OXFORD, Miss. – Pharmaceuticals and chemicals that may show up as environmental contaminants are examined in this month’s installment of a monthly public science forum organized by the University of Mississippi Department of Physics and Astronomy.
The spring semester’s third meeting of the Oxford Science Cafe is set for 6 p.m. March 26 at Lusa Pastry Cafe, 1120 North Lamar Ave. Kristine Willett, UM associate professor of pharmacology, will discuss “What Is Environmental Toxicology?: How estrogen-like compounds, nanosilver use and your great-grandparents’ lifestyle choices may affect you.” The program is free and open to the public.
“Chemicals and drugs that we may not even consider as environmental contaminants may cause toxicity,” Willett said. “Some pharmaceutical and veterinary drugs can mimic our own steroid hormone pathways.”
Willett’s 30-minute presentation will provide an overview of her work in the university’s Environmental Toxicology Research Program.
“The number of consumer products containing nanosilver – including socks, washing machines and food containers – is increasing because of silver’s antibacterial properties, but it is currently unclear by what biologic mechanisms nanosilver may be toxic,” she said. “My presentation will provide an overview of research done in my lab, including how chemicals and drugs that we may not even consider as environmental contaminants may cause adverse affects even across generations.”
Willett received her doctoral degree from Texas A&M University’s Veterinary Medicine Toxicology Program and her bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina. Before joining the UM faculty in 2000, she was worked as postdoctoral fellows at the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University, and in the School of Public Health at Indiana University.
Get more information about Oxford Science Cafe programs.