Communities of color across the US suffer a growing burden from polluted air

Study finds minoritized communities endure nearly 8 times higher rates of pediatric asthma and 1.3 times higher risk of dying prematurely from exposure to pollutants

Peer-Reviewed Publication

GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: 

THE GRAPHIC SHOWS NEW CASES OF PEDIATRIC ASTHMA LINKED TO NITROGEN DIOXIDE AIR POLLUTION IN THE DC AND BALTIMORE REGION. THE DARK BROWN AREAS INDICATE THE HIGHEST NUMBER OF NEW CASES, WHICH THE STUDY LINKED TO NEIGHBORHOODS WITH A LARGER PROPORTION OF MARGINALIZED RESIDENTS.

view more 

CREDIT: GAIGE KERR/THE GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY

WASHINGTON (March 6, 2024)--Despite progress toward cleaner air in the US, a new study suggests that communities of color across the nation are shouldering a growing burden of diseases linked to air pollution. A paper published today by researchers at the George Washington University suggests that racial and ethnic disparities in cases of pollutant-linked diseases like asthma increased during the last decade.

 

“Redlining and systemic racism have resulted in the least white areas of the US being located near factories, congested roadways or shipping routes with heavily polluted air,” says Gaige Kerr, a Senior Research Scientist in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at the GW Milken Institute School of Public Health. “This study highlights the need for place-based policies that allocate resources and target action into historically-overburdened communities in the United States.”

 

Kerr and his colleagues quantified census tract-level variations in health outcomes attributable to two forms of damaging pollutants–nitrogen dioxide, which typically comes from cars, trucks and other vehicles in urban areas, and fine particulate matter, commonly called soot. They pulled demographic data from the US Census Bureau and looked at novel datasets that incorporate NASA satellite data to estimate pollution concentrations and how concentrations and associated health impacts differed depending on the location.

 

The researchers found:

 

• Racial and ethnic disparities in the health impacts associated with nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter widened during the last decade.
• The relative disparity in premature deaths caused by exposure to fine particulate matter between the least and most white communities of the US increased by 16% and between the least and most Hispanic communities by 40% during the last decade. 
• The relative disparity in pediatric asthma caused by exposure to nitrogen dioxide across different racial groups grew by 19% in the US during the last ten years.
• Overall, an estimated 49,400 premature deaths and nearly 115,000 new cases of pediatric asthma were linked to fine particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide, respectively, in the United States in 2019.
• Communities of color in the United States experienced 7.5 times higher pediatric asthma rates and 1.3 times higher premature mortality rates due to these pollutants compared with most white communities.

 

People living in neighborhoods ringed by factories or next to highways can be exposed to high levels of both nitrogen dioxide and fine particulate matter. Nitrogen dioxide is a pollutant that can irritate the lungs and can trigger asthma attacks. Evidence suggests that for children, exposure to the traffic-related air pollution mixture, for which nitrogen dioxide is a marker, can actually cause asthma, a lifelong condition that can be life threatening. 

 

Fine particulate matter can lodge deep in the lungs and get into the bloodstream. Fine particulate matter has been linked to a number of diseases including heart disease, lung cancer and stroke.

 

“This research shows that the health disparities from exposure to these pollutants are larger than disparities in the exposures themselves, and that the disparities widened over the last decade even as pollution levels fell,” said Susan Anenberg, co-author of the research and director of the GW Climate and Health Institute at the Milken Institute School of Public Health. “As the US presidential election starts to gear up, this study also demonstrates the importance of continued strong regulations to protect air quality and people’s health.”

 

The study found the estimated monetary value attributed to mortality risk for premature death due to particulate matter as well as the direct costs of pediatric asthma due to nitrogen dioxide in 2019 amounted to $466 billion or roughly 2.2% of the US gross domestic product. 

 

“The study also shows that the Environmental Protection Agency air quality standards are not adequately protecting Americans, especially the most marginalized communities,” Kerr said. “The adverse health effects linked to fine particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide pollution in our study occurred even though EPA air quality standards were largely met,” He added that the EPA recently strengthened fine particulate matter standards, a step that will help provide protection from this health-harming pollutant.

 

The study, Increasing racial and ethnic disparities in ambient air pollution–attributable morbidity and mortality in the United States, was published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives on March 6, 2024. NASA funded the research.

 

Watch a video of GW researcher Gaige Kerr talking about the study.

