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PhD Student Receives NIEHS Award.

December 12, 2018
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Environmental health doctoral student Stephanie Kim has received the Karen Wetterhahn Memorial Award from the Hazardous Substance Basic Research and Training Program, or Superfund Research Program (SRP), of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. The award recognizes an “outstanding SRP graduate student or postdoctoral researcher who exemplifies qualities of scientific excellence.”

Kim received the award at the SRP Annual Meeting on November 29 in Sacramento, Calif.

Kim was recognized for her research exploring how exposure to harmful contaminants impact cellular and molecular processes leading to metabolic disorders.

“When I arrived at the SPH Department of Environmental Health, I was interested in studying toxicology and analyzing big data. I was lucky enough to find interdisciplinary research projects within BU’s SRP that investigated environmental contaminants in New Bedford Harbor and potential human health effects,” says Kim, whose research is part of BU SRP’s Project 3 and Bioinformatics Core. “I believe the SRP model of investigating a research question from different disciplines can help to address complex questions about the role of hazardous contaminants in human disease.”

Kim examines how exposure to various chemicals, including phthalates and organophosphate flame retardants, alter metabolic mechanisms in human cells and in rodents. She is exploring how hazardous chemicals activate a nuclear receptor called peroxisome proliferator activated receptor gamma, which is essential in regulating how fat cells differentiate and function. Through her research, Kim hopes to understand how hazardous chemicals alter important metabolic processes that regulate fat, sugar, and energy balances in the body.

Kim has studied under the mentorship of Associate Professor of Environmental Health Jennifer Schlezinger and Professor of Computational Medicine and Biostatistics Stefano Monti.

“Stephanie is an excellent scholar, dedicated to scientific inquiry and to improving environmental health,” says Schlezinger, who is the project leader. “The results of Stephanie’s work will revolutionize how we think about how exposure to hazardous chemicals contributes to the obesity epidemic and to the increased risk of developing metabolic disease.”

In addition to her lab work, Kim organizes the department’s journal club with fellow doctoral student Julia Bauer, and she also mentors high school students in public health and environmental health as part of BU’s Upward Bound Math and Science Program. After she completes her doctoral program, Kim plans to pursue a fellowship in public health or data science at a governmental agency or an academic institution.

As part of NIEHS, an Institute of the National Institutes of Health, SRP works to learn more about ways to protect the public from exposure to hazardous substances. SRP funds university-based grants on basic biological, environmental, and engineering processes to find practical solutions to exposures to hazardous substances.

—Jillian McKoy

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