The National Institutes of Health recently endowed Mississippi State with a $9 million grant to help establish a Center of Biomedical Research Excellence at the university. The goal of the NIH grant is to provide a facility where research on pesticides and their potential human health interactions can be expanded.
Research on this matter is conducted in the Center for Environmental Health Sciences, located in the College of Veterinary Medicine.
Project director Janice E. Chambers said the new center will allow established researchers to mentor junior faculty members in some specific research areas. The grant will be awarded over the next five years.
“During the first year, MSU will receive approximately $500,000 to renovate and equip laboratories,” Chambers, who heads the Veterinary College’s Interdisciplinary Center for Environmental Health Sciences, said.
There are four projects of research planned around the grant, two of which will use laboratory rats to examine the biochemical effects pesticides may have on the human nervous system.
The third study will focus on the human endocrine system, while the fourth investigates the relationship between pesticide exposure levels and human health status.
“In an agricultural state, such as Mississippi, we are acutely aware of the benefits as well as the potential dangers of pesticides,” Chambers said.
Jerald Ainsworth, associate dean for veterinary research and head of the college’s basic sciences department, will serve as co-director of the new biomedical research center.
“By expanding collaborative research opportunities for junior faculty members, we will be able to build stronger teams and better position the university to compete for future projects,” Ainsworth said.
Other veterinary faculty members include Scott Boone, Russell Carr, Nikolay Filipov, Michele Wilkinson and Robert Wills. Peter Ryan and Scott Willard of the department of animal and dairy science complete the new research team.
The Veterinary College’s Environmental Health Sciences Center will continue earlier NIH-sponsored research into pesticides and their potential impact on children’s health.
Research is also being conducted on the potential hazards to children of flea collar chemical exposure. This project began with funding provided from the Environmental Protection Agency.