 

-GW-

 

---

JOURNAL

Environmental Health Perspectives

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Increasing racial and ethnic disparities in ambient air pollution–attributable morbidity and mortality in the United States

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

6-Mar-2024

 MINORITY COMMUNITIES FACE GREATEST IMPACT

Study: Sinking land increases risk for thousands of coastal residents by 2050

One in fifty people living in two dozen coastal cities in the United States could experience significant flooding by 2050, according to Virginia Tech-led research

Peer-Reviewed Publication

VIRGINIA TECH

 

IMAGE: 

LEONARD OHENHEN

view more 

CREDIT: PHOTO BY CHRISTINA FRANUSICH FOR VIRGINIA TECH.

One in 50 people living in two dozen coastal cities in the United States could experience significant flooding by 2050, according to Virginia Tech-led research.

Published in Nature, the study combines satellite-obtained measurements of sinking land, also known as subsidence, with sea-level rise projections and tide charts to provide a new comprehensive look at the potential for flooding in a combined 32 cities along the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf coasts. The study projects that in the next three decades as many as 500,000 people could be affected as well as a potential 1 in 35 privately owned properties damaged by flooding. The study also highlights the racial and socioeconomic demographics of those potentially affected.

“One of the challenges we have with communicating the issue of sea-level rise and land subsidence broadly is it often seems like a long-term problem, like something whose impacts will only manifest at the end of the century, which many people may not care about,” said lead author Leonard Ohenhen, a graduate student working with Associate Professor Manoochehr Shirzaei at Virginia Tech’s Earth Observation and Innovation Lab. “What we’ve done here is focused the picture on the short term, just 26 years from now.”

Other increases compared to current estimates include:

• Between 500 and 700 more square miles of land flooded
• 176,000 to 518,000 more people affected
• 94,000 to 288,000 more properties exposed with an estimated value of $32 billion to $109 billion

“The whole purpose of this paper is to provide data to support decisions,” Shirzaei said. “Every city, every county has a flood resiliency plan in place. They are required by law to create that. But it’s likely nobody has received the entire picture until this study, which creates probably the first comprehensive picture of what’s happen in the not-too-distant future.”

Collaborators on the study include:

• Chandrakanta Ojha of the India Institute of Science Education and Research in Punjab, India
• Sonam Sherpa, a former Ph.D. student at Virginia Tech and a postdoctoral scholar at Brown University
• Robert J. Nicholls of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research at the University of East Anglia, United Kingdom

“This study demonstrates that we can now measure vertical land motion at a sufficient scale to create a useful climate service that supports planning and management decisions on flooding," said Nicholls, a professor of climate adaptation. "This approach has the potential to be applied in any city around the world, really supporting adaptation.”

Using highly accurate data points measured by space-based radar satellites, Shirzaei and his research team have built some of the world's first high-resolution depictions of the sinking land along the coast of the entire United States. Their work has previously revealed regions of the Atlantic coast to be sinking by as much as 5 millimeters per year.

This study revealed that 24 of the 32 coastal cities are currently sinking more than 2 millimeters per year and half of those cities have areas sinking more than global seas are rising. These numbers might seem small, but when combined with sea-level rise over time, it adds up to quite a significant shift, according to Ohenhen.

“The analogy I have found that is really helpful in helping people understand this change is to think about a sinking boat,” he said. “Imagine you are in that boat with a steady leak, slowly causing the boat to sink. That leak symbolizes sea-level rise or broadly flooding. What would happen if it also starts raining? Even a minor rainfall or drizzle would cause the boat to sink more quickly than you thought it would. That’s what land subsidence does — even imperceptible millimeter land subsidence exacerbates existing coastal hazards.”

Along with the new flood projections, the study also revealed the 32 cities have a combined 131 flood control structures, such as levees, berms, or dikes, but that 50 percent of those are located on the California coast. Only three of the 11 Atlantic coast cities studied maintain levees or floodwalls.

“When we looked at it across the board, we found that there is a general unappreciation for flood protection, particularly on the Atlantic coast,” Ohenhen said. “And even the levees there often protect less than 10 percent of the city, compared to other cities on the Pacific or Gulf coasts where up to 70 percent is protected.”

Another first in the study is the consideration of racial and socioeconomic demographics related to the potentially affected areas.

