Agenda

IMG_4848-edit-1000-2

 

Sunday, March 25th

  • Check-in (Swope Center)

Monday, March 26

  • (7:30-9:00) Check-in (Swope Center) 

  • (8:30-9:15) Continental Breakfast (Lillie Auditorium) 

  • (9:15-11:00) Opening (Lillie Auditorium) 
    • Welcome (Dave Sherr, Director, BU SRP and Jean van Seventer, Training Core co-leader) (9:15-9:20)
    • “The history of the SR(B)P” (Dave Sherr, Director, BU SRP) (9:20-9:30)
    • Overview of Centers
        • URI/Harvard (15 min)
        • MIT (15 min)
        • U Penn (10 min)
        • Columbia (10 min)
        • Brown (10 min)
        • BU (10 min)
        • Northeastern (10 min)
        • Dartmouth (10 min)

  • (11:00-12:15) Scientific Session 1 (Lillie Auditorium) “Biomarkers and the Exposome”, Chair: Bruce Stanton, PhD (Dartmouth SRP), co-organizer: Bob Hurt, PhD (Brown SRP). This session will begin with an exploration of advanced analytical techniques to measure biomarkers and trace exogenous chemicals in human blood samples.  Additional talks will address applications to environmental organisms, and the association between exposomic data and multiple phenotypes, along with challenges in interpreting those associations. The four speakers will come together at the end of the session for a moderated panel discussion.
    • “Multi-platform mass spectrometry for assessment of environmental exposures and metabolic response” (Kurt Pennell, Project Leader, Brown SRP) (11:00-11:15)
    • “Validating serum protein biomarkers with mass spectrometry and molecular biology: a revolution” (Ian Blair, Director, U Penn SRP) (11:15-11:30)
    • “When evolution is the solution to pollution: Using wild fish populations to identify markers of pollutant susceptibility” (Bryan Clarke, Trainee, EPA) (11:30-11:45)
    • “Associating the phenome with the exposome” (Chirag Patel, Harvard U.) (11:45-12:00)
    • Panel Discussion: Bruce Stanton (Moderator, Director, Dartmouth SRP), Kurt Pennell, Ian Blair, Bryan Clark, and Chirag Patel (12:00-12:15)

  • (12:15-1:30) Lunch & Trainee Speed Mentoring with SRP Project and Core Leaders (Swope Center). This will be the first of two trainee mentoring lunches.  During this session, trainees will discuss a variety of SRP topic areas with experts from among the SRP Project and Core leaders of the eight NE SRPs.  Trainees will be able to learn and ask questions about pursuing a career in a particular area.  Each discussion will last ~25-30 minutes (half of the lunch time period).  Each trainee selects three topics from the list below at registration
    1. Engineering
    2. Community Engagement
    3. Big Data
    4. Epidemiology
    5. Toxicology
    6. Ecosystems

  • (1:30-2:45) Scientific Session 2 (Lillie Auditorium)  “Big Data in Environmental Science”, Chair: Stefano Monti, PhD (BUSPH SRP) 
    • “Data Science Approaches to Unravel Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Signaling” (Sudin Bhattacharya, Michigan State) (1:30-1:45)
    • “High-throughput transcriptomic screening to predict chemical carcinogenicity and genotoxicity” (Amy Li, Trainee, BU SRP) (1:45-2:00)
    • “An Intuitive Approach for Predicting Potential Human Health Risk with the Tox21 10k Library.” (Nisha Sipes, NIEHS) (2:00-2:15)
    • “Adverse outcomes pathways” (Stephen Edwards, RTI/Vanderbilt) (2:15-2:30)
    • Panel Discussion: Stefano Monti (Moderator, Bioinformatics and Molecular Modeling Core Leader, BU SRP), Sudin Bhattacharya, Amy Li, Nisha Sipes, and Stephen Edwards (2:30-2:45)

  • (2:45-3:00) Refreshment Break

  • (3:00-4:15) Scientific Session 3 (Lillie Auditorium)  “Fate, Transport and Remediation”, Chair: Kurt Pennell, PhD (Brown SRP), co-organizer: Akram Alshawabkeh, PhD (Northeastern SRP)
    • “Strategies for management and evaluation of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in drinking water” (Jennifer Guelfo, Brown SRP) (3:00-3:15)
    • “Geochemical Factors affecting the Transport and Transformation of Poly- and Perfluoroalkyl Substances (PFASs) in Groundwater From Two Legacy Sources on Cape Cod, MA” (Elsie Sunderland, Project Leader, URI-HSPH SRP) (3:15-3:30)
    • “Transport Models in Vapor Intrusion- Making Sense of Complex Field Data” (Jonathan Ström, Trainee, Brown SRP) (3:30-3:45)
    • “Addressing the Challenges in Subsurface Contaminant Source Zone Characterization and Remediation” (Linda Abriola, Tufts) (3:45-4:00)
    • Panel Discussion: Eric Suuberg (Moderator, Project Leader, Research Translation Core Leader, Brown SRP), Jennifer Guelfo, Elsie Sunderland, Jonathan Ström, and Linda Abriola (4:00-4:15)

  • (4:15-5:00) Trainee 1-Minute Poster Talks . Each trainee with a poster will have 1 minute to “advertise” their poster in front of the full assemblage. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd prizes will be awarded Tuesday morning for the best trainee posters.

