Biography
Research Interests
Increasing evidence supports the hypothesis that human exposure to environmental pollutants may have great impacts on human health. Specifically, it is now postulated that exposure to chemicals collectively named “obesogens” may contribute to the obesity epidemic and metabolic disease. Further, it is recognised that chemicals may be carcinogenic and therefore contribute to the development of cancers in humans.
Research Program
The research conducted in Dr. Atlas’ laboratory comprises two major projects.
- To develop in vitro models to investigate the effects of chemicals on fat cell formation, adipogenesis, and to investigate the effects of these chemicals on the phenotype of the mature fat cells.
- To investigate the carcinogenic effect of chemicals on the mammary gland in 3D models, using mammary epithelial cells.
- Using 3D primary hepatocyte spheroid to investigate hepatic toxicity of chemicals.
Select Publications
- Singh M, Crosthwait J, Sorisky A, Atlas E. Tetra methyl bisphenol F: another potential obesogen. Int J Obes (Lond). 2024 Jul;48(7):923-933. doi: 10.1038/s41366-024-01496-5. Epub 2024 Feb 22. PMID: 38388800; PMCID: PMC11216980.
- Ewald JD, Lu Y, Ellis CE, Worton J, Kolic J, Sasaki S, Zhang D, Dos Santos T, Spigelman AF, Bautista A, Dai XQ, Lyon JG, Smith NP, Wong JM, Rajesh V, Sun H, Sharp SA, Rogalski JC, Moravcova R, Cen HH, Manning Fox JE; HumanIslets.com Consortium; Atlas E, Bruin JE, Mulvihill EE, Verchere CB, Foster LJ, Gloyn AL, Johnson JD, Pepper AR, Lynn FC, Xia J, MacDonald PE. HumanIslets.com: Improving accessibility, integration, and usability of human research islet data. Cell Metab. 2024 Sep 24:S1550-4131(24)00365-6. doi: 10.1016/j.cmet.2024.09.001. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39357523.
- Corton JC, Ledbetter V, Cohen SM, Atlas E, Yauk CL, Liu J. A transcriptomic biomarker predictive of cell proliferation for use in adverse outcome pathway-informed testing and assessment. Toxicol Sci. 2024 Oct 1;201(2):174-189. doi: 10.1093/toxsci/kfae102. PMID: 39137154.
- Matteo G, Leingartner K, Rowan-Carroll A, Meier M, Williams A, Beal MA, Gagné M, Farmahin R, Wickramasuriya S, Reardon AJF, Barton-Maclaren T, Christopher Corton J, Yauk CL, Atlas E. In vitro transcriptomic analyses reveal pathway perturbations, estrogenic activities, and potencies of data-poor BPA alternative chemicals. Toxicol Sci. 2023 Feb 17;191(2):266-275. doi: 10.1093/toxsci/kfac127. PMID: 36534918; PMCID: PMC9936204.
- Addicks GC, Rowan-Carroll A, Reardon AJF, Leingartner K, Williams A, Meier MJ, Moffat I, Carrier R, Lorusso L, Wetmore BA, Yauk CL, Atlas E. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in mixtures show additive effects on transcriptomic points of departure in human liver spheroids. Toxicol Sci. 2023 Jun 28;194(1):38-52. doi: 10.1093/toxsci/kfad044. PMID: 37195416; PMCID: PMC10306399.
- Heindel JJ, Alvarez JA, Atlas E, Cave MC, Chatzi VL, Collier D, Corkey B, Fischer D, Goran MI, Howard S, Kahan S, Kayhoe M, Koliwad S, Kotz CM, La Merrill M, Lobstein T, Lumeng C, Ludwig DS, Lustig RH, Myers P, Nadal A, Trasande L, Redman LM, Rodeheffer MS, Sargis RM, Stephens JM, Ziegler TR, Blumberg B. Obesogens and Obesity: State-of-the-Science and Future Directions Summary from a Healthy Environment and Endocrine Disruptors Strategies Workshop. Am J Clin Nutr. 2023 Jul;118(1):329-337. doi: 10.1016/j.ajcnut.2023.05.024. Epub 2023 May 23. PMID: 37230178; PMCID: PMC10731763.
- Reardon AJF, Rowan-Carroll A, Ferguson SS, Leingartner K, Gagne R, Kuo B, Williams A, Lorusso L, Bourdon-Lacombe JA, Carrier R, Moffat I, Yauk CL, Atlas E. Potency Ranking of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances Using High-Throughput Transcriptomic Analysis of Human Liver Spheroids. Toxicol Sci. 2021 Oct 27;184(1):154-169. doi: 10.1093/toxsci/kfab102. PMID: 34453843.
- Rowan-Carroll A, Reardon A, Leingartner K, Gagné R, Williams A, Meier MJ, Kuo B, Bourdon-Lacombe J, Moffat I, Carrier R, Nong A, Lorusso L, Ferguson SS, Atlas E, Yauk C. High-Throughput Transcriptomic Analysis of Human Primary Hepatocyte Spheroids Exposed to Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances as a Platform for Relative Potency Characterization. Toxicol Sci. 2021 May 27;181(2):199-214. doi: 10.1093/toxsci/kfab039. PMID: 33772556.