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

> **NIH NIH P42** · TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $1,887,263

## Abstract

Comprehensive tools and models for addressing exposure to mixtures during environmental
emergency-related contamination events
Overall Program Description
Climate change and shifts in domestic economic activity markedly increase risks from catastrophic chemical
contamination events resulting from weather-related or anthropogenic emergencies. The complexities of
hazardous chemical exposures, potential adverse health impacts, and the need to rapidly and
comprehensively evaluate the potential hazards of exposures to complex mixtures call for novel approaches in
the Superfund Research Program. This Center brings together a team of scientists from biomedical,
geosciences, data science and engineering disciplines to design comprehensive solutions for complex
exposure- and hazard-related challenges. Our overall theme is to characterize and manage both existing and
environmental emergency-created hazardous waste sites through the development of the tools that can be
used by first responders, the impacted communities, and the government bodies involved in site management
and cleanup. Our case study is a hurricane or flooding event that impacts Galveston Bay/Houston Ship
Channel area and leads to exposure to contaminated sediments. Project 1 will study fate and transport of
complex environmental contaminants in sediments and incorporate this information into environmental models.
Project 2 will develop novel low-cost broad-acting sorption materials suitable for mitigation of acute exposures
to complex contaminant mixtures. Projects 3 and 4 will take advantage of the discoveries in cell imaging and
stem cell biology to establish predictive in vitro methods for quantitative evaluation of the complex mixture-
perturbed adverse outcome pathways and intra- and inter-individual variability in toxicity. An Exposure Science
Core will be developing and applying novel sensitive analytical methods for targeted and un-targeted analysis
of a broad array of contaminants in environmental and biological samples. A Data Science Core will develop
computational and statistical tools for analysis and integration of “big data” in environmental health. A Decision
Science Core will develop an integrated toxicokinetic, human health, and economic models to support
environmental health decisions. 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 train 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 stakeholders will be conducted through technology transfer and
comprehensive outreach for the solutions developed by the Center. Finally, the management of this program
will be conducted in close partnership with the administration at Texas A&M University and He...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9903355
- **Project number:** 5P42ES027704-04
- **Recipient organization:** TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Ivan Rusyn
- **Activity code:** P42 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $1,887,263
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-09-01 → 2022-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9903355

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9903355, Comprehensive tools and models for addressing exposure to mixtures during environmental emergency-related contamination events (5P42ES027704-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9903355. Licensed CC0.

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