working in the lab, continuing their research projects. 

August 2021

Congratulations to Valeria for her new position at Pfizer, in Connecticut! 

After finishing working on her PhD project in the Balbo Lab, she will be a Senior Scientist in the Mass Spectrometry facility for the detection and the measurement of small molecules.

We wish you all the best, and we already miss you!

August 2021

The Balbo Lab wished Romel good luck as he was offered a new position at 3M! 

He spent 7 years in the lab working as a Post Doc on numerous projects. 

We will miss seeing Romel in the lab, but will see him again over Zoom!

June 2021

To celebrate events in the Balbo Lab and to take a breather before a 1-week lab break. 

We had a grill out and pool party all together, with members of the Balbo Lab, colleagues, and friends. 

June 2021

Congratulations to the Balbo Lab and our collaborators at Harvard. They received R01 grant funding for research focusing on  Colibactin. 

June 2021

Chiara returned to the lab after working at Eurofins in Milan, Italy. She was in the medical device division, testing for the chemical characterization and the biological safety and risk assessment of medical devices. 

As part of the Balbo lab, she will work on the development and optimization of analytical methods to screen for DNA damage caused by the toxin colibactin, as a biomarker for the prevention of colorectal cancer. 

She also has a new dog, named Safari!

April - June 2021

Andrew was chosen as one of the 39 participants connected from 26 countries for the live kick-off session of the Cancer Epidemiology module of the #IARCSummerschool! It is 8 weeks of intense learning & international networking with the goals to stimulate research in cancer epidemiology and cancer prevention by improving scientific knowledge and developing skills among researchers worldwide.  To learn more visit: https://learning.iarc.fr 

April 2021

Congratulations to Kevin  for successfully publishing his paper "Extension of Diagnostic Fragmentation Filtering for Automated Discovery in DNA Adductomics". 

March 2021

The Masonic Cancer Center held a zoom webinar called Conducting Research in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Ethics in an Emergency. 

Distinguished panelsists from several univeristies ranging for the UMN School of Public, NIH Clinical Center, Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, etc. 

This webinar focused on topics like advancing ethics and equity during pandemic research, how to reconcile the need for research with the clinical imperative to save lives, and how the pandemic is affecting research design.

January 2021

The Balbo Lab celebrated and wished Alessia well as she accepted a new position at Boston Scientific! 

She spent 3 years in the lab working as a Post Doc on numerous projects like the development of mass spectrometry-based molecular markers for early cancer detection and improving cancer chemotherapy protocols. 

We will miss seeing Alessia in the lab, but will stay in touch with good food and drinks over Zoom!

November 2020

The Masonic Cancer Center's Community Outreach and Engagement Team will soon be launching virtual lab tours from the Balbo and Stepanov labs as a means to connect with communities and students while we cannot host in person lab tours. 

The photos above show clips from the Balbo lab tour where several different experiments on DNA extractions were recorded.

September 2020

September 2020

Andrew and Foster are starting their first week back at school!

Classes for the UMN SPH are all online, so they will be learning new material and making new friends virtually this semester!

August 2020

Congratulations to Foster and Andrew for winning first place at the UMN SPH Back to School Trivia!!

They got to participate in a fun night with new and old friends while playing trivia, coming in first place, and get to know the new students!

August 2020

The goal of this project is to advance our mass spectrometry (MS) adductomics methods and develop algorithms to screen for an array of DNA adducts formed with hazardous chemicals playing a role in kidney cancer. 

Over the past three decades the methods used to screen for DNA adducts in humans have largely investigated the effects of a single exposure at a time and provided limited information about causative agents in the etiology of cancer. In this project we are addressing the critical need to develop robust and specific methods to detect global DNA damage of the genome in a single assay for risk assessment.