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<\/a>Joshua Breidenbach, a Ph.D. student in the College of Medicine and Life Sciences, is researching how cyanotoxins dispersed into the air during harmful algal blooms affect individuals with asthma.<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cA lot of the existing guidance is based on healthy individuals, but I think we all know that not everyone is healthy,\u201d Breidenbach said. \u201cThat\u2019s something we really focus on in this lab. Is there a preexisting, at-risk population that should be more aware of environmental risks? That\u2019s really important for us to consider.\u201d<\/p>\n
Working under the mentorship of Dr. David Kennedy and Dr. Steven Haller, both associate professors of medicine, Breidenbach\u2019s research is aimed at better understanding how individuals with asthma are affected by the cyanotoxins that get dispersed into the air during harmful algal blooms.<\/p>\n
The team has already shown that cells on the inside layer of the lung become inflamed when exposed to aerosolized microcystin.<\/p>\n
Further research is aimed at determining how the body\u2019s network of immune cells respond to that initial exposure in order to more fully understand the increased risk of microcystin exposure to individuals with asthma.<\/p>\n
\u201cAsthma is one of the most prevalent airway diseases, but it\u2019s also primarily inflammation based,\u201d Breidenbach said. \u201cThis research is to see if there is a connection between the preexisting inflammatory airway state in asthma and the inflammation that aerosolized microcystin seems to cause.\u201d<\/p>\n
Breidenbach recently received a F31 Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award from the National Institutes of Health based in part on his research proposal for studying aerosolized microcystin. The highly competitive fellowship identifies promising predoctoral students and provides them a robust, individualized training experience.<\/p>\n
Through the fellowship award, Breidenbach also will be mentored by faculty from the UToledo departments of pathology, chemistry and pharmacology, as well as researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, University of Michigan and Wayne State University.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the end, we\u2019ll answer a scientific question, but equally importantly we\u2019ll have a scientist who now can go and answer the next big question that comes along because he\u2019ll be trained in the best methods,\u201d Haller said. \u201cThis award is really about his development as an academic and independent researcher.\u201d<\/p>\n
A Bascom, Ohio, native who earned bachelor\u2019s and master\u2019s degrees from UToledo, Breidenbach is one of two students in the College of Medicine and Life Sciences to earn the prestigious F31 fellowship.<\/p>\n
Rachel Golonka, a Ph.D. student in the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology who is studying how altered gut bacteria can change the type of immune cells in the liver and potentially lead to liver cancer, also earned an F31 Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award.<\/p>\n
For Breidenbach, understanding how microcystin may disproportionally affect those with asthma is more than just an important scientific question in the abstract. Not only is Toledo one of the largest American cities that contend with annual harmful algal blooms, but his fianc\u00e9 suffers from severe asthma.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese things are real,\u201d he said. \u201cYou have people who have asthma and it\u2019s kept under control by rescue inhalers. But there are situations they can\u2019t control that might make things worse. It hits close to home.\u201d<\/p>\n
The researchers hope the ongoing work, which will include state-of-the-art 3D cell culture models that mimic the lining of human lungs, will provide insight that can guide public policy decisions and improve the human condition.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a problem that\u2019s in our backyard, but the problem isn\u2019t just in our backyard \u2014 it\u2019s a global problem,\u201d Kennedy said. \u201cJosh will be creating a fundamental understanding of how the lungs respond to aerosolized microcystin and that knowledge may help in the creation of therapeutics that we can one day use to help treat people.\u201d<\/p>\n