In some cities examined, particularly those along the Gulf Coast, the potential increased exposure fell disproportionately on racial minorities. In other cities, the properties facing increased exposure were found to generally be of lesser value than the median property value of the area. And in a few cities, New Orleans and Port Arthur, Texas, particularly, these two demographics intersect, showing the areas with greatest potential risk to be disproportionately occupied by people of color who are also at an economic disadvantage when compared to the city as a whole.

“That was the most surprising part of the study,” Ohenhen said. “We found that there is racial and economic inequality in those areas in that there was an overrepresentation of historically marginalized groups potentially impacted as well as properties with significantly lower value than the rest of the cities. It really multiplies the potential impact to those areas and their abilities to recover from significant flooding.”

Shirzaei said he believes the study as a whole not only provides the clearest picture of potential flooding to date, but also should serve as a call to action for policymakers of those areas.

“Very often, we hear, ‘Oh, we didn’t know about land subsidence’ or, ‘We didn’t know about that other factor,’ but this study will take away those excuses from everybody,” Shirzaei said.

The study provides a new comprehensive look at the flood risks for 32 cities on three coasts by 2050.

CREDIT

Image courtesy of Leonard Ohenhen.

Manoochehr Shirzaei

CREDIT

Virginia Tech

JOURNAL

Nature

DOI

10.1038/s41586-024-07038-3 

ARTICLE TITLE

Disappearing cities on US coasts

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

7-Mar-2024

 

The international scientific community to debate the dichotomy between economic growth and the fight against the climate crisis

Meeting Announcement

UNIVERSITAT AUTONOMA DE BARCELONA

ICTA-UAB Growth vs Climate Conference 2024 

13-15 March 2024

Hotel EXE Campus- Campus Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB). Cerdanyola del Vallès. Barcelona, Spain. 

 

Human activity is irreversibly changing our planet, especially the climate. The voracious demand for fossil fuels and natural resources has led us to an ecological breaking point, even after decades of climate action.

With the aim of addressing the most pressing environmental problems of our time, the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB) is organising the "Growth vs Climate Conference 2024" from 13-15 March 2024. The event will gather leading scientists, thinkers, policymakers, activists and journalists at the UAB campus in Cerdanyola del Vallès.  

Around 400 international researchers from diverse disciplines will discuss different perspectives on growth in the fight against climate change, as a path for reversing the climate crisis. Will green growth, the bioeconomy or the Green New Deal be enough to avert a climate disaster, or should we look to degrowth or agrowth as alternative models? What are the tradeoffs associated with different mitigation strategies and how can we avoid rebound effects and negative social impacts?

The 3-day event will feature keynote speakers and presentations on scientific results on specific and cross-cutting themes, policy debates and co-creation workshops organized across five societal challenges: Oceans, Land, Cities, Consumption and Policies.  Participants are challenged to rethink how we manage our oceans, forests, cities, consumption patterns and economic systems in order to ensure a secure future.  

Keynote speakers include ecofeminist Yayo Herrero; Third Vice-President of the Government and Minister for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Teresa Ribera; Secretary of State for Social Rights, Rosa Martínez Rodríguez; Secretary of State for Climate Action of the Generalitat de Catalunya, Anna Barnadas; economic anthropologist and ICTA-UAB researcher Jason Hickel, as well as the ecological economist of ICTA-UAB and Holberg Prize 2023, Joan Martínez Alier, among others. The illustrator Javier Royo will lead a live graphic recording of the event’s big ideas.

After 3 days of debates, the closing event will feature a talk by environmental activist Olivia Mandle, a performance by poetry slammer Adriana Bertran, and the UAB's colla castellera Ganàpies.  

 

Inaugural Session

Wednesday March 13th 2024
Time: 15h - Venue: Exe Campus Hotel - UAB – Campus de la UAB

Keynote: “Transición ecosocial justa. Aterrizar en un planeta translimitado”

• Yayo Herrero, anthropologist, ecofeminist and engineer.

Inaugural debate

Moderated by Jason Hickel, ICTA-UAB anthropologist.

• Teresa Ribera, Third Vice-President of the Government and Minister for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge.
• Rosa Martínez Rodríguez, Secretary of State for Social Rights, Spanish Government.
• Anna Barnadas, Secretary of Climate Action, Generalitat de Catalunya.
• Victoria Reyes- García, anthropologist, ICREA Professor at ICTA-UAB.
• Jeroen van den Bergh, environmental economist, ICREA Professor at ICTA-UAB.
• Joan Martínez Alier, ecological economist at ICTA-UAB, Holberg Prize 2023.

