EPA recently announced that their Science To Achieve Results (STAR) Program will award a new Research Center directed by Jan-Åke Gustafsson at the Center for Nuclear Receptors and Cell Signaling, University of Houston.  The Texas Indiana Virtual Star Center (TIVS Center) is funded about $3.2M to study developmental toxicity in a three year program. The Gustafsson group partners with the research groups of Richard H. Finnell at Texas A&M and James A. Glazier at the University of Indiana.

The primary aim of the program is to contribute to a more reliable chemical risk assessment that will provide clues to how certain chemicals affect human health. Specifically, models of murine embryonic stem cells and zebra fish for developmental toxicity will be generated. The data produced from these models will be further exploited to produce predictive computer models for developmental toxicity on processes that are relevant also for human embryonic development.

At CNRCS, researchers will expose zebra fish embryos to a battery of potentially harmful toxicants and record the effects on early developmental endpoints, such as neurogenesis, angiogenesis and somitogenesis. With the new models simultaneous exposure to dozens of chemicals can be tested in a high trough put fashion.

For more information see
Link to UH news
http://uh.edu/news-events/stories/2009articles/august2009/08122009epa-gustafsson.php

Link to kuhf Houston public radio
http://app1.kuhf.org/houston_public_radio-news-display.php?articles_id=1250287097

EPA/ NCER STAR research grant establishing TIVS
http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncer_abstracts/index.cfm/fuseaction/display.abstractDetail/abstract/9021/report/0

Interview with The Houston Chronicle
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/hotstories/6592826.html