News Archive
Trainee Spotlight: Jill Riddell
Jill Riddell is a PROTECT trainee from West Virginia University currently pursuing her PhD in Geology under the mentorship of Dr. Dorothy Vesper. For the last two years, she has been supporting PROTECT’s Project 4 research on sediment characterization by using a...
Fall 2019 Professional Development Webinar: “Publishing Environmental Health Research: Tips for Authors” by Dr. Sally Darney
CHECK OUT THE RECORDING HEREPresentation Available Here On Monday October 21st from 1:00pm-2:00pm EST, PROTECT will host our first professional development webinar of the 2019-2020 academic schedule. This webinar, featuring Dr. Sally Darney, the Editor-in-Chief from...
PROTECT Undergraduate Research Fellow Tom Onsi wins poster award at UMICH Undergrad Research Opportunity Program Summer Research Symposium
On Wednesday July 31st, undergraduate M-Scholars Fellow Tom Onsi won a poster award at the 2019 University of Michigan Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) Summer Research Symposium for his poster titled: “Extracellular vesicle production changes in...
Low-cost activated carbon promises scalable water disinfection
Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.Since most current...
PROTECT Study links common chemicals to preterm births in Puerto Rico
This publication was recently featured and honored in the NIEHS Newsletter Papers of the Month PROTECT researchers have identified an association between exposure to chemicals found in many common consumer products and a shorter duration of pregnancy, thus increasing...
PROTECT Team Members Present at ISEE 2019
Researchers and trainees from PROTECT attended and presented at the 31st annual conference of the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology (ISEE 2019). This year’s conference was held in Utrecht, the Netherlands, from August 25th through 28th. A total of...
PROTECT Trainee Jill Riddell completes KC Donnelly Externship at University of Arizona SRP in Tucson
Jill Riddell is a geology PhD Student at West Virginia University working on PROTECT Project 4, which focuses on tracing the passage of pollutants and other chemicals while it is transported through the Karst regions. Jill’s specific research, which is advised by Dr....
Trainee Spotlight – Nancy Cardona
Nancy Cardona is a trainee from University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus who worked under the mentorship of Dr. Carmen Velez-Vega within the Community Engagement Core from August 2015 until February 2019. While she was working with us, Nancy revised...
PROTECT’s Phil Brown successfully hosts 2nd National Conference on Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances at Northeastern University
From June 10-12th, 2019, over 250 community activists, government officials, state legislators, scientists, journalists, lawyers, academics, and students all convened on the Northeastern University campus in Boston for the 2nd National Conference on Per- and...
PROTECT, CRECE, & ECHO Researchers held meeting at University of Michigan
On July 10th-11th PROTECT, CRECE, and ECHO researchers from Northeastern University, University of Michigan, and University of Puerto Rico came together to discuss research progress and protocol harmonization across the three projects. The meeting was held at the...
PROTECT DMAC Demonstrates State-of-the-art Data Management Framework as a Model for Multidisciplinary Research
Almost all of today’s automated systems generate some form of data either for diagnostic or analysis purposes. A data management framework and repository are commonly employed whenever a large amount of data is collected, providing a capability to deliver secure and...
Trainee Spotlight – Norma Torres
Norma Torres is a PhD candidate pursuing a Civil Engineering Degree at the University of Puerto Rico – Mayaguez, focused in the area on Environmental and Water Resources Engineering. Since spring 2011, Norma has worked under the mentorship of Project 4 Principal...
Concentrations of phenols, parabens and triclocarbans appear in higher levels among Puerto Rico cohort compared to mainland U.S.
Recent environmental articles have increasingly focused on the potential dangers of chemicals that seem ever present and almost unavoidable in many facets of modern life. At CRECE, PROTECT and ECHO, we study many different chemicals which are present in the...
PROTECT Study intermediate report: associations between demographic risk factors and preterm birth in the first 1000 participants
Since PROTECT has started studying the environmental causes of higher levels of preterm birth in Puerto Rico preterm birth rates have dropped significantly; from 18% of all births in 2011 which was considered the highest in the world, to 11% by 2017.[1] However, this...
PROTECT study finds that chemicals found in many household consumer products were widely associated with hormone concentrations in pregnant women
Since plastic became known as the “miracle material that has made modern life possible” in 1950, humanity has produced 9.2 billion tons of plastic. [1] Plastics are produced using a large variety of materials which are often harmful to the environment and have been...
Training Core Presents the PROTECT Academy Seminar on Big Data Analytics
On Friday, June 21st from 10-11:30 am EDT the PROTECT Training core will be hosting the PROTECT Academy Seminar on Big Data Analytics for PROTECT researchers, staff, and trainees to attend. This seminar will be a new addition to the PROTECT Academy Interdisciplinary...
