Project 4: Respiratory Effects of Air Pollution in New Hampshire

Melinda Treadwell, Ph.D.

Dr. Melinda Treadwell is an Assistant Professor at Keene State College in Keene NH. Dr. Treadwell's participation in the Lung Biology COBRE program ideally meshes with the linked goals of Keene State College to develop an externally funded research infrastructure and to foster wet-bench research opportunities for their undergraduate students.

One of the major goals of her proposal is to identify biomarkers that can then be used in human studies such as those described in Project 5 (Drs. Duell and Shi) to prove causal relationships between exposure to airborne pollutants and increased incidence of diseases such as asthma, obstructive airway disease and cancer. This translation of basic knowledge to public health based epidemiology studies is a strength of her proposal and provides opportunities for interaction with many of the other projects of this program. For example, IL-8, a topic of study in her project, has been shown to play an important role in the inflammatory responses of lung cells in response to nickel and in CF. Thus, Dr. Treadwell’s research is of great interest to Dr. O’Toole (Project 1) and Dr. Swiatecka-Urban (Project 2), who are examining the cellular mechanisms underlying cystic fibrosis lung disease. Dr. Treadwell’s study is also unique because of her proposal to use complementary scientific approaches to develop data that can then provide the scientific basis for making policy decisions regarding airborne pollutants and public health.

Richard G. Rumba, a consultant, and a long time collaborator with Dr. Treadwell, is the Air Toxics Program Manager for the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services. He will consult on air sampling design and provide sampling equipment and personnel to supplement the air monitoring efforts of Keene State College.

Dr. Treadwell and her collaborators share a common interest in lung biology with Drs. Duell, Shi, Barchowsky and Hamilton, and thus will interact closely with these investigators. Dr. Treadwell and her colleagues will also be major users of the Proteomics Core.

Dr. Treadwell's mentor is Joshua Hamilton, Ph.D.