Leadership

Dr. Dunphy-Daly’s research focuses on the role of policy and technology in reducing marine plastic pollution. She is interested in how regulations for other pollutants have led to improved technology and how we can apply these frameworks to the plastic pollution pandemic. Dr. Dunphy-Daly co-lead a Bass Connections team on the bioremediation of plastic pollution to conserve marine biodiversity, and she works to engage students in research aimed at ways to reduce the human impact on our marine environment.

Microorganisms are present in almost all environments, and the full extent of their impact on their hosts and surroundings are largely unknown. A better understanding of how microorganisms and microbial communities interact with their environments and hosts will provide immeasurable insights into all aspects of biomedical and environmental research. I’m broadly interested in expanding accessibility and feasibility of microbiome research to scientists across disciplines and help to provide experimental and computational support at all stages of microbiome-focused projects.

Nathan Bossa, Ph.D. is a research scientist specializing in the environmental impact and safety of materials, particularly in the context of nanomaterials, micro- and nano-plastic, and advanced materials. He is currently working in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Duke University, where he leads the International Network For Researching, Advancing, and Assessing Materials for Environmental Sustainability (INFRAMES) project. His own current research focus is on linking materials properties with their behavior in the environment.

Dr. Will Eward is a physician-scientist at Duke University where he specializes in the treatment and study of Sarcoma. As a dual DVM-MD with expertise in comparative models of cancer, Will serves as Executive Director of the Duke University Comparative Oncology Group. Although his lab primarily studies cancer, they are very interested in plastic waste because it can perpetuate carcinogens in the environment. Will’s research includes how we can transform plastic waste into a biodegradable substrate. Will is a team leader for the Bass Connections team on Bioremediation of Plastic Pollution to Conserve Marine Biodiversity.

My lab is interested in micro and nano plastic toxicity to aquatic organisms, with a particular focus on fish.

Dr. Nancy Lauer is a Lecturing Fellow and Staff Scientist with the Duke Environmental Law and Policy Clinic. Dr. Lauer works with the City of Durham, riverkeepers, and the local non-profits on measures to reduce plastic waste and plastic pollution through stormwater controls and source reduction. Much of her research focuses on developing methods to collect data on plastic pollution and using that data to inform effective plastic policies.

Joel Meyer, Ph.D. is an environmental toxicologist who has studied the impacts of pollutants on health, primarily using Caenorhabditis elegans. This powerful toxicological model organism offers exceptional advantages for understanding how micro- and nanoplastics move between cells in an intact animal, and how cellular and organismal function is affected by plastic and plastic additive exposure. Transparent bodies permit easy microscopic visualization in vivo, and tens of thousands of existing transgenic lines permit rapid and cost-effective visualization of where the particles go, and what they do to different cells. Dr. Meyer spent approximately 15 years working on non-plastic nanomaterial toxicity using this system. This led to 17 peer-reviewed manuscripts that have been cited nearly 2500 times. Finally, his group also works with cell culture and, collaboratively, researchers using fish and rodent models, allowing for interspecies comparisons that will improve our ability to extrapolate results to other species including wildlife and humans. Thus, he is well-poised to carry out experiments to determine the factors that govern intercellular transport and toxic effects of microplastics.

Michelle’s research is focused on understanding the sources and impacts of plastic debris on aquatic and marine environments and human health, and developing policies and regulatory mechanisms to address and reduce those impacts.  Much of her client-based work focuses on mechanisms for upstream communities that reduce waste at the source.

Dr. Rittschof’s research is focused on the toxicology and physiological impacts on marine animals of molecules leaching from plastics, the flavors of plastics that cause plastics to be consumed, the impacts of consumption on animals eating plastic and the role of plastics as platforms for delivery of biologically active molecules to animals and for removal of biologically active molecules from animals. The lab’s goal is to inform policy and manufacturing processes.

Dr. Somarelli’s team is trying tackle the plastic waste pandemic in the following ways: 1) developing new enzymes and microbial systems to biodegrade plastic, 2) using bioinformatics to identify enzymes with plastic degrading capability, 3) understanding the influence of plastic ingestion as a carrier of environmental toxins, and 4) engaging students in research aimed at improving societal understanding of humanity's negative impacts on the environment and human health.

Dr. John Virdin is interested in studying how governments have or can design effective public policy responses to the problem, including:

• Empirical analysis of public policy responses in different contexts
• Global monitoring and tracking of public policy responses and evidence for their effects
• Translating public policy responses into projected reductions in mismanaged plastic waste

Additionally, he is interested in the role that large corporations can play in governance of plastics use, including:

• Empirical analysis of large corporate responses to the plastic pollution problem and evidence for effects
• How large corporations are organizing to address the problem

The West laboratory has a developing interest in microplastic toxicity with respect to susceptibility and progression of neurodegenerative diseases. We hypothesize that the so-called primary-proteinopathies, in particular, may be precipitated or otherwise affected by microplastic exposures, either in neurodevelopment stages or accumulations in lifetime exposures. We are further interested in how microplastics might infiltrate or accumulate in the central nervous system and gut.

More broadly, our laboratory is focuses on identifying critical pathogenic mechanisms underlying neurological diseases like Parkinson’s disease with the goal of developing new therapeutics to block disease progression.

The Wiesner plastic group focuses on how polymers break down via mechanical abrasion, nano-fillers in plastics (nanocomposites) and the physico-chemical properties of these abraded microplastics. These studies will help combat microplastic pollution in aquatic systems by quantifying plastic degeneration rates of larger persistent plastics into smaller microplastics and assess the environmental impact of microplastics.