Live graphic recording of debate by illustrator Javier Royo.
 

Closing ceremony

Friday, March 15th 2024
Time: 18 h - Venue: Exe Campus Hotel - UAB – Campus  UAB
 

• Talk by environmental activist Olivia Mandle.
• Poetry slam by Adriana Bertrán.
• Performance by Colla castellera UAB, els Ganàpies.

Program: https://www.growthvsclimate2024.org/

 

Fighting the climate emergency: SACRU Universities united for planetary health

The paper Laudato Si' and the emerging contribution of Catholic research universities to planetary health, a collaborative effort of academics from the SACRU network, has been published in Lancet Planetary Health

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITA CATTOLICA DEL SACRO CUORE

Research in the footsteps of Laudato Si and the integral ecology of Pope Francis is one of the main areas driving the action of the Strategic Alliance of Catholic Research Universities (SACRU), an international network of Catholic universities. The experts of the Working Group Catholic Identity and Laudato Si', The Common Home and Social Justice confirmed this commitment by publishing the paper Laudato Si' and the emerging contribution of Catholic research universities to planetary health in The Lancet Planetary Health, a prestigious scientific journal.

Among the authors is Paolo Gomarasca, Full Professor of Moral Philosophy at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore: «Human exploitation of resources worsens climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss, disproportionately affecting marginalized communities. Pope Francis, in ‘Laudato Si', advocates integrated solutions, emphasizing social justice and renewable energy. Catholic universities, like those in the SACRU network, promote interdisciplinary research and education, fostering sustainable solutions and planetary stewardship. Through collaboration with organizations like the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, they translate science into equitable policies, addressing global challenges effectively».

The paper points out that the main threats to the health of the planet - climate change, pollution, and loss of biodiversity - fall disproportionately on minorities and marginalized communities, who pay the heaviest price in terms of diseases and premature deaths. While technical solutions to planetary threats are often effective, as seen in the sharp declines in the manufacture of chlorofluorocarbon resulting from the Montreal Protocol, researchers point out that these are insufficient policies to prevent hazards yet to come.

The paper refers to Pope Francis' encyclical Laudato Si, published in 2015, in which the Holy Father, recognizing that human activity is the primary driver of climate change, urges the adoption of long-term solutions that can 'restore dignity to marginalized people.' To implement the Holy Father's vision in 2021, the Laudato Si Platform was launched to catalyze the cultural shift from exploiting the planet to protecting the common home for the well-being of all.

At the higher education level, this goal is expressed in the international and multidisciplinary collaboration between Catholic universities, of which SACRU is a virtuous example. The network is active in teaching, research, and service to society with the aim of putting scientific activities at the disposal of the common good. An example of this mission is embodied in the collaboration initiated by SACRU with FAO, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations. The bilateral agreement aims to tackle food and health inequalities on the planet, with special attention paid to developing countries.

---

JOURNAL

The Lancet Planetary Health

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Commentary/editorial

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

The paper Laudato Si' and the emerging contribution of Catholic research universities to planetary health

 

Are we mining memories or exploiting older people? New research demands a rethink of Applied Theatre 

ARTICLE TITLE

Invading Capitalist Ageism in Applied Theatre through Anti-Ageism Praxis

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF SURREY

Imagine your grandmother's life story distilled into a performance, applause washing over her as strangers dissect her past. Sounds heart-warming, doesn't it? Not so fast, warns a new study from the University of Surrey.  

The study found that Applied Theatre practices, particularly reminiscence theatre, could encourage ageism. This happens when we only see older adults as sources of stories from the past and forget to listen to their current thoughts, opinions, and hopes for the future. 

Reminiscence theatre is a form of interactive drama in which older adults share memories and experiences through dialogue, storytelling, and creative activities. 

The study, led by Dr Georgia Bowers from the Guildford School of Acting, has shown that unconscious biases and assumptions can lead practitioners to unknowingly reinforce negative stereotypes about older adults. This can be particularly evident in reminiscence theatre, where focusing on extracting memories risks neglecting participants' present experiences and agency. 