Trainee Spotlight – Stephanie Eick
Stephanie Eick is a recent PhD graduate in Epidemiology from the College of Public Health at University of Georgia and PROTECT Trainee working under the mentorship of Co-Director Dr. Jose Cordero since August of 2016. Additionally, Stephanie worked under the direction...
PROTECT, CRECE, & ECHO Researchers Meet in Puerto Rico
On Friday, May 17th, more than 30 PROTECT, CRECE, and ECHO researchers, research staff, trainees and nurses met at the Condado Plaza Hilton in San Juan, Puerto Rico to discuss research status, recruitment, plans and data management for the three research projects....
PROTECT/CRECE/ECHO Researchers Visit Community Health Centers & Clinic Partners in Puerto Rico
On Thursday, May 16th PROTECT researchers met in Puerto Rico to visit 4 different Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) and clinics where participants for the PROTECT, CRECE, & ECHO Cohorts are recruited. PROTECT/CRECE/ECHO researchers and staff participated...
CEC Director Dr. Carmen Velez Vega & Research Coordinator Hector Torres Zayas Lead Report Back Workshop
Back in March of this year, CEC Director Dr. Carmen Velez Vega & Research Coordinator Hector Torres Zayas coordinated and lead a workshop titled, “Report Back Strategies for the Dissemination of Research Findings,” for the Center for Collaborative Research in...
PROTECT Trainees Max Aung and Amber Cathey present at the Society for Reproductive Investigation 66th Annual Scientific Meeting in Paris
Between March 12-16th, 2019, PROTECT Project 1 Trainees Max Aung and Amber Cathey attended the 66th Annual Scientific Meeting hosted by the Society for Reproductive Investigation in Paris, France. This year the meeting focused on a “From Innovation to Impact” theme...
Project 2’s Rita Loch-Caruso received the Mentorship Award at the 2019 Society of Toxicology Meeting
In March at the 2019 Society of Toxicology Annual Meeting Project 2 Leader Rita Loch-Caruso was presented with the Women in Toxicology Mentorship Award. From Saturday, March 9th to Thursday March 14th, PROTECT researchers attended the 58th Annual SOT Meeting in...
PROTECT Hosts the 2019 Annual Northeast SRP Meeting at Northeastern University
From April 3rd-4th the PROTECT team hosted the 2019 Annual Northeast SRP Meeting at the John D. O’Bryant African American Institute where SRP researchers, staff, and trainees from Boston University, Columbia University, University of Rhode Island, Harvard University,...
PROTECT’s Phil Brown presents at the Cambridge Science Festival
Phil Brown, Director of the Research Translation Core and Co-Director of the Community Engagement Core, joined with research translation core leaders Jennifer Kay (MIT SRP) and Wendy Heiger-Bernays (BU SRP) for a presentation at the annual Cambridge Science Festival...
PROTECT Training Core Leader Tom Sheahan appointed Senior Vice Provost for Curriculum and Programs at Northeastern University
On Monday, April 22nd it was announced that PROTECT Training Core Director Tom Sheahan is appointed Senior Vice Provost for Curriculum and Programs at Northeastern University, effective July 1, 2019. In his new role, Tom will oversee academic program development,...
PROTECT Participates in Environmental Justice Panel at CitSci2019
PROTECT Community Engagement Core Co-Leader Dr. Carmen Vélez Vega was a featured panelist on the Environmental Justice special panel at CitSci2019, held on March 15, 2019, in Raleigh, NC. The panel, “Environmental Justice and Community Science: A Social Movement for...
Trainee Spotlight: Elana Elkin
Elana Elkin is a PhD candidate from the University of Michigan working in the discipline of Toxicology under the mentorship of Project 2 Investigator Rita Loch-Caruso. Her dissertation is focused on her research as a PROTECT Trainee and is titled, First-Trimester...
PROTECT Project 2 Researchers receive awards, recognition, and praise at the Society of Toxicology Annual Meeting 2019
From Saturday, March 9th to Thursday March 14th, PROTECT researchers attended the 58th Annual Society of Toxicology Meeting in Baltimore, Maryland. The Annual SOT Meeting has a global presence, consisting of “…members from 60+ countries and is dedicated to enhancing...
PROTECT Report Back Team hosts community meeting with study participants in Arecibo, Puerto Rico
On the afternoon of Saturday, March 23rd, the PROTECT Community Engagement Core spent the afternoon celebrating and hosting a Report Back session with participants at the Clinical Laboratory Toledo in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. This activity was organized as a part of our...
Trainee Spotlight: Kaleigh McAlaine
Kaleigh McAlaine is a fourth year Environmental Engineering student with a minor in Marine Biology at Northeastern University, and recently completed her co-op with ROUTES in December 2018. During her co-op, Kaleigh worked under the mentorship of ROUTES & PROTECT...
