The Dartmouth Toxic Metals Research Group, an interdisciplinary team of professors, received a $14.5 million renewal grant to support its research on the effects of exposure to arsenic and mercury on human health. The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences granted the award through the Superfund Basic Research Program, a group of university grants directed towards solving problems posed by hazardous waste.
The toxic metals research program is one of the longest-running, continually funded interdisciplinary science projects at the College, according to Monday's press release. Since the program was established in 1995, the NIEHS has awarded the research group a total of $42.8 million, the press release said. The current renewal grant will extend through 2013.
The research group's principal goals include determining the effects of arsenic and mercury on human health and their transport through ecosystems, the press release said. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, arsenic and mercury are the number one and number three most important "chemicals of concern" for global human health, respectively.
The group's projects include studies of mercury bioaccumulation in fish, arsenic bioaccumulation in rice and the reproductive and developmental effects of arsenic and mercury on children born in New Hampshire, according to physiology professor Bruce Stanton, the director of the research program. The latter study examines the effects of dietary mercury and arsenic in private New Hampshire well water on birth outcomes, as well as the role of genetic factors, Stanton said in an e-mail to The Dartmouth.
The research team discovered that arsenic levels in private New Hampshire wells may be unsafe, according to Dartmouth Medical School professor Margaret Karagas, the associate director of the research program.
"Our work began looking to see if low levels of arsenic affected human health," Karagas said. "We found private wells are very prevalent in this area, and that over 10 percent of them have over 10 micrograms per liter, which is the current safe drinking water standard for arsenic. These private wells are not regulated like public or city water supplies would be."
The research program combines theoretical research with practical applications, distinguishing it from similar programs, Nancy Serrell, Dartmouth's director of academic outreach, said in an e-mail to The Dartmouth.
"The program is one of the few that funds basic science research but in the context of an application -- this combines the advantages of discovery science with the practical need to solve a societal problem," Serrell said. "This program is also unusual in funding partnerships between communities and academic partners that are not driven by research goals, such as theory development or data collection. These projects reflect the mutual interests of our researchers and community members."
To facilitate such collaboration, DMS professor Jason Moore is developing a new informatics tool for the team called BioSymphony.
"The goal of BioSymphony is to mine the publications of researchers for keywords that can be used to predict who might benefit from collaboration," Moore said in an email. "The more keywords two investigators share the more likely they are to have something in common. Our plan is to extend this to other Superfund research programs around the country once it is in place here at Dartmouth. The NIEHS is very interested in this project."
The renewal grant will also help fund the training of new scientists at the undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral level, Serrell said. She added that she also hopes to use the funding to make the research group's accessible to policy makers, public health officials and other groups and organizations.
The research group expects to continue its research beyond 2013, Stanton said, and hopes to receive another grant for its future projects.
"That is our ambition," Stanton said. "We have been continuously funded for 14 years and we have a very strong team."
Dean of the Faculty Carol Folt lauded the research group's accomplishments.
"The longevity and high caliber of Dartmouth's program is noteworthy and represents a true interdisciplinary team effort," Folt said in the press release. "Dartmouth research has informed federal decision makers on matters of mercury in aquatic food webs; group members were influential in making the lead and arsenic laws in New Hampshire more protective of public health, school teachers in New England have been guided in developing projects for K-12 students; and scientists trained in the program have won awards and advanced into leadership positions."
The Dartmouth Toxic Metals Research Group was founded by the late chemistry professor Karen Wetterhahn, Folt and former DMS professor Josh Hamilton, director of the program from 1997 to 2007 and the current chief academic and scientific officer of the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass.