Dr Georgia Bowers, Lecturer and Programme Leader of Applied and Contemporary Theatre BA (Hons) at the Guildford School of Acting and lead author of the study, said: 

"It's crucial to acknowledge that ageism exists within even well-intentioned practices like applied theatre. While reminiscence theatre offers valuable benefits, it can become problematic if we don't prioritise co-creation, shared power, and a focus on participants' present responses to their memories." 

The research proposes a new Anti-Ageism Praxis (AAP) framework to address these concerns. AAP emphasises: 

• Co-creation and shared power: Participants actively collaborate in shaping the project and final performative outcomes, ensuring that they are not only used for their recollections. 

• Focus on present responses: Exploring how participants feel about their memories in relation to the present moment leads to focusing on the here and now and not solely on what has been. 

• Challenging stereotypes: AAP prioritises showcasing older adults' diverse experiences and perspectives, fostering understanding and dismantling ageist assumptions. 

Dr Bowers continued: 

"This research opens important conversations about ethical practice in applied theatre. The proposed AAP framework offers a valuable guide for practitioners to ensure older adults are central to the work and their voices are truly heard."  

The research demonstrates the University of Surrey's contribution towards the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Particularly: SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being) and SDG 10 (Reduce Inequalities). 

 

The full study has been published in A Journal of the Performing Arts. 

### 

---

JOURNAL

Performance Research

DOI

10.1080/13528165.2023.2272511 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Invading Capitalist Ageism in Applied Theatre through Anti-Ageism Praxis

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

29-Jan-2024

 

University of Tartu to help Nõo Meat Factory use artificial intelligence in production

Business Announcement

ESTONIAN RESEARCH COUNCIL

 

IMAGE: 

CEO OF NÕO MEAT FACTORY

view more 

CREDIT: VALLO KRUUSER

The cooperation project between the Nõo Meat Factory and the Institute of Computer Science at the University of Tartu was selected in the AI & Robotics Estonia (AIRE) partner network. Together, possibilities for using artificial intelligence to perform quality control on the production line will be identified. Participation in a demonstration project will allow manufacturing companies to test artificial intelligence and robotics solutions before investing, thereby encouraging further investment in the technology. Project results are expected by the end of the year.

"For the food industry, the digitalisation of production is inevitable if we want to expand into foreign markets, optimise costs and make production more efficient," said Ragnar Loova, CEO of Nõo Meat Factory, about the desire to test artificial intelligence. According to him, Nõo Meat Factory has invested more and more in innovation and automation in recent years to come up with innovative products and more sustainable packaging. This has been driven by the economic situation, environmental requirements and consumer opportunities and expectations.

According to Ardi Tampuu, Lecturer of Artifical Intelligence at the Institute of Computer Science, machine learning technologies are mature enough to be used in industry to monitor processes and detect errors. "I believe that thanks to open-source models, machine learning solutions will soon be as accessible as websites. It is just a matter of slightly adapting existing tools based on use cases and packaging them correctly for the user," said Tampuu. According to him, the demo project is a good way to demonstrate the availability of the technology.

AI & Robotics Estonia or AIRE is co-funded by the EU Digital Europe Programme and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications.

Nõo Meat Factory is the largest and most innovative meat factory based on domestic capital. The company employs more than 200 people, making it one of the most important employers and promoters of local community life in South Estonia. In 2021, Nõo Meat Factory received the title of Family Business of the Year at the Estonian Best Companies competition organised by Enterprise Estonia, the Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the Estonian Employers’ Confederation.

 

Lung cancer cells protected from cigarette smoke damage, researchers find

Peer-Reviewed Publication

PENN STATE

 

IMAGE: 

NEW RESEARCH SHOWS HOW LUNG CANCER CELLS CAN SURVIVE BETTER AND EXHIBIT LESS CELL DAMAGE WHEN EXPOSED TO CIGARETTE SMOKE IN CELL CULTURE EXPERIMENTS COMPARED TO NON-CANCEROUS LUNG CELLS. IMAGE SHOWS NON-CANCEROUS LUNG CELLS (LEFT) AND LUNG CANCER CELLS (RIGHT), SUBJECTED TO THE SAME CONCENTRATION OF CIGARETTE SMOKE CONDENSATE. NON-CANCEROUS CELLS HAVE MORE PRONOUNCED PROTEIN AGGREGATION GRANULES (SHOWN WITH AN ARROW), STAINED BY PROTEOSTAT, A TYPE OF CELL DAMAGE THAT CAN EVENTUALLY LEAD TO CELL DEATH.

view more 

CREDIT: KRASILNIKOVA LAB, PENN STATE

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Lung cancer cells survive better and exhibit less cell damage when exposed to cigarette smoke in cell culture experiments compared to non-cancerous lung cells. New research by a team of undergraduate students led by a Penn State molecular biologist may have revealed how lung cancer cells can persist in smoke. The mechanism could be related to how cancer cells develop resistance to pharmaceutical treatments as well.

