Jennifer L. Freeman

Associate Professor of Toxicology
PhD, Environmental Toxicology and Molecular Cytogenetics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Contact Info:

jfreema@purdue.edu
765-494-1408
LILY B452
www.purdue.edu/hhs/hsci/directory/faculty/freeman_jennifer

Training Group(s):
Computational and Systems Biology
Cancer Biology
Integrative Neuroscience

Active Mentor - currently hosting PULSe students for laboratory rotations and recruiting PULSe students into the laboratory; serves on preliminary exam committees

Current Research Interests:

Dr. Freeman's research efforts are focused on defining the underlying genetic and epigenetic mechanisms of toxicity of environmental stressors with current emphasis on pesticides, metals, PFAS, radiation, and emerging contaminants. Projects are defining the immediate adverse impacts of a developmental exposure, the lasting adverse impacts of this developmental exposure throughout the lifespan, and the analysis of subsequent generations linking genetic, epigenetic, and phenotypic assessments. These studies are investigating the developmental origin of health and disease pathogenesis with a specific focus on neurological disorders and diseases, neuroendocrine dysfunction, and cancer with a goal of understanding the role of exposure to the environmental stressors in these adverse health outcomes. In addition, projects are investigating the role of structural genetic variation in toxicity responses. All projects are currently utilizing the zebrafish vertebrate model system as a tool to investigate toxicity.

Selected Publications:

K.A. Horzmann and J.L. Freeman*. 2018. Making waves: New developments in toxicology with the zebrafish. Toxicol. Sci. 163:5-12.

Horzmann, K.A., C. de Perre, L.S. Lee, A.J. Whelton, and J.L. Freeman*. 2017. Comparative analytical and toxicological assessment of methylcyclohexanemethanol (MCHM) mixtures associated with the Elk River chemical spill. Chemosphere. 188:599-607.

Lee, J., S.M. Peterson, and J.L. Freeman. 2017. Sex-specific characterization and evaluation of the Alzheimer’s disease genetic risk factor sorl1 in zebrafish during aging and in the adult brain following an embryonic lead exposure. J. Appl. Toxicol. 37:400-407.

Wirbisky, S.E. and J.L. Freeman*. 2017. Atrazine exposure elicits copy number alterations in the zebrafish genome. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology - Part C: Toxicology and Pharmacology. 194:1-8.

Wirbisky, S.E., G.J. Weber, K.E. Schlotman, M.S. Sepulveda, and J.L. Freeman*. 2016. Embryonic atrazine exposure alters zebrafish and human miRNAs associated with angiogenesis, cancer, and neurodevelopment. Food Chem. Toxicol. 98:25-33.

Wirbisky, S.E., M.S. Sepulveda, G.J. Weber, A.S. Jannasch, K. Horzmann, and J.L. Freeman*. 2016. Embryonic atrazine exposure elicits alterations in genes associated with neuroendocrine function in adult male zebrafish. Toxicol. Sci. 153:149-164.

Lee, J. and J.L. Freeman*. 2016. Embryonic exposure to 10 µg/L lead results in female-specific expression changes in genes associated with nervous system development and function and Alzheimer’s disease in aged adult zebrafish brain. Metallomics. 8:589-596.

Wirbisky, S.E., G.J. Weber, M.S. Sepulveda, T.L. Lin, A.S. Jannasch, and J.L. Freeman*. 2016. An embryonic atrazine exposure results in reproductive dysfunction in adult zebrafish and morphological alterations in their offspring. Nature Scientific Reports. 6:21337.

Wirbisky, S.W., Weber, G.J., M.S. Sepulveda, C. Xiao, J.R. Cannon, and J.L. Freeman*. 2015. Developmental origins of neurotransmitter and transcriptome alterations in adult female zebrafish exposed to atrazine during embryogenesis. Toxicology. 333:156-167.

Freeman, J.L.*, G.J. Weber, S.M. Peterson, and L.H. Nie. 2014. Embryonic ionizing radiation exposure results in expression alterations of genes associated with cardiovascular and neurological development, function, and disease and modified cardiovascular function. Front. Genet. 5: 268.

Weber, G.J., M.S. Sepulveda, S.M. Peterson, S.S. Lewis, and J.L. Freeman*. 2013. Transcriptome alterations following developmental atrazine exposure in zebrafish are associated with disruption of neuroendocrine and reproductive system function, cell cycle, and carcinogenesis. Toxicol. Sci. 132:458-466.

Brown, K.H., K.P. Dobrinski, A.S. Lee, O. Gokcumen, R.E. Mills, X. Shi, W.W.S. Chong, J.Y.H. Chen, P. Yoo, S. David, S.M. Peterson, T. Raj, K.W. Choy, B. Stranger, R.E. Williamson, L.I. Zon, J.L. Freeman*, and C. Lee*. 2012. Extensive genetic diversity and strain sub-structuring among zebrafish strains revealed through copy number variant analysis. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 109:529-534.

Peterson, S.M., J. Zhang, G.J. Weber, and J.L. Freeman*. 2011. Global gene expression analysis reveals dynamic and developmental stage dependent enrichment of lead (Pb)-induced neurological gene alterations. Environ. Health Perspect. 119:615-621.

Redon, R., S. Ishikawa, K.R. Fitch, L. Feuk, G.H. Perry, T.D. Andrews, H. Fiegler, M.H. Shapero, A.R. Carson, W. Chen, E.K. Cho, S. Dallaire, J.L. Freeman, J.R. Gonzalez, M. Gratacos, J. Huang, D. Kalaitzopoulos, D. Komura, J.R. MacDonald, C.R. Marshall, R. Mei, L. Montgomery, K. Nishimura, K. Okamura, F. Shen, M.J. Somerville, J. Tchinda, A. Valsesia, C. Woodwark, F. Yang, J. Zhang, T. Zerjal, J. Zhang, L. Armengol, D.F. Conrad, X. Estivill, C. Tyler-Smith, N.P. Carter, H. Aburatani, C. Lee, K.W. Jones, S.W. Scherer, and M.E. Hurles. 2006. Global variation in copy number in the human genome. Nature. 444:444-454.

Freeman, J.L., G.H. Perry, L. Feuk, R. Redon, S.A. McCarroll, D.M. Altshuler, H. Aburatani, K. Jones, C. Tyler-Smith, M.E. Hurles, N.P. Carter, S.W. Scherer, and C. Lee. 2006. Copy number variation: New insights in genome diversity. Genome Res. 16:949-961. Full citation list: https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=YwqE814AAAAJ&view_op=list_works

Faculty Profile

Jennifer L. Freeman

Current Research Interests:

Selected Publications:

Communication

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