Research
As a PhD student in the Toxicology Program at North Carolina State University my research interests include epigenetic and phenotypic changes affecting the placenta and fetal growth in response to environmental cadmium exposure. My research involves both in vivo and in vitro models to better understand the patterns of methylation establishment and maintenance of imprinted genes as well as their expression and association with placental efficiency during toxic insult.
Example Presentation:
This work highlights techniques used to analyze the effect of cadmium on the epigenome. By using a hybrid model of cadmium exposure we are able to determine the effects of metal exposure on growth factors such as Cdkn1c with parental specificity both at the transcript and genomic level.
Recent Presentations and Awards:
North Carolina Society of Toxicology Annual Meeting, 2021
Genetics and Mutagenesis Society of North Carolina – Fall Meeting, 2021, 3rd Place
North Carolina State University – Toxicology Seminar Series – March 2021
Society of Toxicology Annual Meeting and ToxExpo – March 2021
38th Annual Meeting of the Mountain West Society of Toxicology, 2020, 1st Place.
North Carolina Society of Toxicology Poster Competition at NIEHS, 2020
Genomic Imprinting – From Biology to Disease – International Virtual Meeting, 2020
Genetics and Mutagenesis Society of North Carolina – Fall Meeting, 2020
My recent presentation at the International Virtual Meeting on Genomic Imprinting:
Mark Simmers
Research Assistant, PhD Candidate
Center for Human Health and the Environment
Department of Biological Sciences
North Carolina State University
Raleigh, NC 27695