March Webinar: Dr. Leo Trasande, “Sicker Fatter Poorer: The Urgent Threat of Hormone-Disrupting Chemicals to Our Health and Future”
March Webinar: Sicker Fatter Poorer: The Urgent Threat of Hormone-Disrupting Chemicals to Our Health and Future ... and What We Can Do About It, A Conversation with Author and Leader in Children's Environmental Health, Dr. Leo Trasande On Monday, March 11th from...
Data Core Leader Dave Kaeli Presents on PROTECT Database for EarthSoft Office Hours
On Thursday, January 24th, Data Management and Modeling Core Leader Dave Kaeli returned to EarthSoft’s Office Hours to present an update on PROTECT’s use of EarthSoft’s EQuIS software for database management. Since 2010, PROTECT and EarthSoft have collaborated on the...
PROTECT and Silent Spring Institute’s Report Back App deemed a model for future research at the PEPH Conference
On Thursday, December 13th, the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) hosted a two-day conference for the Partnerships for Environmental Public Health (PEPH) Annual Meeting, where various environmental health science professionals came together...
Trainee Spotlight: Morgan Hines
Morgan Hines is a 5th year Biology & English Student from Louisville, Kentucky and a member of both the University Scholars & Honors Programs. Morgan’s first position as a ROUTES scholar was within the Speech and Neurodevelopment Lab (SNL) of Dr. Emily...
Project 5’s Long Chen Promoted to Associate Research Scientist
On December 1st, 2018, PROTECT Project 5’s Long Chen was promoted to Associate Research Scientist. After working under the leadership of Akram Alshawabkeh as a Post Doc since early December 2017, Long’s work ethic, leadership abilities, and accomplishments continue to...
PROTECT Team Participates in 2018 Superfund Research Program Annual Meeting
PROTECT researchers, trainees, and administrators traveled to Sacramento, CA, in late November to participate in the 2018 Annual Superfund Research Program meeting. The theme for this year’s meeting, which was held November 28-30th, was “The Next Generation of...
PROTECT Project 4 Trainees Autum Downey & Jill Riddell Present at the Geological Society of America 130th Annual Meeting
PROTECT Project 4 team members recently presented study findings that organic carbon concentration in cave sediments can be used as tracer of input from Hurricane Maria and other Natural Disasters at a recent geological researcher’s conference in Indianapolis,...
Kelly Ferguson, Former PROTECT Trainee, Wins NIEHS Mentor of the Year
PROTECT Collaborator and former trainee Dr. Kelly Ferguson recently won the 2018 NIEHS Mentor of the Year Award. Presented by the NIEHS Trainees Assembly (NTA), this award aims to honor an NIEHS scientist who has used training to support NIEHS fellows and trainees...
PROTECT Researchers evaluate Hurricane Maria’s Impact and suggest a ‘Visionary Rebuilding’ plan for Government Institutions
The impact of Hurricanes Irma and Maria on the island is massive, with over a thousand lives lost and over $90 billion dollars in damage, part of which decimated the electric grid and 80% of the agricultural sector. Many Puerto Ricans were left homeless and a total of...
PROTECT and University of Kentucky SRC Collaborative Study on Water Remediation
At the 2016 Annual Superfund Research Program Meeting, researchers from PROTECT and the University of Kentucky SRC discovered their respective research on water remediation overlapped in interesting and potentially significant ways. PROTECT’s Project 5 developed a...
Exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) among pregnant women may contribute to adverse birth outcomes
Pregnant women and their fetuses represent susceptible populations to environmental contaminants. Exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) among pregnant women may contribute to adverse birth outcomes such as preterm birth. This study assessed longitudinal...
PROTECT Welcomes the 2018 Class of Student Researchers at Trainee Orientation
On Monday, September 17th, the PROTECT team kicked off the 2018-2019 academic year with the annual Trainee Orientation and Welcome. This multi-institutional meeting hosted by the Training Core is held every fall as a means of introducing new student trainees to...
PROTECT Study shows widespread presence of phthalates from multiple sources in karst aquifers in Puerto Rico
Phthalates are widely used in many consumer products; DEHP is the most frequently used plasticizer in the market. Their extensive use results in spatially-widespread sources that are difficult to identify. Their presence in groundwater is related to land use patterns...
PROTECT and Silent Spring Institute Inaugurate a Mobile App to Provide PROTECT Participants their Research Results
On October 15, 2018, the PROTECT Human Subjects and Sampling Core (HSSC) and the Community Engagement Core (CEC) guided the first group of PROTECT participants in the process of accessing the results and information from their participation in the study. Dr. Carmen M....
Elevated Levels of Triclocarban Associated with Soap Use in Puerto Rico
Recent analysis from the CRECE Center, which draws on the PROTECT cohort to study effects of in-utero exposure on child development, reveals strong correlations between the use of specific bar soap brands and urinary triclocarban levels. Triclocarban has historically...
