CORE--ENVIRONMENT /GENE INTERACTIONS

Univ Of Med/Dent Nj-R W Johnson Med Sch, Piscataway NJ

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

Description (provided by applicant): This core was created in 1994 under the name "Biotransformation and Toxicity of Environmental Chemicals." The name was changed to Environment-Gene Interactions in April 2000, reflecting the expansion into new areas and the appointment of Dr. Suzie Chen as the Director. Dr. P. Thomas remains in the leadership of the Core as Co-Director. The core includes 16 investigators from 6 different departments at Rutgers University and 6 departments at RWJMS. The collective funding for this group of investigators is 12.8 million dollars. This number includes peer review grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements. The research interest of the core members falls into the following ten areas of research and collaboration: 1) chemopreventive activities and other dietary compounds; 2) regulation of xenobioticmetabolizing enzymes; 3) genetic polymorphisms of metabolizing enzymes Lambert; 4) detection of phytoestrogens from environmental samples; 5) P53 mutations in skin carcinogenesis; 6) mouse model for esophageal carcinoma; 7) mouse model of malignant melanoma; 8) genomic stability; 9) mutagenesis and environmental carcinogenesis; and 10) animal models. The core goals are, 1) to identify and study genes involved in cellular response to environmental exposure; 2) to characterize the alterations of the gene expression resulting from host responses to environmental factors; 3) to identify important genetic polymorphisms associated with environmental response genes; and 4) to elucidate functionally important environmental response genes in a variety of model systems, from yeast to mammals. The future plans for the core include enhancement of use of genomic and proteomic approaches, develop and increase intracore interaction and to extend studies in animal models to humans.