Federal Project Grant Award Summary

The University of Rochester received a $906,000 Project Grant award dated February 19, 2026, from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences under the Environmental Health program (CFDA 93.113) to conduct research on lung cellular senescence and molecular clock dysfunction induced by environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure. The research will investigate the role of the nuclear receptor REV-ERBα in mediating ETS-induced cellular senescence in pulmonary cells and will employ cellular, molecular, and toxicological approaches to characterize senescence-clock interactions across the lifespan in non-smokers, smokers, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients. The project will extend through January 31, 2034, and will be conducted at the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York.

This award addresses critical gaps in understanding how tobacco smoke disrupts molecular clock function and triggers cellular senescence in lung tissues, with the ultimate goal of identifying therapeutic interventions using REV-ERBα agonists and senescence inhibitors to restore molecular clock function and reduce toxicological lung effects. The research directly supports NIEHS's mission to investigate how environmental exposures affect biological systems and translate findings into strategies that reduce disease burden and improve human health outcomes.