# Comprehensive tools and models for addressing exposure to mixtures during environmental emergency-related contamination events

> **NIH NIH P42** · TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $1,787,945

## Abstract

Comprehensive tools and models for addressing exposure to mixtures during environmental
emergency-related contamination events
Overall Program Description
Climate change-associated disasters coupled with economic activity and the enhanced vulnerability of already
disadvantaged communities markedly increase risks from catastrophic chemical contamination events resulting
from weather-related or anthropogenic emergencies. The complexities of chemical exposures and their potential
adverse health impacts, the need to rapidly and comprehensively evaluate the potential hazards of exposures
to complex mixtures, and the necessity of protecting vulnerable populations and life-stages call for novel
approaches in the Superfund Research Program. This Center consists of a team of well-established scientists
from biomedical, geosciences, data science, and engineering disciplines who share a common goal: to develop,
apply, and translate a comprehensive set of tools and models that will aid first responders, impacted
communities, and government agencies in characterizing and mitigating the human health consequences of
exposure to hazardous mixtures. These will be applicable for both existing contaminated waste sites and
disaster-related contamination events. Project 1 will develop novel analytical and computational strategies for
exposure assessment of complex mixtures. Project 2 will develop novel tools to rapidly characterize pediatric
respiratory health risks from exposure to hazardous volatile organic compounds after environmental disasters.
Project 3 will develop and use feto-maternal interface tissue chip models for rapid assessment of preterm birth
risks of hazardous substances. Project 4 will continue development of predictive in vitro methods for quantitative
evaluation of the complex mixtures and intra- and inter-individual variability in toxicity. Project 5 is responsive to
the Superfund remediation mandate by using experimental and computational engineering to develop optimized
multi-component sorbents for toxic mixtures. A Disaster Research Response (DR2) Core will be a centralized
resource for environmental sampling and assessment before, during, and after disasters. A Data Management
and Analysis Core will develop computational and statistical tools for analysis and integration of “big data” in
environmental health. A Risk and Geospatial Science Core will provide the Center with data and services for
characterizing human health risks and the geographic distribution of hazardous substances during disasters.
The Center will engage with community organizations and public health practitioners in Texas to address health
concerns of the populations that may be impacted by environmental emergency-related contamination events.
We will continue training students and postdoctoral fellows in inter-disciplinary approaches across our scientific
areas, decision making and emergency response. The research translation to local, state, national and
international st...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10874494
- **Project number:** 5P42ES027704-08
- **Recipient organization:** TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Ivan Rusyn
- **Activity code:** P42 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $1,787,945
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2022-09-20 → 2027-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10874494

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10874494, Comprehensive tools and models for addressing exposure to mixtures during environmental emergency-related contamination events (5P42ES027704-08). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10874494. Licensed CC0.

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