PROTECT Project 5 Continues Partnership with e.THROUGH Project: Welcoming Professor Juan Manuel Paz, Celebrating the Research of Eduardo Mateus & Alexandra Ribeiro
Juan Manuel Paz is Assistant Professor at the University of Malaga (UMA), Spain. He obtained his PhD at the Technical University of Denmark and performed postdoctoral research in different institutions in Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden. He also was research...
How important are subsurface sediments to the overall function of karst aquifers?
All aquifers contain a “matrix” – the solid component through which the water flows – but karst aquifers also contain sediments that can move dynamically between mobile (readily transported) and stationary (stored) pools. Both pools of sediments can influence...
November Webinar: Tracey Woodruff, “Without Consent: Chemical Exposures and Our Health”
On Monday, November 26th from 1:00 - 2:00pm EST, PROTECT will host the first webinar of the 2018-2019 academic schedule. This webinar will feature Tracey Woodruff, a recognized expert on environmental pollution exposures during pregnancy and effects on prenatal and...
Welton granted NIEHS Award to Study Impacts of Traumatic Experiences & Prolonged Recovery due to Hurricane Maria on Preterm Birth Outcomes
Michael Welton is Post-Doctoral Research Fellow & Teaching Associate in the College of Public Health at University of Georgia. Welton works with the Human Subjects & Sampling Core within PROTECT as well as the Human Subjects Core in CRECE, and has been working...
PROTECT Welcomes New Team Members, and Celebrates our Recent Departures’ Contributions & Future
PROTECT welcomes Patrick Compton, a new PhD student at Northeastern University studying Civil Engineering with a concentration in Environmental and Water Systems. Patrick graduated from the Air Force Academy in 2013 with a BS in Environmental Engineering and spent...
One Year Later, PROTECT and CRECE Researchers Investigate the Health Impacts of Hurricane Maria
One year ago, on September 20th, 2017, Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico as a Category 4 hurricane and proceeded cross the island from the southeast to the northwest, leaving devastation in its wake. In the weeks and months that followed, PROTECT and CRECE...
PROTECT Project 4 Leader Ingrid Padilla to Participate in International Karst Research Project
PROTECT Project 4 leader Dr. Ingrid Padilla is collaborating in a new international research project, financed by the German Science Foundation, to assess the effect of climate change and extreme events on infiltration, recharge, and availability of water resources in...
PROTECT Center Holds Research Staff Team Meeting in San Juan, Puerto Rico
The Protect Center held an extended meeting in San Juan where our Research Team, Human Subjects & Sampling Core, as well as key members of the Executive Committee had a chance to present and discuss what they are working on and go over our current research...
PROTECT Presents at the 2018 International Conference on Children’s Health and the Environment, at the National University of Seoul
PROTECT researchers Dr. Carmen M. Vélez Vega and Zaira Rosario presented in the 2018 International Conference on Children’s Health and the Environment, better known as INCHES 2018. Dr. Vélez Vega presented on the work of PROTECT’s Community Engagement Core, while...
PROTECT Trainee Norma Torres Featured in SRP Newsletter
The July Edition of the SRP Newsletter “Trainee Spotlight” features PROTECT Project 4 trainee Norma Torres, highlighting her work with Dr. Ingrid Padilla on contaminant distribution in karst aquifers. Norma has been with PROTECT since 2011, during which time she has...
Cave Sediments & Hurricanes: Digging into the Past
Puerto Rico is finally starting to recover from Hurricane Maria, but the huge storm may continue to influence the cave and karst systems for generations. A group of PROTECT researchers met in Puerto Rico in July to collect sediment samples from a cave and spring to...
PROTECT Researcher Dorothy Vesper Elected as GSA Fellow
In May 2018, PROTECT Project 4 researcher Dorothy Vesper was elected as a Geological Society of America Fellow. New GSA Fellows are nominated by existing Fellows in recognition of their contributions to the field of geoscience, and are elected during the spring GSA...
PROTECT Team Members Attend the 15th “Sinkholes Meeting”
Current and past members of PROTECT attended the 15th “Sinkholes Meeting” (15th Multidisciplinary Conference on Sinkholes and the Engineering and Environmental Impacts of Karst) in Shephardstown, WV, during April 2018. The Sinkholes Meeting is one of the oldest...
PROTECT Welcomes Eduardo Mateus & Alexandra Ribeiro to the Team
We are delighted to welcome Professors Eduardo Mateus and Alexandra Ribeiro as visiting scholars from the Center for Environmental and Sustainability Research (CENSE), Faculty of Science and Technology, NOVA University of Lisbon (FCT NOVA) in Portugal. They will be...
Trichloroethylene metabolite S-(1,2-dichlorovinyl)-L-cysteine (DCVC) stimulates premature death in cell critical to placental development during the first-trimester of pregnancy
Today’s trainee spotlight was written by Elana Elkin on the publication “Trichloroethylene metabolite S-(1,2-dichlorovinyl)-L-cysteine induces lipid peroxidation-associated apoptosis via the intrinsic and extrinsic apoptosis pathways in a first-trimester placental cell...
