Research projects
SRP researchers led four projects until the program ended in 2023: two biomedical projects and two environmental science projects that focused on characterizing the mechanisms of nervous system toxicity and environmental contamination associated with metal exposures.
![A red salmon swimming underwater](/srp/sites/deohs.washington.edu.srp/files/styles/hero_full_narrow/public/2020-10/Salmon%20for%20Carousel_0.jpg?itok=2y6nvIfy)
Salmon rely on smell to survive. Research shows that exposure to metals like cadmium impair that sense, threatening salmon survival.
![Three reserachers in white lab coats stand in a lab.](/srp/sites/deohs.washington.edu.srp/files/styles/hero_full_narrow/public/2020-10/DSC_0167%20copy_0.jpg?itok=7hi_DQ8p)
People respond to contaminant exposures in different ways, depending, in part, on the levels of protective enzymes that they produce.
![A graduate student in a white lab coat peers into a microscope.](/srp/sites/deohs.washington.edu.srp/files/styles/hero_full_narrow/public/2020-10/Megumi.jpg?itok=9kAursrq)
Exposing mice to cadmium to generate blood levels similar to those found in the general human population resulted in cognitive impairment.
![Two researchers look at a laptop together by a lake](/srp/sites/deohs.washington.edu.srp/files/styles/hero_full_narrow/public/2020-10/Screen%20Shot%202020-03-26%20at%201.35.21%20PM.png?itok=rFnlxj8k)
Contaminated shallow lakes have more arsenic in their water than contaminated deeper lakes, meaning higher risk for humans.