Bruce A. Stanton, Ph.D. Leader, Training Core

Our Training Core supports and directs interdisciplinary training in environmental health sciences at the postdoctoral, graduate and undergraduate level within (and between) the biomedical and non-biomedical projects of the Dartmouth Toxic Metals Superfund Research Program. This includes the departments of Biological Science, Chemistry and Earth Sciences in the College, and the Departments of Molecular and Systems Biology, Microbiology and Immunology, Biochemistry and Cell Biology and Community & Family Medicine in the Medical School.

Current and Recent Former Trainees

Trainee Spotlights

Todd Warczak, Ph.D.: Determining How Plant Root Cells Detoxify Arsenic
Project 1: Arsenic Uptake, Transport and Storage in Plants
Leader: Mary Lou Guerinot, Ph.D.

Kevin Hsu, Ph.D.,: Investigating the Effects of Arsenic Ingestion on the Immune Response to Influenza A Infection
Project 3: Arsenic and Innate Immune Function of the Lung
Leader: Bruce Stanton, Ph.D.

Recruitment

We actively encourage high-caliber, motivated graduate students from Dartmouth College programs to participate in Superfund Program research. We are particularly interested in helping students whose talents cross interdisciplinary boundaries in realizing their career goals. Post-doctorate fellowships are available for those with a demonstrated ability to work across disciplinary boundaries and produce excellent science. At the undergraduate level, recruitment into the Dartmouth Superfund program is via department, university-wide and national fellowship programs, and the Center for Environmental Health Sciences (CEHS)

Activities

We organize a range of training activities that help researchers at the beginning of their scientific careers develop into highly motivated, productive, interdisciplinary scientists. These include:

1. Program-Specific and Career Development Courses

We offer a program-specific curriculum on the different aspects of toxic metals, environmental, and human health with a focus on interdisciplinary approaches. This is a three-course series: Graduate Toxicology, Environmental and Occupational Health, and Graduate Analytical Chemistry and Instrumental Analysis. These are core courses for all SRP graduate student trainees. In addition, trainees attend two courses in science communication; Proposal Development & Grant Writing, and Science Communication.

2. Interdisciplinary Program Interactions

In addition to participating in the meetings of their home laboratory, our trainees participate in the Dartmouth Toxic Metals Superfund Research Program seminar series, during which outside speakers, project or core leaders present research seminars and answer questions. This exposes graduate students and post-doctoral fellows to high-caliber scientists in various disciplines from other institutions who conduct research related to the goals of the Dartmouth Superfund Research Program.

 “Baking a process into writing your first draft of a scientific piece.” Article in Medium compares the writing process to the experience of baking.

Past Trainee Video Highlights

Heng-Hsuan Chu, Ph.D.: Uncovering Plant Arsenic Transport Mechanism Through Screening Natural Variant Populations

Britton Goodale, Ph.D.: Investigating How Arsenic Exposure Impacts the Response of Lung Epithelial Cells to Bacterial Infection

Dawoon Jung, Ph.D. : Using Killifish to Understand Arsenic Uptake and Response to Multiple Exposures.

Emily Notch, Ph.D.: Examining Effects of Low Dose Arsenic on Lung Cell Immune Response