Doctoral Student Kameron Wong Named Outstanding Poster Award Winner at Toxicity Conference

Environmental health sciences doctoral student Kameron Wong was named an Outstanding Poster by a Graduate Student award winner at the Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of Toxicity Gordon Research Conference (GRC), held August 10-15 at Proctor Academy in Andover, N.H.

Wong presented a poster titled "Developmental PFOS exposure increases sensitivity to secondary stress and ROS in pancreatic β-cells in Zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos" at the conference. Her research, under the mentorship of Alicia Timme-Laragy, professor of environmental health sciences in the School of Public Health and Health Sciences, demonstrated how developmental exposure to perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), a ubiquitous environmental pollutant, can impair pancreatic β-cell capacity to counter secondary redox stressors in the zebrafish model. The findings underscore the need to investigate the long-term contribution of PFOS exposure to chronic diseases like diabetes, characterized by elevated reactive oxygen species (ROS), with future studies exploring β-cell function, recovery and resilience at later-life stages.

The Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of Toxicity (CMMT) GRC is an internationally recognized stage on which state-of-the art mechanistic toxicology is featured, bridging the intersection between risk assessment, drug and chemical safety, public health and science policy related to mechanistic toxicology. Two keynote sessions and seven themed scientific sessions - including one chaired by Timme-Laragy, on high throughput imaging and spatial analysis in toxicology - highlighted current research being conducted by renowned scientists from around the globe.

More information on the conference can be found on the Gordon Research Conference website.