Award Abstract #0830117
CEIN: Predictive Toxicology Assessment and Safe Implementation of Nanotechnology in the Environment

NSF Org:	EF Emerging Frontiers
Initial Amendment Date:	September 17, 2008
Latest Amendment Date:	August 30, 2009
Award Number:	0830117
Award Instrument:	Cooperative Agreement
Program Manager:	Alan James Tessier EF Emerging Frontiers BIO Directorate for Biological Sciences
Start Date:	September 1, 2008
Expires:	August 31, 2013 (Estimated)
Awarded Amount to Date:	$9000000
Investigator(s):	Andre Nel anel@mednet.ucla.edu (Principal Investigator) Yoram Cohen (Co-Principal Investigator) Roger Nisbet (Co-Principal Investigator) Hilary Godwin (Co-Principal Investigator) Arturo Keller (Co-Principal Investigator)
Sponsor:	University of California-Los Angeles 11000 Kinross Avenue LOS ANGELES, CA 90095 310/794-0102
NSF Program(s):	CEIN-CTR ENVIR IMPL OF NANO, CEIN, DISCOVERY RESEARCH K-12, INFORMAL SCIENCE EDUCATION, NANOSCALE: SCIENCE & ENGIN CTR, OFFICE OF MULTIDISCIPLINARY AC
Field Application(s):	0000099 Other Applications NEC
Program Reference Code(s):	smet, BIOT, 9183, 9179, 9178, 9177, 7784, 7720, 7702, 7465, 7259, 7237, 1675, 1253, 1179
Program Element Code(s):	I385, H408, 7784, 7720, 7645, 7259, 1675, 1253

ABSTRACT

University of California-Los Angeles

Columbia University

University of Bremen

University of British Columbia

University of California-Davis

University of California-Riverside

University of California-Santa Barbara

University of Texas-El Paso

This award establishes a Center to conduct research and education on the interactions of nanomaterials with living systems and with the abiotic environment. The goals of this Center are to develop a predictive understanding of biological and ecological toxicology for nanomaterials, and of their transport and transformation in the environment. This Center engages a highly interdisciplinary, multi-institutional team in an integrated research program to determine how the physical and chemical properties of nanomaterials determine their environmental impacts from the cellular scale to that of entire ecosystems. The research approach promises to be transformative to the science of ecotoxicology by combining high throughput screening assays with computational and physiological modeling to predict impacts at higher levels of biological organization. The Center will unite the fields of engineering, chemistry, physics, materials science, cell biology, ecology, toxicology, computer modeling, and risk assessment to establish the foundations of a new scientific discipline: environmental nanotoxicology.

Research on nanomaterials and development of nanotechnology is expanding rapidly and producing discoveries that promise to benefit the nation?s economy, and improve our ability to live sustainably on earth. There is now a critical need to reduce uncertainty about the possible negative consequences of nanomaterials in the environment, while at the same time providing guidelines for their safe design to prevent environmental and toxicological hazards. This Center addresses this societal need by developing a scientific framework of risk prediction that is paradigm-shifting in its potential to keep pace with the commercial expansion of nanotechnology. Another impact of the Center will be development of human resources for the academic community, industry and government by training the next generation of nano-scale scientists, engineers, and regulators to anticipate and mitigate potential future environmental hazards of nanotechnology. Partnerships with other centers will act as powerful portals for the dissemination and integration of research findings to the scientific, educational, and industrial communities, both nationally and internationally. This Center will contribute to a network of nanotechnology centers that serve the national needs and expand representation and access to this research and knowledge network through an internship program directed at California community colleges serving underrepresented groups. Outreach activities, including a journalist?scientist communication program, will serve to inform both experts and the public at large about the safety issues surrounding nanotechnology and how to safely produce, use, and dispose of nanomaterials.

PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH

Armendariz V.; Parsons J.G.; Lopez M.L.; Peralta-Videa J.R.; Jose-Ycaman M.; Gardea-Torresdey J.L.. "The Extraction of Gold Nanoparticles from Oat and Wheat Biomass Using Sodium Citrate and Cetyltrimethlyammonium Bromide, Studied by X-Ray Absorption Spectroscopy, High-resolution Transmission Spectroscopy, and UV-Visible Spectroscopy," Nanotechnology, v.20, 2009.

Castillo-Michel H.A.; Zuverza-Mena N.; Parsons J.G.; Dokken K.M.; Duarte-Gardea M.; Peralta-Videa J.R.; Gardea-Torresdey. "Accumulation, Speciation, and Coordination of Arsenic in an Inbred Line and a Wild Type Cultivar of the Desert Plant Species Chilopsis LInearis (Desert Willow)," Phytochemistry, v.70, 2009, p. 540.

Choi J.Y.; Rmachandran G.; Kandlikar M.. "The Impact of Toxicity Testing Costs on Nanomaterial Regulation," Environmental Science & Technology, v.43, 2009, p. 3030.

Liong M.; France B.; Bradley K.; Zink J.. "Antimicrobial Activity of Silver Nanocrystals Encapsulated in Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles," Advanced Materials, v.21, 2009, p. 1.

Lopez M.L.; Peralta-Videa J.R.; Parsons J.G.; Duarte-Gardea M.; Gardea-Torresdey J.L.. "Concentration and Biotransformation of Arsenic by Prosopis Sp. Grown in Soil Treated with Chelating Agents and Phytohormones," Environmental Chemistry, v.5, 2008, p. 320.

Ostrowski A.D.; Martin T.; Conti J.; Hurt I.; Harthorn B.H.. "Nanotoxicology: Characterizing the Scientific Literature, 2000-2007," Journal of Nanoparticle Research, v.11, 2009, p. 251.

Priester J.; Stoimenov P.; Mielke R.; Webb S.; Ehrhardt C.; Zhang J.; Stucky G.; Holden P.. "Effects of Soluble Cadmium Salts Versus CdSe Quantum Dots on the Growth of Planktonic Pseudomonas Aeruginosa," Environmental Science & Technology, v.43, 2009, p. 2589.

Xia T.; Kovichich M.; Liong M.; Madler L.; Gilbert B.; Shi H.; Yeh J.; Zink J.I.; Nel A.E.. "Comparison of the Mechanism of Toxicity of Zinc Oxide and Cerium Oxide Nanoparticles Based on Dissolution and Oxidative Stress Properties," ACS Nano, v.2, 2008, p. 2121.

Xia T.; Li N.; Nel A.. "Potential Health Impact of Nanoparticles," Annual Review of Public Health, v.30, 2009, p. 137.

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