Environmental Neuroscience Advancing the Understanding of How Chemical Exposures Impact Brain Health and Disease: Proceedings of a Workshop (2020) / Chapter Skim
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5 Research Gaps and Opportunities
5 Research Gaps and Opportunities
Pages 39-48
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From page 39... ...
. • Data on biological processes in the context of adverse out comes are essential to show their relevance to disease, mor bidity, and mortality, and support decision making based on data; furthermore, this predictive toxicology approach can enable agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency to bridge data gaps and make risk assessments in a chemically agnostic way (Barone)
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From page 40... ...
. • New animal models more relevant to the human experience and novel ways of using existing animal models are needed to identify factors and exposures that drive disease progression, therapeutic targets, and biomarkers (Cory-Slechta, Greena myre, Payne-Sturges)
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From page 41... ...
Important unanswered questions regarding environmental exposures in human populations include identifying subpopulations at risk, their vulnerability at different points across the life span, and how genetic and environmental factors may be working together, said Jason Richardson. For example, in exploring the effects of air pollution in animal models, Deborah Cory-Slechta said her lab has begun to focus on specific developmental periods as opposed to lifetime or cross-developmental windows of exposures.
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From page 42... ...
Stanley Barone, deputy director of the risk assessment division of the Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics in the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention at EPA, agreed that putting data on biological processes such as proliferation, migration, differentiation, apoptosis, myelination, and synaptic plasticity into the context of adverse outcomes is essential to show their relevance to disease, morbidity, and mortality and support decision making based on data. He said this predictive toxicology approach can enable agencies such as EPA to bridge data gaps and make risk assessments in a chemically agnostic way.
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From page 43... ...
Future studies of exposure effects should also examine associations with the accumulation of biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease, including imaging biomarkers, he added. STANDARDIZED DATA COLLECTION National chemical, pesticide, and potential toxicant exposure data collected using standardized methods and driven by legislative efforts impermeable to change in leadership are essential, said Allison Willis, associate professor of neurology and epidemiology in the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine.
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From page 44... ...
NEW TOOLS ARE ADVANCING ENVIRONMENTAL NEUROSCIENCE The environmental health science community is developing sophisticated tools to study the exposome and the totality of exposures over the course of a lifetime, said Richard Woychik. Meanwhile, neuroscientists bring to the table powerful imaging tools and other technologies and experimental approaches for studying neurodevelopment and function, and genome scientists bring new sequencing tools and genome analysis capabilities to better understand the complex traits involved in susceptibility to environmental exposure, he said.
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From page 45... ...
He noted that initiating factors and factors that drive disease progression may be different; thus biomarkers and therapeutic targets may also differ across the continuum of the disease. • Animal models more relevant to humans: Payne-Sturges added that animal models are needed that are more relevant to the human experience, particularly with regard to social stressor exposures.
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From page 46... ...
POPULATION AND REAL-WORLD STUDIES Population-based cohorts from broad geographic regions with phenotypic and omics data are needed to advance understanding of the relationship between environmental exposures and human diseases, said Eva Feldman. Carl Hill, vice president of scientific engagement at the Alzheimer's Association, suggested that these studies could also be used to explore what environmental factors are most important for which disproportionately affected populations, and why; for example, the role of cognitive reserve and resilience in resisting the effects of environmental toxicants.
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From page 47... ...
Cindy Lawler, acting chief of the Cellular, Organs, and Systems Pathobiology Branch in the Division of Extramural Research and Training at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, said the institute is currently supporting a study to take advantage of a natural experiment in which China wanted to reduce air pollution in areas surrounding Beijing during the 2008 Olympics. The investigators identified women who were pregnant at the time in four urban districts for which data on the concentrations of various air pollutants were available.
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From page 48... ...
Ritz suggested implementing "pesticidovigilance," mirrored on the concept of "pharmacovigilance," to ensure that regulatory standards are aligned with public policy interests.
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