PROTECT Trainee Stephanie Eick Receives KC Donnelly Externship
Stephanie Eick, PROTECT trainee at the University of Georgia, has been honored with a K.C. Donnelly Externship Award Supplement, which provides funding to Superfund Research Program trainees to expand their research experience at another institution. Eick will spend...
PROTECT Investigators Improve Electrochemical Production of Hydrogen Peroxide for Groundwater Treatment
A recent study conducted by PROTECT’s Project 5 developed a cost-effective and simple approach to improving the electrochemical production of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), which is crucial for the treatment of contaminated groundwater. The study, published by...
Watkins Receives NIEHS Award to Study Impacts of Hurricane-related Exposure and Stress on Pregnancy Outcomes and Child Development in Puerto Rico
Dr. Deborah Watkins, a researcher for both PROTECT’s Project 1 and CRECE’s Project 3, has been awarded a grant by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) to study the impacts Hurricane Maria has had on pregnant women, pregnancy outcomes, and...
Phenols and Parabens Affect Thyroid Hormones in Pregnant Women
The "Trainee Publication Spotlight Series" aims to provide PROTECT trainees with opportunities to practice translating their research in a manner that would be understandable to non-scientific laypeople. Today's trainee spotlight was written by Amira M. Aker on the...
Spatiotemporal assessment of CVOC contamination in karst groundwater sources and exposure at tap water point of use in Puerto Rico
The "Trainee Publication Spotlight Series" aims to provide PROTECT trainees with opportunities to practice translating their research in a manner that would be understandable to non-scientific laypeople. Today's trainee spotlight was written by Norma I. Torres on the...
PROTECT Trainee Norma Torres Awarded Ford Fellowship
Norma I. Torres, PROTECT trainee at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez, has been selected to receive the Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship, which aims to increase diversity in U.S. higher education faculty. The year-long fellowship is administered by the...
PROTECT Welcomes Hyldegaard, Guedes, and Corley to the Team
We are pleased to welcome several new team members: Bente Hyldegaard and Paula Guedes, who will be working in the PROTECT lab as visiting scholars, and Sarah Corley, who will be working with our centers as a Public Health Specialist. Read on to learn more about each...
Project 5 Team Members Participate in MIT Water Night
On Thursday, March 22nd, PROTECT Project 5 team members participated in MIT Water Night, an event hosted annually by MIT Water Club. Each year, this event brings together researchers and industry professionals in the Boston area and provides them with a platform to...
PROTECT Center Holds Annual Retreat in Atlanta, GA
On March 2nd and 3rd, 2018, 42 PROTECT researchers, trainees, administrators, advisers, colleagues, and guests from across mainland U.S. and Puerto Rico gathered in Atlanta, Georgia for the Center’s Annual Retreat.This year’s retreat was slightly out of the ordinary...
May Webinar: Ivan Rusyn, “Exploring the characterization of human variability with in vivo and in vitro experimental models”
On Monday, May 21st from 12:00 - 1:00pm EST, PROTECT will host the fourth webinar of the 2017-2018 academic schedule. This webinar will feature Ivan Rusyn, Professor in the Department of Veterinary Integrative Biosciences in the College of Veterinary Medicine &...
US Chamber of Commerce Foundation Delegates Visit PROTECT and CRECE in Puerto Rico
On January 23rd and 24th, 2018, 16 delegates from the US Chamber of Commerce Foundation visited the PROTECT and CRECE teams in Puerto Rico with purposes of promoting humanitarian aid. The delegation was composed of corporate representation from companies such as IBM,...
February Webinar: Fabienne Petit, “Assessment of Antibiotic-Resistant Escherichia Coli in Karst Hydrosystems”
On Monday, February 5th, PROTECT hosted the third webinar of the 2017-2018 academic schedule. This webinar featured Fabienne Petit, Professor of Microbiology at the University of Rouen since 2000, who spoke on “Assessment of Antibiotic-Resistant Escherichia Coli in...
Former ROUTES Scholar, Gregor, Publishes with Project 5 of PROTECT
On September 7th, 2017, Karst Groundwater Contamination and Public Health published a study by former ROUTES Scholar Savannah Gregor, former PROTECT Trainee Noushin Fallahpour, PROTECT Associate Research Scientist Ljiljana Rajic, and PROTECT Co-Director Akram...
Congratulations to recent PROTECT graduates: Nazari, Kalhor, and Wurth!
PROTECT trainees--Roya Nazari, Koosha Kalhor, and Reneé Wurth--recently graduated from their respective programs. We would like to congratulate them on their accomplishments, thank them for their service in PROTECT, and wish them well in the next step in their...
