Project ISF: Characterize the effects of PFAS exposure on central nervous system development Program DUIRI - Discovery Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Research Internship Term Summer 2023 Status Accepted Research Area Environmental health and bioengineering Description Our project aims to elucidate sub-cellular compartment homeostasis that is disrupted by developmental PFAS exposure, including PFOA, PFBA, and GenX, that collectively contribute to neurotoxicity later in life by increasing cellular vulnerability to established neuro-risk factors associated with neurodegeneration, such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease. The student will be working together with Drs. Yuan (ChE) and Freeman (Health Sciences) to culture DA neurons derived from hiPSC, and characterize cellular features using a combination of biochemical and biophysical techniques, including IHC and live cell recording. This project is an ISF Sustainability project. Faculty Collaborators: Jennifer Freeman Supervisor Chongli Yuan Mentor Kate M Mitsch Type of work required Undergraduates will be working with a graduate student to culture neuronal cells derived from hiPSCs and perform characterization assays. Websites https://cyuangroup.com Qualifications > 3.7. BME, ABE, ChE majors preferred. Credit Hours 3 Weekly Hours 40 (estimated)