Research Summary

Dr. Smith’s research interests include investigating a number of toxicants, including Bisphenol-A  (BPA), Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP), butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), and Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE), ubiquitously found in commercially available products and in our environment, for their potential effects on Drosophila development. Her group has found that exposure to a significant number of toxicants causes an alteration in body size during development, and have further found that several toxicants cause disturbances in the timing of onset of maturation.  Dr. Smith has a specific interest in the non-monotonic dose response to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), such as BPA.  She is using a variety of cell, molecular, and bioinformatic  approaches to identify toxicant-induced disturbances in cellular pathways that control growth and development.