Cooperation achieves results at UNC-CH.

Abstract

Now that scientists have solved the code for the human genome and are moving forward to sequence the genomes of other organisms, a significant challenge lies in how to harness this vast amount of new information to benefit society. Recognizing that cross-communication and cooperation among different research labs is essential to realizing the potential of genomic science for toxicology, the NIEHS earmarked $37 million to establish the Toxicogenomics Research Consortium (TRC) in November 2001. A major objective of the TRC is to link investigator-initiated research projects at five academic centers—the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Duke University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH), Oregon Health & Science University, and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center/University of Washington—in a collaborative effort to understand how organisms respond to chemical exposures and other kinds of environmental stress. At UNC-CH, investigator-initiated research projects focus on different model systems—from mice and cell lines to humans—all with a common, unifying focus on environmental challenges that cause DNA damage or oxidative stress, leading to cancer. With the goal of finding molecular signatures that can be used for early risk assessment, these projects employ microarray tools to assay for gene expression responses to cancer-related chemicals. Some use the same compounds that cancer patients are already receiving, to gather information on how different populations may react to certain drugs.