Research Initiative Award: The Dark Side of Light: Gestational and Generational Impact of Light Pollution on Brain Development and Fecundity

The Historically Black Colleges and Universities Undergraduate Program (HBCU-UP) through Research Initiation Awards provide support for junior and mid-career faculty at Historically Black Colleges and Universities who are building new research programs or redirecting and rebuilding existing research programs. It is expected that the award helps to further the faculty member's research capability and effectiveness and improve research and teaching at the home institution. This award to Harris-Stowe State University supports faculty and undergraduate research experiences in their efforts to determine the impact of light exposure on chrono-disruption during pregnancy in off-spring. Given that light provides much of the information that enables organisms to adapt to their environment, it is important that efforts are made to understand the adverse and deleterious effects of light pollution in mammalian fetal programming, serving as a foundational study to preserving biodiversity. The overall goal of this project is to elucidate the epigenetic and hormonal mechanisms during pregnancy and the relationship with offspring brain development and fecundity. It is hypothesized that mistimed gestational light is a modifiable factor that desynchronizes maternal-fetal epigenetic and hormonal signaling across both nocturnal and diurnal mammals, which predisposes adult offspring to poor cognitive and reproductive health. Thus, utilizing diurnal grass rat and nocturnal rodent models, transcriptional analyses will be conducted to identify hippocampal, behavioral, and reproductive neurodevelopment in utero. The project also aims to identify the molecular basis to reset epigenetic and hormonal impairments by restoring melatonin and corticosterone rhythm during gestation. It is anticipated that the proposed studies will generate new knowledge regarding the underpinnings of neurological and reproductive system development as affected by light during gestation. The engagement of undergraduate students in this project, coupled with efforts to organize student-involved and community organization workshops aimed at raising awareness of the impact of light pollution, are likely to enhance the institutional prominence of Harris-Stowe State University. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.