# Exposure Science Core

> **NIH NIH P42** · TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $267,561

## Abstract

Exposure Science Core ABSTRACT
The objective of the Texas A&M Superfund Research Center is to explore and develop descriptive models and
tools that can predict the possible hazardous outcomes of chemical exposure during environmental
emergencies and to produce powerful solutions which can mitigate the negative effects on human health. The
ultimate goal of the Center is to contribute to decision-making capabilities for planning and control in emergency
environmental contamination events. Exposure science is evolving rapidly in parallel with novel methods for
hazard identification with a focus on solving the challenges of rapid detection of potentially harmful chemicals at
low but biologically relevant concentrations. The overall goal of the Exposure Science Core is to address the
needs of the Texas A&M University (TAMU) Superfund Research Center for novel analytical approaches in both
exposure science and hazard identification under conditions of an environmental emergency contamination
event. The Core is a partnership between Drs. Justin Teeguarden and Erin Baker at Pacific Northwest National
Laboratory and Dr. Terry Wade at Texas A&M University. The Core will address this objective and enable
exposure characterization of complex environmental exposures and mixtures by coordinating exposure science
activities across the Center and (i) developing novel sample processing and analysis methods, (ii) translating
these advances into practice for environmental health protection, and (iii) providing essential analytical support to
the projects in the Center and beyond. The Exposure Science Core will coordinate exposure assessments across
the Center by working very closely with Project 1 to characterize the real-world mixtures that will be used in other
Projects and Cores, as well as it will ensure consistency and relevance of these estimates for use in toxicity
testing (Projects 3 and 4), decision making (Decision Science Core), and effectiveness of hazard reduction
(Project 2) and communication (Research Translation Core, Community Engagement Core). A suite of sensitive
quantitative targeted analyses will be used to identify and quantify target contaminants of human health concern
in the Galveston Bay/Houston Ship Channel. Building on these conventional analyses, global non-targeted
analysis of samples using a RapidFire™ Solid Phase Extraction-Ion Mobility-Mass Spectrometry (SPE-IMS-MS)
will be used to characterize previously unknown chemical exposures and environmentally relevant mixtures for
toxicity testing. A novel computational chemical structure and identification pipeline developed by our team will be
used to make new libraries and make provisional chemical identifications. These transformative scientific aims
will advance the goals of all four projects and the overall Center goal of developing rapid, effective tools for
disaster response related to human exposures.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9903362
- **Project number:** 5P42ES027704-04
- **Recipient organization:** TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Justin Gary Teeguarden
- **Activity code:** P42 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $267,561
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** — → —

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9903362

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9903362, Exposure Science Core (5P42ES027704-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9903362. Licensed CC0.

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