Federal Grant Award Summary

The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) awarded $814,154 under the Environmental Health program (CFDA 93.113) to The Research Foundation For The State University of New York at the University at Albany, effective April 1, 2026 through March 31, 2031. This Project Grant supports research investigating the interplay between the epitranscriptome and epigenome in regulating cellular responses to toxicants, with a focus on naphthalene, a major component of wood smoke. The research will deliver scientific findings on how epitranscriptomic marks and epigenetic modifications coordinate to enable acute and adaptive responses to respiratory toxicants, with particular emphasis on transfer RNA (tRNA) modifications, reactive oxygen species (ROS) detoxification pathways, and translational regulation mechanisms in in vivo exposure models.

The project delivers research products including mechanistic characterization of epitranscriptomic reprogramming during toxicant exposure, identification of tRNA writers essential to acute and tolerizing responses, and assessment of how codon usage patterns in stress-response genes enable selective translation of detoxification proteins. Through four integrated research aims, the study will define regulatory systems linking tRNA modifications to selenoprotein expression and lung inflammation responses, advancing understanding of gene-environment interactions and providing a foundation for identifying intervention strategies to reduce exposure burden in vulnerable populations.