BME 280B Seminar: Applying a translational research framework to understand PFAS exposures and health risks

Presenter: Dr. Max Aung, Assistant Professor of Environmental Health, USC Keck School of Medicine

Description: Per and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of industrial chemicals that are ubiquitous in the environment and in humans. The National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, have identified PFAS as an important environmental risk factor for various chronic health conditions, including cancer and metabolic disorders. Contaminated drinking water is one source of human PFAS exposure, specifically for communities within East and South Los Angeles (LA) that have multiple point sources of PFAS (e.g. metal plating facilities and textile industries). Importantly, the CalEnviroScreen 4.0 indicates that many neighborhoods in East and South LA have high pollution burden overlapping with high PFAS contamination in public water systems.

This presentation will highlight key translational environmental health projects in our USC ShARP Superfund Research Center that have been instrumental for increasing knowledge of PFAS exposures and health risks and strengthening community engagement for science and policy translation. I will outline how our team has utilized basic experimental models to complement epidemiologic studies, leveraging multi-omics data integration to uncover biological mechanisms. Building on this, I will illustrate how we have developed community and multi-sector partnerships to inform exposure assessment and science translation to address local PFAS contamination.

Bio: Max Aung is an Assistant Professor of Environmental Health at the USC Keck School of Medicine. He holds leadership roles as Director of the Translational Research Core in the USC Southern California Environmental Health Sciences Center and as Director of Community Engagement in the USC ShARP Superfund Research Center and the USC Center for Translational Exposomics Research. He is also a current Harvard JPB Environmental Health Fellow. Max’s research program focuses on investigating biological mechanisms linking environmental exposures to maternal and child health outcomes. He uses translational approaches to advance environmental health research, including experimental models, epidemiological studies, community-engagement, and science communication and policy translation.

Hosted by: Marina Ramon, Director of Genomics Training Programs for the Genomics Institute