PROTECT Project 4 Team Members Present at AGU Conference in New Orleans
PROTECT Project 4 Leader Dr. Ingrid Padilla and several of her student trainees attended and presented at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Annual Conference that was held in New Orleans, Louisiana from December 11th-15th, 2017. The AGU works to bring together “a...
Rovira, Former ROUTES Scholar, Discusses PROTECT Co-Op Experience in News@Northeastern
On December 12th, 2017, News@Northeastern featured the article “Co-op in Puerto Rico Expands Student’s Interest in Environmental Health,” which detailed the ROUTES experience of former scholar Alejandro Rovira, who worked with PROTECT and CRECE throughout his co-op....
PROTECT Team Comes Together for Executive Meeting in Philadelphia
On December 8th and 9th, 2017, PROTECT team leaders from around the U.S. and Puerto Rico came together for an executive committee at the Residence Inn Marriott Hotel in Philadelphia, PA to discuss progress, data integration and plans. The first day of the meeting...
PROTECT Participates in and Supports Planning of 30th NIEHS SRP Meeting
PROTECT team members from all of the Center's partner institutions attended the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Superfund Research Program (SRP) 30th Annual Meeting held from December 6th through 8th, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The...
Padilla Presents PROTECT Research at International Society of Exposure Science Conference
From October 17-20, 2017, Dr. Ingrid Padilla, PROTECT Project 4 Leader, attended the 27th Annual Conference of the International Society of Exposure Science (ISES), where she presented on the “Influence of Hydrogeological Factors on Exposure to Emerging Contaminant in...
Two months after Irma and Maria, PROTECT & CRECE Continue Efforts to Support the Community in Puerto Rico
In order to give readers a full-perspective on the work PROTECT has been completing in Puerto Rico since the hurricanes, this article provides updates to a piece posted on this site on October 19th, 2017. Since Hurricanes Irma and Maria hit Puerto Rico in late...
PROTECT Participates in European Horizon 2020 Program
PROTECT will be one of two US institutions that will have a major role in an international multi-institution network that received a 4-year European Horizon 2020 grant. The network will collaborate on a project titled “Thinking Rough Towards Sustainability”...
Trainees: Apply to William L. Wilson Scholarship in Karst Science Scholarship by February 1st
The William L. Wilson Scholarship in Karst Science was established in 2002 to recognize the significant karst science contributions of the late William (Bill) L. Wilson. Bill Wilson used a variety of techniques, and unusual creativity, to tackle some of the most...
2017 Winners Selected for PROTECT Trainee Individual Development Plan Awards
Congratulations to our 2017 PROTECT Trainee Individual Development Plan (IDP) Award winners for their successful efforts in enhancing their extracurricular experiences and increasing their professional skills. Winners will be provided with a $1,500 stipend to be used...
Nature features Cordero and Padilla for PROTECT Research Efforts in Puerto Rico Post-Maria
PROTECT and CRECE Co-Director José Cordero and PROTECT Project 4 Leader Ingrid Padilla were featured in the November 16, 2017, issue of Nature describing Puerto Rico’s struggles to assess the hurricane’s health effects. The article reports on PROTECT’s...
December Webinar: Justin Manjourides, “Environmental epidemiology in the era of big data”
On Friday, December 1st, PROTECT hosted the second webinar of the 2017-2018 academic schedule. This webinar featured Justin Manjourides, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Sciences and Co-Director of the Biostatistics Service Center at Northeastern...
Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health Links Pollution to Nine Million Premature Deaths in 2015
On October 19th, 2017, the Lancet Commission released a report on pollution and health said by NIEHS Hazardous Substances Branch Chief Bill Suk, Ph.D., to be “the first analysis to report the impacts of all kinds of pollution in all parts of the world, both health and...
March of Dimes 2017 Report Card Shows National Preterm Birth Rate Worsening for Second Year in a Row
On November 1st, the March of Dimes kicked off Prematurity Awareness Month by releasing their ninth annual Premature Birth Report Card for the US and Puerto Rico. Unfortunately, this year’s report did not bear good news; for the second year in a row, the national...
Ferguson, Former PROTECT Trainee, Highlighted as Rising Environmental Health Leader
PROTECT collaborator and former trainee, Dr. Kelly Ferguson, was recognized as one of “20 Pioneers Under 40 in Environmental Public Health” list. This list was released on Sept. 14 by the Collaborative on Health and the Environment (CHE). Kelly was also featured...
Lin and Rajic Present at AEHS Conference
PROTECT Project 5 researchers and trainees presented at the 33rd Annual International Conference on Soils, Sediments, Water, and Energy held on October 16 to 19th, 2017, in Amherst, Massachusetts. This national conference was organized by the Association for...
PROTECT & CRECE Provide Community Support for Puerto Rico Following Devastation Caused by Hurricanes Irma & Maria
Since Hurricanes Irma and Maria hit Puerto Rico in late September, the PROTECT and CRECE Centers have been very active in the recovery--collaborating with other groups to ensure the safety and welfare of team members, study participants, community health center...
