Caren Weinhouse, Ph.D.
- Assistant Professor, Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences
Biography
My research program focuses on mechanisms of transcriptional regulation and epigenetic patterning in response to environmental cues or stressors, with a particular focus on chemical pollutants. I completed my PhD at University of Michigan, where I studied epigenetic modifications at the metastable epiallele viable yellow Agouti and DNA methylation changes in mice with developmental bisphenol A exposure that subsequently developed liver cancer. I completed my postdoctoral training at Duke University, where I studied DNA methylation differences in methylmercury-exposed communities living near artisanal and small-scale gold mining in the Peruvian Amazon. In my current work, I focus on the relative roles of stochastic heterogeneity, genetic variation, and environmental stressor exposures in epigenetic and gene expression profiles among cells, cell types, and individuals in a population. In addition, I study the roles of baseline chromatin states and structures in regulating transcription of environmental stress response genes, as well as formation of transcriptional memories at these genes. My broader goal is to translate mechanistic environmental epigenetics to human populations, or "bench to community" translation.
Education and training
-
Degrees
- B.S., 2006, Wayne State University
- M.P.H., 2011, University of Michigan School of Public Health
- Ph.D., 2015, University of Michigan School of Public Health
-
Fellowship
- NIH T32 Environmental Toxicology and Epidemiology Program, University of Michigan
- Duke Global Health Institute Postdoctoral Fellowship
Memberships and associations:
- Society of Toxicology
- Environmental Mutagenesis and Genomics Society
Areas of interest
- Chromatin features of inducible genes
- Transcriptional memory
- Gene x environment interactions in epigenetic patterning
Additional information
Honors and awards
- School of Public Health Dean's Award, University of Michigan
- Rackham Graduate School/OVPR Distinguished Faculty/Graduate Student Seminar Award, University of Michigan [Awarded to develop a new Data Visualization seminar on campus]
- SciComm Science Communication Fellowship, Duke Initiative for Science and Society [Awarded to 15 faculty and 8 postdoctoral fellows across Duke University]
Publications
Publications
In Utero Exposure to Metals and Birth Outcomes in an Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining Birth Cohort in Madre de Dios, Peru
Environmental health perspectivesStability of Free Available Chlorine Levels in Dilute Sodium Hypochlorite Solutions over a 6-Week Period
Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal ScienceA population-based mercury exposure assessment near an artisanal and small-scale gold mining site in the Peruvian Amazon
Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental EpidemiologyCoNaMad-Cohorte de Nacimiento de Madre de Dios/madre de dios birth cohort to study effects of in-utero trace metals exposure in the southern peruvian amazon
Annals of Global HealthEfficacy of hair total mercury content as a biomarker of methylmercury exposure to communities in the area of artisanal and small-scale gold mining in madre de dios, Peru
International journal of environmental research and public healthThe roles of inducible chromatin and transcriptional memory in cellular defense system responses to redox-active pollutants
Free Radical Biology and MedicinePredictors of mitochondrial DNA copy number and damage in a mercury-exposed rural Peruvian population near artisanal and small-scale gold mining
Environmental and Molecular MutagenesisHair mercury level is associated with anemia and micronutrient status in children living near artisanal and small-scale gold mining in the Peruvian Amazon
American Journal of Tropical Medicine and HygieneMitochondrial-epigenetic crosstalk in environmental toxicology
ToxicologyNovel epigenetic biomarkers mediating bisphenol a exposure and metabolic phenotypes in female mice
EndocrinologyEpigenome-wide DNA methylation analysis implicates neuronal and inflammatory signaling pathways in adult murine hepatic tumorigenesis following perinatal exposure to bisphenol A
Environmental and Molecular MutagenesisStat3 is a candidate epigenetic biomarker of perinatal Bisphenol A exposure associated with murine hepatic tumors with implications for human health
EpigeneticsDose-dependent incidence of hepatic tumors in adult mice following perinatal exposure to bisphenol A
Environmental health perspectivesAdaptive radiation-induced epigenetic alterations mitigated by antioxidants
FASEB JournalBisphenol A-associated epigenomic changes in prepubescent girls
Environmental Health: A Global Access Science SourceEpigenetic responses following maternal dietary exposure to physiologically relevant levels of bisphenol A
Environmental and Molecular MutagenesisAn expression microarray approach for the identification of metastable epialleles in the mouse genome
EpigeneticsVariable histone modifications at the Avy metastable epiallele
Epigenetics