Epidemiological studies have linked several environmental pollutants to increased risks of developing (chronic) diseases in humans. For instance, increased levels of particulate air pollution during lifetime are associated to higher risks of developing asthma, but also lung cancer. Moreover, higher levels of heavy metals such as lead or pesticides, ingested through e.g. contaminated food, can increase the risk of developing neurodegenerative disease like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease in later life. Identifying these toxicological risks and subsequently to manage these is crucial for human health. This minor course will focus on understanding the influences and impact of environmental factors on humans. The course core concept is based on the risk governance framework wherein the main focus will be on the research information and needs within this framework.  

The course will cover 5 main topics that will support the understanding of this framework:

     1) Basic understanding of the principles of toxicology: What is toxicity, how can we classify different compounds (e.g. PFAS, PCB’s, PAH’s) for e.g. carcinogenicity, how are we exposed (Environment-effect chain), what is the dose response relationship etc.

     2) Understanding of different study designs to assess toxicity and the differences and (dis)advantages if comparing human epidemiology, animal and in vitro (cellular: 2D/3D models, non-cellular) studies.

     3) (NMR, MS and ESR/EPR spectroscopy). For most techniques a side-visit to see the analytical techniques will be included. Theoretical and practical insight into different analytical tools used in toxicology research, namely electrophoresis (gel-, affinity-, capillary- and immuno-electrophoresis) and spectroscopy

     4) Data-analysis and applications of (toxico)genomics and in-silico studies to assess toxicity, including a computer practical where students will be able to work on their own data-set for a specific compound

     5)  Understanding of the risk governance framework for risk assessment and management of (complex) risks, with air pollution as an example.

Practical skills: Practical performing ESR/EPR spectroscopy and computer practical for analysis of toxicogenomics datasets, as well as site-visits for demonstration of the analytical techniques on-site. You will conduct you own Toxicogenomics project, thereby working on actual research data comprising human demographic and exposure data as well as high-dimensional transcriptomics data derived from human blood cells. The aim of the project is to decipher the molecular impact of environmental pollutants on human health. Therefore, you will apply fundamental bioinformatics and statistics approaches to identify genes and pathways which may contribute to the chain of events connecting environmental exposure to increased risk of chronic diseases. Moreover, the results will be interpreted with respect to improving our understanding of the pathogenesis of environmentally-induced diseases, identifying at-risk populations, and potentially discovering of pre-clinical markers of disease related to environmental exposures