Puerto Rico Works to Recover from Impact of Hurricanes Maria and Irma
On September 20th, 2017, Hurricane Maria, a Category 4 storm, made landfall in Puerto Rico, nearly immediately rendering the island’s power grid, cellphone towers, and even its banking system inoperable. Puerto Rico’s director of safety and public protection, Héctor...
Cordero Receives APHA’s 2017 Sedgwick Memorial Medal
PROTECT is excited to report that Dr. José F. Cordero, PROTECT Co-Director, was selected by The American Public Health Association (APHA) to receive the 2017 Sedgwick Memorial Medal for Distinguished Service in Public Health in recognition of his public health...
PROTECT Researchers Present at SRP-organized American Chemical Society Symposium
On August 23rd, PROTECT researchers Roger Giese, Yishan Lin, and Ljiljana Rajic, presented at the SRP-organized American Chemical Society symposium “Economic impact of environmental health research: A case study of the NIH/NIEHS Superfund Research Program.” The...
November Webinar: Chirag Patel, “Building a search engine to identify environmental exposures in disease and phenotypes”
On Monday, November 6th, PROTECT hosted the first webinar of the 2017-2018 academic schedule. This webinar featured Chirag Patel, PhD, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Informatics at Harvard Medical School, who spoke on “Building a search engine to identify...
Brown featured in NIEHS “Grantee Highlights” Archive for work with PROTECT
A National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) post titled, “Understanding Community Awareness and Actions on Environmental Health Issues,” highlights the work of Dr. Phil Brown, director of the Research Translation Core (RTC) and co-director of the...
Brown Leads Conference on Exposure and Health Issues Raised by PFASs
On June 14th and 15th, 2017, Dr. Phil Brown, director of the Community Engagement Core (CEC) and the Research Translation Core (RTC) for PROTECT and co-director of the Community Outreach and Translation Core (COTC) of CRECE, took part in leading a conference titled...
Padilla, Project 4 Leader, Presents at the University of Rouen, France
From May 14th-27th, 2017, Dr. Ingrid Padilla, leader of PROTECT’s Project 4, was a visiting scholar at the University of Rouen located in Normandy, France. The objective of the visit was to establish collaborative work with leading hydrologists and microbiologists on...
PROTECT Project 5 Researchers Visit West Virginia’s Karst Caves
From June 1st through 4th, 2017, PROTECT Project 5 team members Dr. Dorothy Vesper, Dr. Lily Rajic, Kimberly Hetrick, and Emily Bausher visited karst caves in Monroe County, West Virginia. For this trip, the team had goals of collecting and characterizing sediment...
PROTECT Project 5 Researchers Attend EREM2017
On August 6-8, PROTECT Project 5 trainees and researchers attended the 15th International Symposium on Electrokinetic Remediation (EREM2017) organized by the Department of Building Civil and Environmental Engineering (BCEE) at Concordia University, Montreal, Canada....
PROTECT Trainee Nancy Cardona-Cordero Receives KC Donnelly Externship
Nancy Cardona-Cordero, PROTECT trainee at the University of Puerto Rico, has been honored with a K.C. Donnelly Externship Award Supplement, which provides funding to Superfund Research Program trainees to expand their research experience at another institution....
Project 5 Researchers Mentor Students through Science Club for Girls
On July 24th, 2017, Project 5 researchers Dr. Lily Rajic and PhD student Kimberly Hetrick began a weeklong mentoring service for the girls summer program “Young Leaders in STEM” organized by Science Club for Girls’ (SCFG). The program serves girls from grades 8-12 and...
Project 5 Hosts Local High School Students through Young Scholars Program
This summer, two local high school seniors, Teppei (Cody) Kotake of Newton North High School and Robert Rampanis of Norwell High School, participated in PROTECT Project 5 research as part of the Young Scholars Program (YSP) organized by Northeastern...
Berroa, Gregor, and Elbakri–Former ROUTES Scholars–Publish with Project 5 of PROTECT Center
On June 12th, 2017, the International Journal of Electrochemical Science published a study by former ROUTES Scholars David Berroa, Savannah Gregor, and Sarah Elbakri on nitrate removal from aqueous solution via electrochemical processes as well as the feasibility of...
National Pre-Term Birth Rates Rising
In late June of 2016, the National Center for Health Statistics released provisional birth data showing that U.S. preterm birth rates rose 2 percent in 2016, from 9.63 to 9.84 percent of all pregnancies. This is the second year in a row that national preterm birth...
PROTECT and CRECE Team Members Present at Ibero-American Conference of Health-Promoting Universities in Spain
From June 26th to 30th, 2017, PROTECT and CRECE Team members Carmen Vélez-Vega, Hector Torres, and Colleen Murphy attended the 8th Ibero-American Conference of Health-Promoting Universities where they presented on four different posters. Covered in the team members’...
