# Impacts of Benzo[a]pyrene on Microbiome Development across Lifespan and Generations and the Behavioral Consequences

> **NIH NIH R01** · OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY · 2022 · $62,339

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
This supplement grant application aims to support the professional development of a Black, female, veteran
graduate student who is pursuing a career as a toxicology research scientist. To accomplish this goal, the
candidate’s co-mentors – Dr. Thomas Sharpton and Dr. Robyn Tanguay – have worked with the candidate to
develop a research, training, and mentorship plan that will ensure the candidate’s professional success. This
plan includes an extensive interdisciplinary training program that incorporates both didactic and experiential
learning modalities, as well as a personalized, intimate, and supportive mentorship program. Additionally, the
plan includes an interdisciplinary and cutting-edge research project that will help the candidate catapult their
career forward. In particular, the candidate will conduct research that extends the R01 parent award into
complimentary, but new areas. Briefly, the parent award focuses on defining how early life exposure to
pollutants impacts assembly of the gut microbiome to impair behavior development, and focuses specifically on
benzo[a]pyrene as a model pollutant. As part of this supplement grant, the candidate will apply the tools and
technologies developed under the parent award to investigate a specific class of environmental chemicals of
concern, namely a diverse array of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that have been shown to impair
behavior development in vertebrates. In so doing, the candidate will resolve how embryonic exposure to
various PFAS impacts gut microbiome assembly and whether these alterations to the gut microbiome mediate
how PFAS impair behavior. As a result, the candidate will obtain interdisciplinary experience in an emerging
area of toxicology, especially with respect to bioinformatic and data science approaches, and will clarify
potential mechanisms through which PFAS elicit their effect on vertebrate behavior. In total, the proposed plan
will equip a passionate junior scientist from an underrepresented community to thrive in the competitive
research landscape.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10544462
- **Project number:** 3R01ES030226-04S1
- **Recipient organization:** OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Thomas Jefferson Sharpton
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $62,339
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2019-02-01 → 2024-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10544462

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10544462, Impacts of Benzo[a]pyrene on Microbiome Development across Lifespan and Generations and the Behavioral Consequences (3R01ES030226-04S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-12 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10544462. Licensed CC0.

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