The team found that a protein, which is expressed at high levels in some lung cancer cells and acts as a pump to transport molecules across the cell membrane, could potentially be clearing the damaging molecules coming from cigarette smoke. These molecules, if left uncleared inside the cells, can lead to protein aggregation that can damage and eventually kill lung cells.

A paper describing the research appeared Mar.5 in the journal PLOS One.

“Cigarette smoke contains carcinogenic compounds, such as hydrocarbons and reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, that can damage cells in various ways,” said Maria Krasilnikova, associate research professor of biochemistry and molecular biology in the Eberly College of Science at Penn State and the lead author of the paper. “One way these compounds can damage cells is by causing proteins to misfold, which can lead to the formation of protein aggregates.”

Protein aggregates can gum up the inner workings of the cell and eventually lead to cell death, the researchers explained. These aggregates have been implicated in several neurodegenerative diseases, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, and also in cancer progression, emphysema, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

The researchers first compared the level of protein aggregation between a lung cancer cell line and non-cancerous cells when grown in culture that contained cigarette smoke condensates. They found that after 24 hours of exposure to cigarette smoke, the cancer cells had lower levels of protein aggregates than non-cancerous cells from a monkey kidney cell line and two human lung cell lines.

“We then looked at how the cells grew and survived in various concentrations of cigarette smoke condensates over seven days,” Krasilnikova said. “Amazingly, the cancer cells could continue to grow in about 10 times the concentration of cigarette smoke than the non-cancerous cells. So, we wanted to investigate how the cancer cells were able to maintain this growth in a toxic environment at a mechanistic level.”

The research team focused on the role of a cell surface pump, called ABCG2, that was known to be highly expressed in the lung cancer cell line and has also been associated with breast cancer.

“We observed that the cancer cells were difficult to stain with a fluorescent blue dye that we use to stain DNA to help us see the cells,” Krasilnikova said. “ABCG2 had been shown to pump the dye out of cells, so we knew it must be highly active in these cells and hypothesized that it might also pump the carcinogenic compounds from cigarette smoke out of the cells.”

To test this hypothesis, the research team inhibited the activity of ABCG2 in the cancer cells in two ways and tested how the cells then reacted to cigarette smoke exposure. They used febuxostat, a medication used to treat gout and a known inhibitor of ABCG2 activity, and, separately, downregulated ABCG2 using a genetic method called RNA interference. In both cases, they saw an increase in protein aggregation in the cancer cells when ABCG2 was inhibited.

“It seems clear that ABCG2 plays an important role in how the cancer cells were able to maintain lower levels of protein aggregation and grow and survive better when exposed to cigarette smoke,” Krasilnikova said. “We think it must be doing this by pumping the carcinogenic compounds from cigarette smoke out of the cells allowing them to survive in the toxic environment.”

Cell surface pumps, including ABCG2, have also been implicated in the development of multidrug resistance in cancers, presumably by pumping the damaging chemotherapy drugs out of cancer cells.

“It is well known that smoking during cancer treatment worsens the prognosis,” Krasilnikova said. “This could be due to a shared mechanism in the cancer cells that allows them to survive better in toxic environments. Our results suggest that the increase in ABCG2 activity in cancer cells, as well as other similar pumps, is likely to be one of these mechanisms.”

In addition to Krasilnikova, the research team at Penn State includes undergraduate students Emmanuella O. Ajenu, Ashley M. Seideneck, Esh Pandellapalli, Emily M. Shinsky, Casey L. Humphries, Nicholas L. Aparicio and Mahak Sharma and Professor of Biology James H. Marden, an associate director of the Penn State Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences.

A Tobacco Settlement grant to Penn State, the Eberly College of Science Summer Undergraduate Research Experience and Penn State undergraduate research funding supported the research.

