On this call Retha Newbold, MS, Researcher Emeritus, National Toxicology Program, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, discussed the program called “The Consortium Linking Academic and Regulatory Insights on the Toxicity of Bisphenol A (CLARITY-BPA)” which is an interagency agreement, conducted under the auspices of the National Toxicology Program (NTP), between The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) supported grantees, the staff of the Division of the National Toxicology Program (DNTP) at NIH/NIEHS, and the Food and Drug Administration at the National Center for Toxicological Research (FDA/NCTR). The goals of the consortium are to enhance the utility of a perinatal 2-year GLP chronic toxicity study on BPA for regulatory decision-making by incorporating a wide range of doses and some additional disease-related endpoints that are not usually covered.
To this end, 12 NIEHS grantees are studying hypothesis-driven mechanisms by investigating specific endpoints that maybe altered by BPA including behavioral/neuroendocrine, immune function, cardiac, reproductive tract, cancer, thyroid, and other organ systems. This consortium is unique in that it combines the knowledge and skills of the NTP staff with experts from the academic field who are covering more mechanistic studies. Although this program focuses on BPA, it may provide an example of how to better study effects of other endocrine disrupting chemicals especially since numerous organ systems may be involved.
Featured Speaker
Retha Newbold, MS, is Researcher Emeritus with the National Toxicology Program at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). She is a developmental reproductive biologist who worked at NIEHS/NIH for over 37 years until retirement in 2009. In addition to overseeing an interagency project for the National Toxicology Program (NTP) on the multigenerational effects of endocrine disrupting chemicals, she lead a research program focused on the role of estrogens in differentiation and development. Some of her most significant work was the development of an experimental animal model to study the adverse effects of diethylstilbestrol (DES) when exposure occurs during critical periods of differentiation. The establishment of this rodent model provided the framework on which many of her subsequent mechanistic studies were based and for her continuing interest in the field of the “developmental origins of adult health and disease”. Using the developmentally DES-exposed mouse, many of her findings replicated and predicted abnormalities seen in similarly DES-exposed humans. Further, she used the DES animal model to study mechanisms involved in hormonal carcinogenesis, and to determine the risk of exposure to other environmental estrogens and endocrine disrupting chemicals. Her interests also include studying epigenetic mechanisms involved in the multigenerational effects of DES, and comparing effects induced by DES to other environmental estrogens such as Bisphenol A, and the phytoestrogens genistein and diadzein. Major research efforts in the Newbold laboratory, and her continuing interests, are directed at translating fundamental information gained from animal studies into clinical studies and practice. Currently she is a consultant in reproductive and developmental toxicology, and is the liaison for the NTP on the CLARITY BPA project.
This half-hour teleconference call is one in a monthly series sponsored by the Collaborative on Health and the Environment’s EDC Strategies Group.The CHE EDC Strategies Group is chaired by Carol Kwiatkowski (TEDX), Sharyle Patton (Commonweal), and Genon Jensen (HEAL). To see a full list of past calls in the series and listen to the MP3 recordings please visit the CHE Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals webpage.