Dr. Cui is trained as a toxicologist, specializing in using toxicogenomic and toxico-epigenomic approaches to determine the effects of environmental chemical exposure and reprogramming the gut microbiome on the transcriptional and epigenetic regulation of genes involved in drug metabolism and obesity during development.
Engagement
Equity, diversity and inclusion
The microbiome is an important regulator for exposures to environmental toxicants that can lead to adverse health effects such as liver cancer, obesity and neurodegenerative disease, especially in vulnerable populations that are either genetically predisposed or are at increased risk of exposures to environmental stressors. My work contributes to public health practice by investigating the mechanisms of how the microbiome contributes to these adverse health effects and identifying novel biomarkers. Results will provide insights into informing risks and designing precision microbial therapies to mitigate the injury in susceptible populations.
Community and research partnerships
I have ongoing collaborations with investigators from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the Institute for Systems Biology on translational research regarding how the microbiome contributes to the susceptibility of diseases in confined environments and in vulnerable populations.
Other collaborators include:
- The CMiST Microbiome Center
- The Seattle VA Medical Center
- Florida International University
- The Albert Einstein College of Medicine
- University of Iowa Superfund Research Program
- University of California, Davis
- Institute for Systems Biology
- UW Tacoma Environmental Chemistry and Engineering
Teaching practices
I use state-of-the-art active learning classroom (ALC) teaching strategies to promote engagement with students from diverse backgrounds. I provide opportunities for student-led guest lectures and group discussions and empower students to develop their own research topics for case studies. I welcome the many social and cultural differences among us, and I engage respectfully in the discussion of diverse world views and ideologies embedded in course readings, presentations and artifacts, including those course materials that are at odds with personal beliefs and values.
Besides classroom teaching, I provide independent research study opportunities to students from diverse backgrounds, including trainees from the SURE-EH program (https://deohs.washington.edu/sure-eh), which provides underrepresented students at the UW with an opportunity to work with experienced faculty on a research project addressing the relationship between environmental exposures and human health.
Success stories from my trainees include winning the UW Mary Gates Scholarship, winning best research presentation awards at scientific meetings, and co-authoring publications in peer-reviewed journals in the area of environmental health sciences.
Service
- DEOHS Roosevelt Advisory Committee
- DEOHS CAPC Course Curriculum Committee
- DEOHS Graduate Student Admission Committee
- NIEHS R21 SURE-EH training grant, Steering Committee
- NIEHS T32 EP/T training grant, Steering Committee
- CMiST Microbiome Center Steering Committee
- EHMBRACE Microbiome Center Director and Steering Committee
- Various thesis committees in DEOHS, Engineering, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Medicinal Chemistry and Biostatistics
- NIH Standing Member of the SIEE Study Section
- American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET) Executive Committee
- Society of Toxicology (SOT) Award Committee
- Pacific Northwest Association for Toxicologists (PANWAT) President and Executive Committee
- 2021: Co-chair and organizer of the UW-ASU (Arizona State University) Metabolomics and Microbiomics Symposium
- NIH Study section reviewer on the ZRG1 DKUS-A (04) specialty section
- Co-director of the Functional Genomics Core of the NIEHS EDGE Center
- Member of the Seattle Cancer Consortium