Tay Gavin Erickson Lecture Series — The Center for Research on Families welcomes Damian Shea, PhD who will present "Reducing Chemical Risks to Families: Linking the External Chemical Exposure to Biological Effects and Reduction in Adverse Health Outcomes." 

We are exposed to thousands of chemicals every day through the water we drink, the air we breathe, the food we eat and our contact with other contaminated substances. 

In his talk, Dr. Shea will explore the power and limitations of high-resolution chemical analysis to measure the chemical exposome--the totality of one's exposure from conception onwards--and link this to potential biological effects with high-throughput cell-based toxicity assays. Examples will be drawn largely from his work in China, where he is studying how differential chemical exposure and risk relates to different family members and their roles and activities within the family and the cultural and financial barriers to reducing chemical exposure and potential adverse health outcomes. 

Dr. Damian Shea is a Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at North Carolina State University. Dr. Shea’s overall research goal is to better understand the mechanisms that control the fate and bioavailability of chemicals in the environment so that we can quantitatively model and measure exposure to chemicals. His work focuses on the fate and effects of chemicals in the aquatic environment and utilizes the tools of analytical toxicology, environmental chemistry and environmental toxicology.

This lecture is sponsored by the Center for Research on Families’ Tay Gavin Erickson Lecture Series. The Center for Research on Families (CRF) is an endowed interdisciplinary research center in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences and College of Natural Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The Tay Gavin Erickson Lecture Series brings internationally recognized speakers with expertise in family research to campus each year. The lecture series began in 1999 through an endowment established in memory of Tay Gavin Erickson.