Liang: Effects of prenatal exposure to Per-and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) exposure on maternal and newborn metabolome and fetal growth: the PFAS Exposures And Child Health (PEACH) Study.

Lewis: DNA methylation of myelinating genes measured in peripheral samples predicts brain white matter volume in a healthy pediatric cohort

Key Takeaways:

Donghai Liang, PhD, MPH (Emory University)
Effects of prenatal exposure to Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances on maternal and newborn metabolome and fetal growth: the PFAS Exposures and Child Health (PEACH) Study

• Exposure to PFAS is very prevalent in the U.S. through everyday products like food packaging, non-stick cookware, and stain-resistant fabrics. Many studies have already demonstrated how PFAS exposure can be linked to poor birth outcomes, such as lower birth weights, but there is little information on why this relationship exists.
• ECHO researchers evaluated levels of PFAS in the blood of mothers and newborns, finding that during gestation many newborns were exposed to PFAS which may have disrupted the balance of certain chemical processes in their bodies. In the future, early detection of PFAS in maternal blood samples during pregnancy could help researchers and clinicians identify individuals at risk for preterm birth, which is linked to a variety of negative health outcomes in infancy and childhood.

Candace Lewis, PhD (University of Arizona)
DNA methylation of myelinating genes measured in peripheral samples predicts brain white matter volume in healthy pediatric cohort

• Understanding how epigenetic patterns—changes in the ways genes are expressed—in the brain are influenced by environmental factors is important to help researchers better analyze the role of environmental factors on mental health. However, it can be difficult to evaluate these patterns because brain tissue is difficult to collect.
• Recent ECHO research indicates that peripheral biosamples, such as blood or saliva, can be used in combination with neuroimaging data to assess how epigenetic patterns and brain structure may be influenced by environmental factors. Future studies could use this technique to evaluate the relationship between environmental factors, epigenetic patterns that shape brain structure and function, and mental health conditions like anxiety and depression.

Speakers:

Donghai Liang, PhD

Emory University
Rollins School of Public Health

Speaker Bio:

Dr. Donghai Liang is an Assistant Professor at the Emory University Rollins School of Public Health, where he holds a primary appointment in Environmental Health and a secondary appointment in Epidemiology. Dr. Liang is broadly trained in exposure science and molecular epidemiology with strong expertise and publication record of over 65 peer-reviewed articles in exposure assessment and health research, high-throughput data analysis, and omics-based technologies.  His research focuses on measuring multi-dimensional exposures and elucidating the molecular mechanisms that account for the complex health responses to environmental mixtures, including ambient and traffic-related air pollution, as well as persistent organic pollutants. More recently, Dr. Liang has shifted the majority of his effort towards incorporating high throughput omics technologies, especially the high-resolution metabolomics and multi-omics integration, into investigations on the molecular mechanisms and disease etiology associated with ubiquitous environmental exposures. 

Candace Lewis, PhD

University of Arizona
School of Life Sciences and Dept. Of Psychology

Speaker Bio: Dr. Candace Lewis, MC, PhD is an assistant professor at Arizona State University with a joint position between the Biology and Psychology departments. Dr. Lewis leads The BEAR Lab (Brain, Epigenetics, & Altered states Research) with a focus on how psychological experiences shape neurobiology underlying mental health. Specifically, the lab studies how social experiences can alter epigenetic regulation in mental-health related gene systems, and alternatively, how psychedelic-assisted therapy may reduce symptoms through similar processes.

Date: Wednesday, July 12th, 1 to 2pm ET

Dr. Liang’s Slides
Dr. Lewis’s Slides