Center for Environmental Health and Toxicology
Promoting the integration of new perspectives
and insights into education and research
The University of Nebraska
Center for Environmental Health and Toxicology
Promoting the integration of new perspectives
and insights into education and research
UNMC FacultyDr. Sam Sanderson: Associate Professor, Clinical Perfusion Education, School of Allied Health Professions. Main focus is to obtain a fuller understanding of the relationships between structure and function of immunologically active peptides.
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Dr. Surinder Batra: Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Medicine and Eppley Cancer Center. Research interests are in investigating the regulatory mechanisms in cells that are altered due to environmental insults.
Dr. Parmender Mehta: Associate Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Medicine. Research is focused on cell-cell communication mediated by gap junctions.
Dr. Jane Meza: Associate Professor, Biostatistics, College of Public Health. Research focuses on the design and analysis of clinical trials, especially cancer clinical trials, and disease mapping.
Epidemiology
Dr. Cheryl Beseler:
Assistant Professor, Departments of Epidemiology and Environmental,
Agricultural, and Occupational Health, College of Public Health. Research
currently focuses on the neurological and neuropsychiatric effects of pesticide
exposure and pesticide poisoning in the farming community, occupational farming
injuries, and substance use disorders with an emphasis on genetic susceptibility
to psychiatric disorders.
Eppley Institute
Dr. Ercole Cavalieri: Professor, Eppley Institute for Research in Cancer and Allied Diseases; Director, Center for Environmental Health and Toxicology, College of Public Health; and Courtesy Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Medicine. Research focuses on the molecular mechanisms of tumor initiation by (1) polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and (2) estrogens, in relation to the origin of human cancer.
Dr. Dhrubajyoti Chakravarti: Research Assistant Professor, Eppley Institute for Research in Cancer and Allied Diseases. The primary focus of our research is to understand the very early events of cancer (the biology of initiation). We are analyzing how DNA damage caused by a group of endogenous (estrogens) and environmental carcinogens (polycyclic hydrocarbons) leads to mutations that transform normal cells into a cancer cells.
Dr. Sidney Mirvish: Professor, Eppley Institute for Research in Cancer and Allied Diseases; Courtesy Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Medicine; and, Courtesy Professor, Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy. Performs research on the chemistry, biochemistry and biological action of a group of cancer-inducing chemicals called nitrosamines.
Dr. Oksana Lockridge: Professor, Eppley Institute for Research in Cancer and Allied Diseases; Courtesy Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Medicine. Specialty area of research is in organophosphorus pesticides.
Dr. Youri Pavlov: Associate Professor, Eppley Institute for Research in Cancer and Allied Diseases; Courtesy Associate Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; Pathology and Microbiology, College of Medicine. The laboratory of Dr. Pavlov is interested in the mechanisms of global and region-specific control of mutation rates in different cell types and along chromosomes in eukaryotes. The main objective of his research is to understand implications of differential gene mutability for human disease and species evolution.
Dr. Eleanor Rogan: Professor, Eppley Institute for Research in Cancer and Allied Diseases, Chair, Environmental, Agricultural and Occupational Health, College of Public Health; Courtesy Professor, Pharmaceutical Science, College of Pharmacy. Research focuses on the molecular mechanisms of tumor initiation by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and catechol estrogens.
Dr. Polina Shcherbakova: Assistant Professor, Eppley Institute for Research in Cancer and Allied Diseases; Courtesy Assistant Professor, Genetics, Cell Biology and Anatomy, College of Medicine. Laboratory interests are in the mechanisms controlling genome stability in eukaryotic cells, particularly in the functions of DNA polymerases in DNA replication, repair and chromosome segregation control.
Dr. Simon Sherman: Professor and Director, Bioinformatics, Eppley Institute for Research in Cancer and Allied Diseases; Courtesy Associate Professor, Pathology/Microbiology, College of Medicine. Research interests include determination of protein and peptide structures in solution, protein folding, and post-translational modifications of proteins.
Dr. Joyce Solheim: Associate Professor and Program Director, Cancer Research Graduate Program, Eppley Institute for Research in Cancer and Allied Diseases; Courtesy Associate Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; Pathology/Microbiology, College of Medicine. Specific research area is immunology, focusing on the cellular immune response to tumors and pathogens and the development of novel immunotherapies for cancer.
Dr. Kay-Uwe Wagner: Associate Professor, Eppley Institute for Research in Cancer and Allied Diseases; Courtesy Associate Professor, Pathology/Microbiology, College of Medicine. Research is centered on breast development and tumorigenesis, stem cell biology, and peptide hormone signaling.
Center for Human Molecular Genetics (Munroe-Meyer Institute)
Dr. Janee Gelineau-vanWaes: Assistant Professor, Genetics, Cell Biology and Anatomy, College of Medicine; Scientist, Molecular Genetics, Munroe-Meyer Institute; Courtesy Assistant Professor, Pharmacology/Experimental Neurosciences, College of Medicine.
Genetics, Cell Biology and Anatomy
Dr. Gregory Bennett: Associate Professor, Genetics, Cell Biology and Anatomy, College of Medicine; Courtesy Associate Professor, Pediatrics, College of Medicine. Developmental biology, reproductive toxicology, environmentally-induced congenital malformations, gene expression during neural and cardiovascular development, the regulation of neural and cardiac development by NMDA receptors.
