URIs_MOMENTUM_Research_and_Innovation_Magazine_Spring_2022_M

Ross and her team completed a series of small pilot studies to assess patterns of behavior in mice after acute microplastics exposure and to understand how microplastics show up at the cellular level. “In just three weeks we found very striking changes in behavior in the animals—such as how much they moved, how anxious they were, and how they responded to stimuli like light,” Ross says. “That’s scary. Then we started to look at the tissues of the mice and found that microplastics had infiltrated every tissue we looked at, including the brain, and were congregated around the nucleus of cells.” She also submitted a proposal to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Outstanding New Environmental Scientist (ONES) in March 2022 that would allow Ross’ team to build off this initial work and answer deeper questions about how microplastics interact with the body and cells. She explains, “That’s the next step. Where do microplastics go when they enter the body?” Because this research would break new ground, Ross emphasizes that answering basic questions first is critical to building up to the more complicated biological dynamics she hopes her team will explore if awarded funding. “What we ultimately want to understand is how the environment interacts with genetic background and how that can affect our aging process and potentially make us more susceptible to disease,” Ross says. The project would allow Ross and her team to carry out a series of important phases in research, beginning with what happens to healthy individuals who are chronically exposed to microplastics. This would be followed by assessing the effects

Lab Technician Bethany Healey (left), and undergraduate student Joceline Rodrigues Monteiro

Jamie Ross’ research focuses on the role of genetics, mitochondrial dysfunction, and inflammation in understanding age-related diseases, particularly those that impact the brain such as Alzheimer’s.

SPRING | 2022 Page 47