EPA Postdoctoral Fellowship in Chemical Impacts of PFAS Chemicals on the Thyroid System

Funding Agency:
Environmental Protection Agency

A research opportunity is available at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Office of Research and Development (ORD), Center for Computational Toxicology and Exposure (CCTE), Great Lakes Toxicology & Ecology Division (GLTED) located in Duluth, Minnesota.

Research ProjectPFAS chemicals have been identified as contaminants of emerging concern and currently lack toxicological data necessary for decision making. EPA is mandated to address the endocrine disrupting potential of chemicals and a growing body of evidence suggests that some PFAS chemicals can disrupt thyroid function. For the majority of PFAS chemicals there is a lack of information regarding whether they have the potential to cause adverse effects from impacts on thyroid hormone status. Understanding the important molecular targets within the network of processes involved in maintaining normal functioning thyroid hormone levels, and what approaches to best assess activity at those targets are critical to developing a comprehensive approach to evaluating thyroid hormone disrupting potential of large numbers of chemicals.

This research aims to utilize a recently developed battery of in vitro high-throughput screening (HTS) assays to interrogate chemical activity toward various biochemical mechanisms critical to thyroid function. This will include six thyroid-related HTS assays to screen a PFAS chemical library and determine the potential for PFAS chemicals to inhibit these thyroid-related targets.  Further, this research aims to utilize these in vitro PFAS activity data, together with an in vitro-to-in vivo translational framework to predict which PFAS compounds have the highest likelihood of causing thyroid disruption in aquatic vertebrates. Coordinated efforts will be undertaken in the mammalian model in parallel to these efforts to bolster cross-species concordance of PFAS modes of action and adverse outcome pathways (AOPs) related to thyroid disruption.

Deadline: June 1, 2021

Agency Website

Eligibility Requirements

The qualified candidate should have received a doctoral degree in one of the relevant fields, or be currently pursuing the degree and will reach completion by the start of the appointment. Degree must have been received within five years of the appointment start date.

Funding Type

Fellowship
Stipend

Eligibility

Post Doctoral Fellows

Category

Engineering and Physical Sciences
Environmental & Life Sciences
Medical
Medical - Basic Science
Medical - Clinical Science

External Deadline

June 1, 2021