Dr. Terrence Donohue: VA Research Career Scientist; Professor, Internal Medicine - Gastroenterology, College of Medicine; Courtesy Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; Pathology/Microbiology, College of Medicine. Investigating the effects of ethanol consumption on protein catabolism in the liver; mechanisms by which ethanol affects the lysosomal and ubiquitin proteolytic pathways.
Dr. Whitney Goldner:
Assistant Professor, Internal Medicine - Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism,
College of Medicine. Research interests include evaluating the
relationship between thyroid cancer and thyroid disease to pesticide usage and
other toxic exposures.
Dr. Stephen Rennard:
Professor and Larson Professor, Internal Medicine - Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine,
College of Medicine; Courtesy Professor, Pathology/Microbiology, College of
Medicine.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the major focus of Dr. Rennard’s
research. He maintains active programs both in basic mechanistic studies
designed to define the cellular and biochemical processes which lead to altered
tissue structure and function in COPD and clinical programs designed to evaluate
both the pathophysiology of COPD and therapeutic interventions.
Dr. Debra Romberger: Professor, Internal Medicine - Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, College of Medicine; Vice-Chair of Research, UNMC and ACOS/Research, Omaha Veteran's Administration Center.
Dr. Susanna Von Essen: Professor, Internal Medicine - Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, College of Medicine; Professor, Environmental, Agricultural and Occupational Health, College of Public Health. Interests include respiratory health of farmers and other rural health issues, environmental and occupational medicine education for primary care providers.
Dr. Eric Fung: Professor, Oral Biology, College of Dentistry. Research focus on determining how different neurotransmitter systems in the brain regulate behavior changes.
Dr. Wing C. (John) Chan: Professor, Pathology/Microbiology, College of Medicine and Co-director, Center for Lymphoma & Leukemia Research. Research focuses on hematological malignancies, including pathology, gene expression profiling and genetic information concerning lymphomas.
Dr. Samuel M. Cohen: Chair & Professor, Pathology/Microbiology (Eppley). Research involves several aspects of chemical carcinogenesis utilizing the urinary bladder as a model system.
Dr. Shi-Jian Ding: Assistant Professor, Pathology/Microbiology (Eppley). Research interests include biological mass spectrometry, proteomics, biomarker discovery and cell signaling.
Dr. Timothy Greiner: Associate Professor, Pathology/Microbiology. Research involves the study of the etiology of lymphoma by examining the mutational spectra of oncogenes and tumor suppresser genes. His laboratory is currently involved in characterizing mutations in ATM, p53, bcl-6, and BLIMP1 to correlate with mRNA expression patterns in lymphoma.
Dr. Steven Hinrichs: Senior Associate Dean for Research Development, College of Medicine; Professor and Director, Microbiology and Virology Laboratory, Department of Pathology/Microbiology; Courtesy Professor, Eppley Institute for Research in Cancer and Allied Diseases, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery; and, Associate Faculty, Creighton University/University of Nebraska School of Medicine, Pediatric Infectious Disease Division. Dr. Hinrichs' academic research activities are centered in two areas, including cancer biology and infectious diseases. The research activities have considerable overlap when studied at the molecular level and provide the opportunity for insights into many issues of clinical relevance.
Dr. Thomas Jerrells: Professor, Pathology/Microbiology. Research interests have been the cell-mediated immune responses to infectious microorganisms. Interests and funding are involved with the effects of ethanol consumption on the immune responses to bacteria and viruses. Research in the laboratory also includes the effects of dioxin on cellular and humoral immune responses in the gastrointestinal tract. Infectious organisms are used to test the effects of dioxin on the mucosal immune system.
Dr. Dennis Weisenburger: Professor, Pathology/Microbiology (Eppley). Detailed histopathologic, immunologic, cytogenetic and molecular biologic studies are done on cases of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and Hodgkin's disease to precisely characterize each case.
Dr. Alexander Kabanov: Park-Davis Professor, Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy and Director, Center for Drug Delivery and Nanomedicine. Drug delivery, nanomedicine pharmacology and toxicology of polymer materials.
Pharmacology and Experimental Neurosciences
Dr. Dan Monaghan: Professor, Pharmacology and Experimental Neurosciences. The major neurotransmitter in the brain, L-glutamate, is also a potent neurotoxin. Our laboratory is focused upon the NMDA class of glutamate receptor which is known to play a central role in learning and memory, as well as initiating cell death under pathological conditions. The Lab uses a variety of techniques (molecular biology, protein chemistry, quantitative receptor autoradiography, in situ hybridization, and electrophysiology) to determine the molecular mechanisms of NMDA receptor signaling.
Dr. Charles Murrin:
Vice Chair and Professor, Pharmacology
and Experimental Neurosciences.
Neurotransmitter systems in the CNS, including neurotransmitter synthesis, release, and receptors; ontogeny of neurotransmitter systems; the interactions of neuronal pathways
during development.
Dr. Richard Pleus:
Adjunct Associate
Professor, Pharmacology and Experimental Neurosciences. Research focused
on human health risk, including mode-of-action studies aimed at quantifying
exposure to critical organ systems, with particular interest in human and
laboratory animal nervous system development. In association with these
activities, Dr. Pleus has conducted a variety of human health risk evaluations
of exposures to chemical and biological agents in air, water, food, and soil, as
well as risk evaluations relating to consumer products and therapeutic agents.
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Center for Environmental Health and Toxicology
986805 Nebraska Medical Center
Omaha, Nebraska 68198-6805
Phone: (402) 559-8924
Facsimile: (402) 559-8068
E-mail: uncetox@unmc.edu