Grant: Master's Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships

My area of research will study the mechanism through which environmental chemicals lead to birth defects. The laboratory that I am working in has previously demonstrated that the accumulation of certain chemically reactive forms of oxygen, referred to as reactive oxygen species (ROS), causes disruption of essential cell signalling pathways within the developing embryo or fetus. Benzene is one of the environmental chemicals that can lead to the production of ROS. Benzene is quite ubiquitous and is found in many consumer products including: stain removers, paint thinners, and hobby/craft products. It is even found in natural sources such as gasoline, fire emission, and cigarette smoke. Due to the abundance of benzene in the environment, exposure is very likely in both occupational and environmental settings. Exposure to benzene has been known to cause acute myeloid leukaemia in adults and exposure during pregnancy has been associated with childhood leukaemia. Therefore, it is important to investigate how benzene can cause birth defects such as childhood leukaemia so that policies regarding the use and exposure to benzene can be developed. Previous studies in my laboratory have demonstrated that benzene exposure during mouse pregnancy leads to the production of ROS, which can influence essential cell signalling pathways in the developing embryo. As such, I hypothesize that these influences on cell signalling pathways are responsible for birth defects observed in children born to mothers who were exposed to benzene during their pregnancy. I will test this hypothesis in vivo using a mouse model. The understanding of how benzene leads to birth defects will assist in the development of policies regarding the use and exposure to benzene.