Vélez-Vega featured in NIEHS “Grantee Highlights” Archive for work with PROTECT
A National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) post titled, “Establishing Partnerships to Address Environmental Health Concerns for Pregnant Women and Children in Puerto Rico,” highlights the work of Carmen Vélez-Vega, Co-Leader of PROTECT’s Community...
PROTECT Executive Committee Joins for a Retreat in Boston
On June 12th and 13th, 2017, PROTECT team leaders from around the U.S. and Puerto Rico came together for a mini-retreat on the Northeastern University campus in Boston to discuss progress, integration and plans. On the first day, each executive committee member...
PROTECT Team Improves Modeling of Regional Groundwater Flow in Puerto Rico Using Drainage Features
A recent publication by the PROTECT Team revealed interesting findings on how drainage features impact groundwater flow in karst aquifers in Northern Puerto Rico. In karst terrains, subsurface conduit networks with unknown characteristics, and surface features (such...
Project 2 Leader Loch-Caruso Cited in News Article Discussing EPA Review of 1,4-Dioxane and other Chemicals
On March 28, 2017, the University of Michigan hosted a panel of distinguished speakers who provided expert perspectives about changes made to the federal Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). They discussed the recent amendment to the law, The Frank R. Lautenberg...
Northeast SRP Centers Meet at Northeastern University
On Tuesday, April 4th and Wednesday, April 5th, PROTECT hosted the annual Northeast Superfund Research Program (SRP) Meeting at Northeastern University. This event was co-sponsored by the Boston University SRP, the Brown University SRP, the Columbia University SRP,...
NIEHS Director Joins PROTECT and CRECE in Puerto Rico for Community Environmental Health Forum
In late March of 2017, the Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), Dr. Linda Birnbaum, visited Puerto Rico to participate in a community forum on environmental health issues which was held in San Juan. On the evening before the...
April Webinar: Dr. Kelly Bakulski, “Environmental epigenetics in early life: The placenta and beyond”
On Monday, April 10th at 1:00pm EST, PROTECT hosted the fifth webinar of the 2016-2017 academic schedule. The webinar was presented by Dr. Kelly Bakulski, Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Michigan School of Public...
Visiting Scholar Wei Zhou Wins Second Place Prize for Poster Presented at MIT Water Night
On March 22nd, 2017, PROTECT Visiting Scholar Wei Zhou was awarded a second place prize for a poster he presented at MIT Water Night, an event hosted annually by MIT Water Club. Each year, this event brings together researchers and industry professionals in the Boston...
Alshawabkeh Co-Authors Op-ed Urging Legislators to Increase SRP Funding
On March 14th, 2017, The Hill, an American political journalism newspaper and website published in Washington, D.C., posted the Op-ed, “Reagan's Superfund research must get back to Bush II funding levels” written by Akram Alshawabkeh, PROTECT Co-Director, along with...
PROTECT Trainee Kimberly Hetrick Receives KWI Wilson Fellowship
Kimberly Hetrick of PROTECT’s Project 5 has been selected to receive this year’s William L. Wilson Fellowship from the Karst Waters Institute (KWI). The award comes with a $1000 honorarium as well as a personalized plaque. The honorarium and plaque were presented on...
Trainee Elkin Presents on Award Winning Poster for NIEHS SRP Webinar
On March 27th, PROTECT Project 2 Trainee Elana Elkin presented in a webinar hosted by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Superfund Research Program (SRP). The webinar was a part of an annual series which works to highlight the exceptional...
PROTECT and CRECE Centers Hold Joint Retreat in Puerto Rico
On February 17th and 18th, 2017, over 75 PROTECT and CRECE researchers, trainees, administrators, advisers, colleagues, and guests from across mainland U.S. and Puerto Rico gathered in San Juan, Puerto Rico for the PROTECT/CRECE Annual Retreat. The event was held at...
PROTECT and CRECE Honor Community Health Centers at Annual Retreat
As part of the 2017 Annual Retreat, PROTECT and CRECE held a ceremony to honor the Federally Qualified Community Health Centers and other community partners that have been instrumental in advancing both centers’ work in Puerto Rico. The ceremony, which was held on...
February Webinar: Dr. Lisa Jacobson, “ECHO-wide Cohort Data – Perspectives from the Data Analysis Center”
On Monday, February 6th at 1:00pm EST, PROTECT hosted the fourth webinar of the 2016-2017 academic schedule. The webinar was presented by Dr. Lisa P. Jacobson, Professor of Epidemiology in the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University. The title of...
2017 Check-In: PROTECT Continues Successful Community Engagement in Puerto Rico
Since the center’s inception in 2010, PROTECT has strived to establish partnerships in Puerto Rico with study participants, the community, and the March of Dimes – networks of connection forged in an effort to positively influence the health of the community....