Case Studies Focus on Autism, Air Quality, Chronic Disease
SANTA CLARA, Calif., Oct. 11, 2013 – Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) today announced it is sponsoring a free scientific symposium on exposomics and the etiology of disease. A panel of scientists from Duquesne University, The Children’s Institute of Pittsburgh and The Heinz Endowments will discuss analytical strategies for measuring how environmental exposure impacts human health and chronic disease. The half-day event, “Regional Perspectives to Integrate Exposure and Exposome Measurement with Effects on Human Health,” will be held Wednesday, Oct. 16, at Duquesne.
“The human exposome initiative is a fast-growing field of research that has captured worldwide attention and is driving a new research paradigm,” said Dr. Anthony Macherone, symposium co-host, senior applications chemist for Agilent, and visiting scientist at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “There is growing evidence that 70 to 90 percent of chronic human diseases result from exposure to exogenous and endogenous chemical entities and are not directly attributable to genetic origin.”
“Children in western Pennsylvania, for example, appear to be exposed to more toxic chemicals than other children nationwide, and children with autism may process these chemicals differently from other children,” added co-host Dr. H.M. “Skip” Kingston, professor of analytical chemistry at Duquesne and co-director of the University’s Agilent Center of Excellence for Mass Spectrometry.
Dr. Kingston and co-researcher Dr. Scott Faber, a developmental pediatrician, have examined environmental pollutants and autism in children and will each conduct separate presentations at the Oct. 16 event.
With more than 20 years of experience in the fields of forensics, biotechnology and drug discovery, Dr. Macherone has developed specialized liquid and gas phase chromatography/mass spectrometry techniques and other core laboratory methods for the identification and quantification of chemicals in biological matrices.
“The exposome is comprised of an estimated 100,000 chemical entities circulating in the human body that are outside of genetic control and may offer insight into reducing exposure and developing pathways to personalized medicine,” he said.
Also at the event, guest scientist Dr. Philip R. S. Johnson from The Heinz Endowments will discuss air quality, health impacts and exposure assessment in the Pittsburgh region. A team of Agilent scientists will present current trends in exposomics and their multidisciplinary work in the field.
“The nascent field of exposomics may provide some of the missing pieces to help understand disease causality by offering an integrated view of biochemical measurements for which Agilent provides a complete set of analytical solutions,” said Leo Bonilla, Ph.D., Agilent’s market director for Life Science Research/Integrated Biology.
To register for the event and view the complete symposium agenda, abstracts and speaker biographies, visit Agilent’s Environmental Exposure Science Symposium website.
About Agilent’s Integrated Biology Solutions
Agilent provides researchers with analytical products that span all four major “omics” disciplines. These combined hardware/software and informatics solutions are fueling the next generation of pathway-centric multi-omics research and yielding valuable information about drug responses, drug resistance, diagnostic markers, and fundamental disease/toxicity pathways. For more information about Agilent’s complete portfolio of integrated biology solutions, visit http://biology.chem.agilent.com.
About Duquesne University
Founded in 1878, Duquesne is consistently ranked among the nation’s top Catholic research universities for its award-winning faculty and tradition of academic excellence. Duquesne, a campus of more than 10,000 graduate and undergraduate students, has been nationally recognized for its academic programs, community service and commitment to sustainability. www.duq.edu.
Duquesne University media contacts: Rose Ravasio, (412) 396-6051, cell (412) 818-0234; and Karen Ferrick-Roman, (412) 396-1154, cell (412) 736-1877.
For more information on The Children’s Institute of Pittsburgh, visit www.amazingkids.org.
For more information on The Heinz Endowments, visit www.heinz.org.
About Agilent Technologies
Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) is the world’s premier measurement company and a technology leader in chemical analysis, life sciences, diagnostics, electronics and communications. The company’s 20,500 employees serve customers in more than 100 countries. Agilent had revenues of $6.9 billion in fiscal 2012. Information about Agilent is available at www.agilent.com.
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