UK-SBRP Receives $10 Million NIH Grant

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded a grant of $10 million to the University of Kentucky to study the the relationships among environmental pollutants, nutrition, and disease. Entitled "Nutrition and Superfund Chemical Toxicity", this grant supports the efforts of more than 50 scientists and students representing four colleges and more than 15 academic departments.

The Superfund Basic Research Program (SBRP) grant is funded through the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), an institute of the NIH. The University of Kentucky was one of only two programs selected for funding from among 18 competing grants nationally.

University of Kentucky SBRP (UK-SBRP) research efforts focus on the idea that nutrition can positively impact the effects on humans of chemical exposures near Superfund sites, thus improving health and disease outcomes associated with such exposures. Kentucky Water Resources Research Institute personnel function as the UK-SBRP's Research Translation Core (RTC) and are charged with effectively communicating research outcomes to a number of constituencies, including government officials, academics, industry, and the general public. KWRRI Director Dr. Lindell Ormsbee serves as RTC Core Leader and as co-leader of the Community Outreach Core.

UK-SBRP biomedical projects focus on such common diseases in Kentucky as cardiovascular disease, cancer metastasis, obesity, and hypertension. Since pollutant compounds dissolve in fat, fatty foods usually contain higher levels of persistent organics, such as PCBs, than do vegetable matter. Once absorbed, PCBs distribute themselves to body tissues. UK-SBRP researchers believe that nutritional choices can reduce oxidative stress and improve antioxidant status, thus mitigating the effects on humans of Superfund pollutants. Nonbiomedical projects seek techniques to detect Superfund chemicals and to minimize or remove them from the environment.

Studies currently are underway to investigate the specific ways in which chlorinated organic compounds adversely affect health. Additional studies explore new methods of detecting and removing these pollutants from the environment. This interdisciplinary research is being conducted by scientists and departments within the University of Kentucky's College of Health Sciences, College of Engineering, College of Arts and Sciences, and College of Agriculture.

Kentucky has approximately 150 Superfund sites and 13 National Priority List sites. In addition to its research, outreach, and translation activities, the UK-SBRP Training Core provides support and experience for graduate and postdoctoral scholars working in fields related to chemical toxicity and environmental pollutants.

For more information on the University of Kentucky Superfund Basic Research Program, contact Anna Hoover or Stephanie Jenkins with UK-SBRP Research Translation Core at 859-257-1299.