# Duke Environmental Analysis Laboratory

> **NIH NIH U2C** · DUKE UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $378,849

## Abstract

The purpose of the Duke Environmental Analysis Laboratory (DEAL) Hub is to offer a comprehensive suite of
analytical services to support epidemiologists and health researchers conducting studies focusing on the
impact of environmental exposures on human health. This research is vital to understanding the links between
chemical exposures and human health endpoints, knowledge which is essential in mitigating disease risk and
improving quality of life. DEAL will be co-directed by Dr. Heather Stapleton, a trained environmental chemist
and exposure scientist, and Dr. Lee Ferguson, a trained mass spectrometrist and environmental analytical
chemist. Drs. Stapleton and Ferguson each have over 20 years of experience using mass spectrometry to
detect and quantify contaminants in environmental samples and are pioneers in the fields of emerging
contaminants, exposure science, and non-targeted analytical methods. The long-term objectives of the DEAL
Hub are to: 1) provide consultation and advice to environmental health researchers to support human health
studies ; 2) provide comprehensive and state-of-the-art analytical services to supporting environmental health
research; and 3) develop new analytical methods for the quantitation of emerging contaminants of interest to
environmental health community and develop new technologies and tools for characterizing the exposome. To
meet these objectives, DEAL consists of three internal cores. The first is the Environmental Sample Analysis
Core (ESAR) that will support exposomic researchers by providing services for project consultations, sample
preparation, extraction, and quantitative analysis of contaminants in environmental media using three distinct
sample laboratories, the Targeted Organic, Targeted Inorganic, and Untargeted Organic labs. Through these
three Labs, ESAR and DEAL as a whole can provide comprehensive services for a wide variety of analytes
and support a larger breadth of environmental health researchers. Second is the Developmental Core that will
create new analytical methods for the quantitation of emerging contaminants and develop new technologies
and tools for characterizing the exposome. Finally, the Deal Hub will provide administrative management and
coordination with the ESAR and Developmental Cores through the Administrative Core. This Administrative
Core will also serve as the liaison between the DEAL Hub and the broader HHEAR Network, with Dr. Heather
Stapleton as its Director. The intense collaboration of ESAR, Developmental, and Administrative Cores of the
DEAL Hub will facilitate more and higher quality exposomic research that is essential for continued
understanding of risk mitigation and environmental health interventions in at-risk populations.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11086281
- **Project number:** 4U2CES030851-06
- **Recipient organization:** DUKE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** P. Lee Ferguson
- **Activity code:** U2C (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $378,849
- **Award type:** 4N
- **Project period:** 2024-06-01 → 2025-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11086281

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11086281, Duke Environmental Analysis Laboratory (4U2CES030851-06). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11086281. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*