Exposure-Biomarkers Research Core
Overview
Exposures to toxic substances vary greatly within and between persons in a particular town or city. Such variability can impact the risks of health effects associated with exposures, due to uneven distribution of exposure across the population as well as to changes in exposure levels that a given person experiences from day to day. Since health effects linked to xenobiotic substances reflect the combined effects of exposure and genetic factors, exposure variability also creates problems in elucidating the impact of genetic susceptibility. For example, persons genetically predisposed to produce small amounts of a detoxifying enzyme are not at increased risk if exposure levels are sufficiently low to prevent metabolic saturation, while persons producing large amounts of the enzyme may be at increased risk at levels of exposure high enough to saturate the metabolic system. Studying relationships between exposure and biomarker levels in human populations allows us to evaluate interindividual variability in rates of uptake, distribution, metabolism and repair of toxic chemicals in the body. The Exposure-Biomarker Research Core investigates such exposure-biomarker relationships and thereby enhances our understanding the underlying connections between environmental exposures and health effects. It combines toxicokinetic and stochastic models with measurements of exposure and biomarkers in human studies, fostering collaboration and sharing of ideas, data and methods among Center members.
Objectives
The specific objectives of the Exposure-Biomarkers Research Core are to:
- support and expand collaborative research involving exposure assessment and biomarkers of exposure and effect in human studies
- establish effective mechanisms for sharing ideas within the EBRC and expanding Core membership to other relevant scientists; and
- increase interactions with other Research and Facility Cores to foster application of sound quantitative principles in study designs of Center members.
Exposure-Biomarkers Research Accomplishments - 2006