---

JOURNAL

PLoS ONE

DOI

10.1371/journal.pone.0297661 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Cells

ARTICLE TITLE

ABCG2 transporter reduces protein aggregation in cigarette smoke condensate-exposed A549 lung cancer cells

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

5-Mar-2024

COI STATEMENT

 

For Boston College professor, research into "high latitude" reaches of the seas led to improving accurate access to real-time ocean data

Hilary Palevsky has been awarded a National Science Foundation CAREER Award to support her work on ocean data analysis practices, climate research, and video tutorials for students

Grant and Award Announcement

BOSTON COLLEGE

 

IMAGE: 

BOSTON COLLEGE ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF EARTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES HILARY PALEVSKY ON THE DECK OF THE R/V NEIL ARMSTRONG WITH AN AUTONOMOUS UNDERWATER ROBOT ABOUT TO BE DEPLOYED TO GATHER OCEAN DATA AT THE OCEANS OBSERVATORIES INITIATIVE’S IRMINGER SEA ARRAY, LOCATED NEAR THE SOUTHERN TIP OF GREENLAND IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC. HER WORK HAS BEEN RECOGNIZED WITH AN NSF CAREER AWARD.

view more 

CREDIT: HILARY PALEVSKY

Chestnut Hill, Mass (03/06/2024) – Boston College Assistant Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences Hilary Palevsky has been awarded a nearly $1-million National Science Foundation CAREER Award for her work to make remote ocean monitoring data accessible and accurate in real time and produce a series of educational videos to guide students using the data.

Palevsky, whose research focuses on marine biogeochemistry and the mechanisms that enable the ocean to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, said the funding will allow her to build upon the work she has done to help scientists use the ocean data collected through the NSF-funded Oceans Observatories Initiative.

Another part of her project, titled "Constraining the high-latitude ocean carbon cycle: Leveraging the OOI global arrays as marine biogeochemical time series," involves Palevesky's own research in the “high latitude” ocean, the remote northern and southern waters where the OOI has been collecting year-round data for about a decade, as part of her project.

“I’m very grateful for this award,” said Palevsky, who joined the BC faculty in 2019. “It will make a huge difference and enable me to do the type of work I am really passionate about during the next five years. I appreciate this vote of confidence from the oceanographic community that this work I’ve done in data calibration and quality control is really valued.”

The massive OOI endeavor is described as an ocean observing network “that delivers real-time data from more than 900 instruments to address critical science questions regarding the world's oceans.” Primary goals of the project are to understand natural changes to the oceans, but also the impact of climate change driven by human activity. The data are collected in some of the most remote maritime locations through a variety of sensors. The information is available to researchers, educators, and the general public at any time.

But before that data can be analyzed, they must be “cleaned” or calibrated to account for the many variables at play as measurements are collected from sensors on buoys and submarine devices beneath the ocean’s surface and then fed from remote locations to OOI databases.

Palevsky has spearheaded efforts to create protocols to ensure that researchers and other users can access data of high quality by using a uniform set of calibration standards. Leading a working group for two years, Palevsky and colleagues wrote a 100-page guide for users to ensure data quality control.

The CAREER Award, a signature NSF initiative to support early-career scientists, will fund Palevsky’s further work in this area as well as her own analysis of biogeochemical activity in the oceans, particularly in relation to climate change. The funding will also support one of Palevsky’s graduate students to sail on one of OOI’s month-long research expeditions to the North Atlantic Ocean in order to assist in maintaining remote sensors and gathering data.

With the help of BC’s Center for Digital Innovation in Learning, Palevsky will also produce a series of short videos that will be made available to educators in order to give students far from the ocean a chance to see how the data are gathered.

“Doing this kind of collaborative science and trying to create products that are usable and valuable for people beyond my research group is a chance to respond to something I saw as a need in the broader oceanography community,” Palevsky said.

Palevsky looks forward to using the data in her own research. She hopes to clarify the mechanisms at play when the ocean transfers carbon from near the surface to its lower depths – a process referred to as the ocean’s biological pump.

Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences and Department Chair Noah Snyder said the CAREER award is fitting recognition of Palevsky’s work as a scientist, teacher, and mentor.

“This is an outstanding accomplishment and reflects the cutting-edge work that Hilary is doing with graduate and undergraduate students in her lab,” Snyder said. “The project is to study the marine carbon cycle in the high latitude ocean, which is a hugely important way that anthropogenic carbon gets removed from active cycling.”