In the United States, there are thousands of industrial sites contaminated by the irresponsible disposal of chemical waste. The higher than expected frequency of cancer cases near these sites has caused alarm, since many of the chemical contaminants found at these sites have been linked to the development of long-term health problems, including cancer. As leaders of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Superfund Research Program, Dr Jennifer Kay (Research Scientist and Research Translation Director) and Professor Bevin Page Engelward (Program Director) are using their expertise to investigate the genetic factors that influence susceptibility to adverse health outcomes following exposure to environmental chemicals.

Any injury such as trauma, surgery or infection to the cornea in the eye may result in persistent scarring (clinically referred to as fibrosis) due to the wound healing response. Professor Steven E. Wilson at the Cole Eye Institute of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation has identified that defective epithelial basement membrane (EBM) regeneration plays a central role in the development of scar producing myofibroblast cells. Critically, Professor Wilson suggests that the pathophysiological consequences of defective EBM regeneration are also likely to have wider relevance to the fibrosis that occurs in other organs, such as the lungs, heart, kidneys, and skin.

Dr Jun Hua, Associate Professor at the F. M. Kirby Research Center for Functional Brain Imaging at the Kennedy Krieger Institute and Johns Hopkins University, USA, leads a team focused on developing novel magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technologies for imaging the structure and function of the brain. Recently, they have been pioneering the development of new MRI techniques that can be used to improve pre-surgical planning for neurological patients and optimise patient outcomes.

Influenza viruses pose a major threat despite advances in vaccine and drug development. Research into the cellular and molecular mechanisms that drive influenza viruses aims to reveal new drug targets to fight disease. However, information on the molecular mechanisms of how influenza viruses infect and replicate in host cells is currently limited. As part of the German Collaborative Research Centre 1021 (CRC1021), Professors Stephan Pleschka and M Lienhard Schmitz at the Justus Liebig University Giessen in Germany are exploring the impact of the genetic variability of influenza viruses on the interactions between the virus and host cell that regulate viral infection and replication.