Human/Animal Exposure

HUMAN AND ANIMAL EXPOSURE (HUMANE) FACILITY CORE – ABSTRACT The HUMan and ANimal Exposure (HUMANE) Facility Core provides CEED members with unique and powerful tools to fulfill the Center’s vision of addressing the environmental health concerns of NJ residents. HUMANE works with basic and clinical researchers to design and implement experiments that assess how individual or complex real-world exposures affect biological response indicators linked to adverse health outcomes in humans and animal models. HUMANE utilizes cutting-edge exposure generation platforms coupled to real-time and timeintegrated measurement of legacy and emerging environmental/occupational toxicants in the Core’s human Controlled Exposure Facility (CEF) and the Animal Exposure Facility (AEF). HUMANE also assists CEED investigators with inhalation exposure studies aimed at examining the interactions between relevant toxicants and variables such as temperature, humidity, physical activity, psychosocial stress, and pre-existing conditions or co-morbidities. During the current grant cycle, the Core has strengthened its longstanding expertise and capabilities in generating controlled gaseous and aerosol exposures by incorporating platforms capable of generating and characterizing environmental nanoparticles that recapitulate those generated by multiple sources including wildfires, incinerated micro-nanoplastics, e-cigarettes, and engineered nanomaterials. The capacity of HUMANE to conduct both controlled animal and human exposure studies facilitates bidirectional translation of research findings. By studying biological indicators and responses in humans and animals, insight is gained into mechanisms of disease pathogenesis, which can be targeted for intervention strategies. The Core benefits from robust interactions with the Translational Research Support Core (TRSC) and the Biological/Environmental Indicators and Responses (BEIR) Facility Core, which facilitate productive interdisciplinary collaborations and ensure high standards of QA/QC and safety in study protocols. The Core’s utilization is expected to increase significantly during the next grant period due to planned investments in mechanical systems and equipment for the CEF and AEF. The renovation of the CEF will also allow CEED investigators to assess the efficacy of interventions to reduce the transmission of airborne infections under controlled environmental conditions.