Timme-Laragy Lab Members Receive NESOT Awards

Doctoral student Madeline Tompach and postdoctoral research associate Emily Marques claimed top prizes at the annual meeting of the Northeast Chapter of the Society of Toxicology (NESOT) held virtually Dec. 1-3, 2021. They are both members of Associate Professor Alicia Timme-Laragy’s lab in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences.

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Tompach received the Graduate Student Oral Presentation Award, which includes a $1000 prize, for her presentation “Examining PFOS-induced Dyslipidemia and use of ?-lipoic acid (ALA) as a Potential Mitigation Strategy in Zebrafish (Danio rerio).” Her research focuses on exposure to the pollutant PFOS which has been demonstrated to alter lipid profiles and stunt embryonic growth. She demonstrated that maternal consumption of the dietary supplement alpha lipoic acid (ALA) partially rescued the detrimental changes in embryonic growth caused by PFOS.

Marques received the Postdoctoral Poster Award for her poster titled “Nrf2 protects the developmental redox status in the liver of the zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryo.” Her work examines the transcription factor Nrf2, a way cells protect themselves from oxidative stress, during liver development. She found that embryos that did not have a functional Nrf2 failed to return the liver redox state to normal after two days following pro-oxidant treatment to induced oxidative stress and identifies Nrf2 as a critical target for mitigation and toxicological understandings of developmental redox status. She received a $500 award.

“I’m so proud of the work that Madeline and Emily are doing – these studies contribute to our fundamental understanding of developmental toxicology, redox biology, and also explore a novel way to potentially protect against a pollutant that is found ubiquitously in the environment,” says Timme-Laragy.

The Northeast Chapter of the Society of Toxicology includes members from diverse sectors including academia, government, chemical, environmental, and pharmaceutical industries. It strives to promote continued learning and scientific excellence, in addition to networking and collaboration opportunities, for regional toxicologists and students through its annual regional chapter meeting in the fall and through sponsored events at the Society of Toxicology's annual meeting in the spring.