Research Advancing Kentucky: Ensuring a healthy environment
Researchers are at the University of Kentucky play an important role in advancing the health, well-being and future of our Commonwealth.
Much of that work is done with support from the National Institute of Health (NIH). That support allows our researchers to find answers to many of the critical health issues facing Kentuckians.
Jason Unrine, Ph.D., is supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), which leads research on how the environment affects biological systems across the lifespan. The ultimate goal is to reduce disease and promote human health.
Unrine is the director of the Kentucky Water Research Institute and a professor in the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences in the Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment.
As an environmental toxicologist and chemist, Unrine’s research focuses on the environmental fate and toxicity of trace elements, engineered nanomaterials and disinfection byproducts in water and ecosystems. He studies how these substances transform, accumulate and impact organisms, strongly emphasizing drinking water safety in Kentucky.
“NIH-funded infrastructure helps to make sure that we have the cutting-edge instruments, laboratories and expertise that is needed to measure potentially toxic chemicals in water, soil, air and food,” said Unrine. “My hope for the future of research at UK is that we can develop tools and approaches to prevent Kentucky’s children’s exposure to potentially harmful chemicals and give them the best possible start in life.”
Unrine and other members of the research community shared the importance of NIH-funded research at UK in this video series from Research Communications.
Learn more about each featured researcher.
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