TMC PULSE

t m c » p u l s e | j u n e 2 0 1 4 30 Beyond Bench to Bedside texas a&M partners to unlock the mysteries of environmental health through team science Members of the Center for Translational Environmental Health Research (CTEHR) are focused on translating research advances in environmental causes of disease to improve detection, prevention and management of diseases induced or worsened by environmental exposures. (Credit: Texas A&M Health Science Center) B y A l e x O r l a n d o T he environment influences our health in ways that we might not anticipate—through exposures to physical, chemical and biological risk factors and through related changes in our behavior in response to those factors. Globally, nearly one quarter of all deaths and disease can be attributed to the environment. A multidisci- plinary research team led by Cheryl Lyn Walker, Ph.D., with the Texas A&M Health Science Center Institute of Biosciences and Technology (IBT) and College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, along with partners from across Texas A&M and the Texas Medical Center, is committed to altering that staggering statistic. Together, they have created an unprec- edented, cross-institutional initiative known as the Center for Translational Environmental Health Research (CTEHR). "Our number one aim is to pro- vide the Texas Medical Center with a focal point for environmental health research," said Walker, professor and director of the Texas A&M IBT and director of CTEHR. "The medical center has so many incredible, world class research enterprises, but there has never really been a nucleus for those involved in environmental health. We're intent on changing that." Recently named by the National Institute of Health (NIH) as the newest National Center of Excellence in Environmental Health Science, the center will serve as the cornerstone for integrated environmental health research, translation of research advances into practice and community outreach and engagement aimed at improving human health. One of only 21 centers of excellence in the country, CTHER, which includes collaborators from across the Texas A&M University System, Baylor College of Medicine, and the University of Houston, is poised to lead the state and nation in better understanding the effects of the environment on human health. The planning process to secure ini- tial research funding from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) spanned over a year and a half, crossing both institutional silos and town lines, as Walker and others reached out to various research- ers whose work had the potential to significantly impact environmental health. Without exception, everyone they reached out to was eager to declare their interest. "By the time we were ready to sub- mit our grant application, we had over 65 people who wanted to be involved, and those 65 people had over $80 million in independent grant support," said Walker. "When we submitted the application, we actually had to ask some people to wait until we had received funding to come on board. We came in the gate with about 35 mem- bers in our center. Now, we are opening up the doors to everyone; we're excited to be bringing a lot of new members to CTEHR in our first year." In their partic- ular study section round, CTEHR tied for the top score with Harvard's NIEHS Center for Environmental Health, which was founded in 1962. The Center will bring together sci- entists from a wide array of fields, rang- ing from cell and molecular biology to biostatistics and engineering. Working towards a collective goal, the scientists will examine a number of environmen- tal risk factors such as air quality, radia- tion, bacteria and lifestyle choices—diet and exercise, for example—to determine the link to disease in humans through- out the course of their lives. Melissa Bondy, Ph.D., professor in the National Cancer Institute desig- nated Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center at Baylor College of Medicine and associ- ate director of the new center, is intent on advancing environmental research through emphasis on the human microbiome—the bacteria, single-cell organisms and viruses which colonize the body. "For us, this center is a great opportunity because Baylor has been involved in environmental health research, with a major focus on the microbiome, for many years," said Bondy. "To leverage that work collab- oratively, sharing ideas and striving our number one aim is to provide the texas Medical center with a focal point for environmental health research. the medical center has so many incredible, world class research enterprises, but there has never really been a nucleus for those involved in environmental health. we're intent on changing that. — cheryl lyn walKer, Ph.d. professor and director at texas a&M health science center institute of biosciences and technology

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