  • (5:00-6:15) Poster Session (Swope Center) & Beer and Snacks Mixer/Reception (Meigs Room) 

  • (6:30-8:00) Dinner (Swope Center) 

  • (8:00-9:00) Screening of Short Environmental Hazards Documentaries (Lillie Auditorium) 

  • (9:00-10:45) Screening of “Jaws” (Lillie Auditorium) (“You’re going to need a bigger boat”)

Tuesday, March 27

  • (7:30-8:30) Breakfast (Swope Center) 

  • (8:35-8:45) Poster Awards (Lillie Auditorium) 

  • (8:45-10:00) Scientific Session 4 (Lillie Auditorium)  “Addressing Community Concerns about Environmental Hazards”, Chair: Ian A. Blair, PhD (U Penn SRP) This session will provide four examples of interactions between SRP Centers and their local communities.  The speakers will discuss various aspects of communicating risk.  The session will conclude with a panel discussion focused on the issues raised and with questions from the session’s audience.
    • “Can we say No? When community concerns don’t match Superfund research” (Madeleine L. Scammell, Community Engagement Core Leader, BU SRP) (8:45-9:00)
    • “Addressing community concerns about environmental threats in Puerto Rico” (Carmen Milagros Vélez Vega, Community Engagement Core Leader, Northeastern SRP and University of Puerto Rico) (9:00-9:15)
    • “Community concerns regarding environmental exposures in aging schools” (Clara Sears, Trainee, Brown) (9:15-9:30)
    • “Using mental models to understand expert and community perceptions of arsenic exposure” (Shannon Healy Rogers,Community Engagement Core Leader, Dartmouth SRP) (9:30-9:45)
    • Panel Discussion: Ian A, Blair (Moderator, Director, U Penn SRP), Madeleine L. Scammell, Carmen Milagros Vélez Vega, Clara Sears, and Shannon Healy Rogers (9:45-10:00)

  • (10:00-10:15) Refreshment Break  

  • (10:15-11:30) Trainee Session “Creating and Maintaining an Individual Development Plan (IDP): Guidelines for Trainees and their Advisors”, Sarah Hokanson, PhD (Boston University Director of Professional Development & Postdoctoral Affairs) . An Individual Development Plan (IDP) is a customized roadmap for professional training. IDPs help trainees set goals, review and update them regularly with a mentor, allowing them to take the next steps toward preparing for their career. This workshop will review the IDP process and help trainees to work with their advisors to begin their plan, providing tools and resources to help them assess their skills and identify goals. Pre-work will be provided and should take 15-20 minutes to complete.

  • (11:30-12:45) Lunch & Speed Trainee Mentoring to Explore Alternative Careers (Swope Center Cafeteria) . During this second trainee mentoring lunch, trainees will have the opportunity to learn about Superfund-related “alternative” (i.e. non-academic) careers from individuals who have worked in policy, government, industry, pharmaceuticals, consulting, and advocacy.  In order to complete the registration process, each trainee will select three topics at registration from the list below.
    1. Policy
    2. Advocacy
    3. Government
    4. Pharma and Industry
    5. Consulting
    6. Non-Profit
  • (12:45-1:45) Scientific Session 5 (Lillie Auditorium)  “Reporting Epidemiological Results”, Chair: Philippe Grandjean, MD (URI/Harvard SPH SRP), co-organizers: Phil Brown (Northeastern SRP), Akram Alshawabkeh, PhD (Northeastern SRP). Epidemiology research in the SRP context deals with exposed populations in need of exposure abatement and other efforts to control their exposure burdens. But non-experimental epidemiology must always take into account that causal associations cannot be observed, and conclusions are usually hedged. This session explores how epidemiology, despite its shortcomings, may become helpful to exposed populations and SRP research.
    • “Reporting Back Results to Participants in Environmental Health Studies” (Julia Brody, Northeastern SRP and Silent Spring Inst) (12:45-1:00)
    • “Developing Report-back to PROTECT participants in Puerto Rico with Focus Groups and a Community Advisory Board” (Colleen Murphy, Northeastern SRP and University of Puerto Rico) (1:00-1:15)
    • “Precautionary Reporting on Epidemiology“(Philippe Grandjean, Project Leader URI SRP and Harvard) (1:15-1:30)
    • Panel Discussion: Philippe Grandjean (Moderator, Project Leader, URI/HSPH SRP), Julia Brodie, and Coleen Murphy Vellena (1:30-1:45)
  • (2:00-2:30) Closing 

*Red Indicates Trainee