 |
Donald R. Smith
Professor of Environmental Toxicology
B.A, University of California, Santa Cruz
M.A., California State University, San Francisco (Moss Landing)
Ph.D., University of California, Santa Cruz
Office: 442 PSB, Office Hours: By
Appointment
Email: smith@etox.ucsc.edu
Office Phone: (831) 459-5041
Lab Phone:
(831)459-4571
|
Research Group: Smith
Lab
Molecular, cellular, and organismal responses to metals. Neurotoxicology and therapeutic treatment of metal poisoning.
Research
Our research seeks to understand the mechanistic basis and functional outcomes of metal toxicity. Our efforts have centered around the effects of lead in model systems and humans, with emphasis on the study of therapeutic treatments for lead poisoning. We have also become quite interested in the neurotoxicology of manganese and other redox active metals, and how they contribute to neurologic disease. Our research is both integrative and interdisciplinary. We use an array of analytical, biochemical, and molecular techniques to investigate basic mechanisms of action at the biochemical/molecular level, and the functional outcomes at the organ and whole organism level.
Examples of current research topics in our lab include:
- The molecular targets, biochemical mechanisms, and functional
outcomes
of manganese neurotoxicity.
- Exposure pathways and neurotoxic actions of lead; use of stable lead isotopic tracers and mass spectrometry to study lead metabolism and the physiologic basis of individual susceptibility to lead uptake and retention.
- The efficacy of therapeutic treatments to alleviate
metal toxicity.
- Wildlife toxicology.
Selected Publications (past 3 years):
Finklestein, M., Gwiazda, R., and Smith, D. 2003. Lead poisoning of seabirds: Environmental risks from leaded paint at a decommissioned military base. Env. Sci. Tech. 37:3256-3260.
Finklestein, M., Grasman, K., Croll, D., Tershey, B., and Smith, D. 2003. Immune Function of Cryopreserved Avian Peripheral White Blood Cells: Potential Biomarkers of Contaminant Effects in Wild Birds. Arch. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 44:502-509.
Kwik-Uribe, C., Reaney, S., Zhu, Z., and Smith, D. 2003. Alterations in the Cellular Abundance of IRP-Dependent Proteins and the Size of the Labile Iron Pool as a Consequence of In Vitro Manganese Exposure in Undifferentiated PC12 Cells. Br. Res., 973:1-15.
Gwiazda, R., Squibb, K., McDiarmid, M., and Smith, D.R. 2004. Detection of depleted uranium DU) in urines of veterans from the 1991 Gulf War. Health Physics 86(1):12-8.
Stangle, D, Strawderman, M., Smith, D., Kuypers, M., and Strupp, B. (2004). Reductions in blood lead overestimate reductions in brain lead after repeated succimer regimens in a rodent model of childhood lead exposure. Enviorn. Health Perspect. 112:302-308.
Tellez-Rojo, M.M., Hernandez-Avila, M., Lamadrid-Figueroa, H., Smith D., Hernandez-Cadena, L., Mercado, A., Aro, A., Schwartz, J., and Hu, H. 2004. Impact of bone lead and bone resorption on plasma and whole blood lead levels during pregnancy. Am J Epidemiol. 160:668-678.
Chamberlain, C.P., Waldbauer, J.R., Fox-Dobbs, K., Newsome, S., Koch, P., Smith, D.R., Church, M., Chamberlain, S., Sorenson, K., and Risebrough, R. 2005. Pleistocene to recent dietary shifts in California condors. PNAS, 102:46, 16707–16711.
Gwiazda, R., Campbell, C., and Smith, D.R. (2005). A non-invasive approach to estimate the bone lead contribution to blood in children: Implications for assessing the efficacy of lead abatement. Environ. Health Perspect.113:104-110.
Reaney, S.H. and Smith, D.R. 2005. Manganese oxidation state mediates toxicity in PC12 cells. Toxicol. Appl. Pharmacol. 205(3):271-281.
Kwik-Uribe, C. and Smith, D.R. 2006. Temporal responses in the disruption of iron regulation by manganese. J. Neurosci. Res. 83: 1601-1610.
Park, R., Bowler, R., Eggerth, D, Diamond, E., Spencer, K., Smith, D.R., and Gwiazda, R. (2006). Issues in neurological risk assessment for occupational expsoures: The Bay Bridge Welders. Neurotoxicology 27: 373-384.
Sanchez, J., Crooks, D., Lee, C. , Schoen, C., Amable, R., Zeng, X., Florival-Victor, T., Morales, N., Truckenmiller, M., Smith, D.R., and Freed, W. 2006. GABAergic lineage differentiation of AF5 neural progenitor cellsin vitro. Cell Tiss. Res. 324:1-8.
Lamadrid-Figueroa, H., Téllez-Rojo, M., Hernández-Ávila, M., Solano-González, M., Mercado-García, A., Smith, D., Hu, H. 2006. Biomarkers of fetal and maternal lead exposure and history of abortion in women in Mexico City. J. Toxicol. Env. Health (in press).
Reaney, S. Bench, G., and Smith, D. 2006. Brain accumulation and toxicity of Mn(II) and Mn(III) exposures. Tox. Sci. (in press).
Gwiazda, R., Lucchini, R., and Smith, D.R. 2006. Adequacy and consistency of animal studies to evaluate the neurotoxicity of chronic low level manganese exposure in humans. J. Tox. Env. Health (in press).
Church, M., Gwiazda, R., Risebrough, R.W., Sorenson, K., Chamberlain, C.P., Aarry, S., Heinrich, W., Rideout, B., Smith, D.R. 2006. Ammunition is the principal source of lead accumulated by california condors re-introduced to the wild. Environ. Sci. Technol. (in press, web release August 30th, 2006).
|
