American Association for Aerosol Research - Abstract Submission

AAAR 38th Annual Conference
October 5 - October 9, 2020

Virtual Conference

Abstract View


Haoran Yu, Ph.D. Candidate, Post-doctoral Research Position in Aerosol Toxicology/Public Health

HAORAN YU, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

     Abstract Number: 510
     Working Group: Meet the Job Seekers

Abstract
Oxidative potential (OP) of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) has been associated with many health outcomes. Various chemical endpoints have been developed for assessing the oxidative potential of ambient PM2.5, yet no consensus has been reached for selecting the best endpoint as different endpoints are linked with different ROS-generation mechanism. My doctoral project is to investigate the health relevance of different chemical endpoints, and connect the OP activities with intrinsic mechanism towards various redox-active substances in PM.

The first topic of this project was to study the interactions among different PM components on the most commonly used endpoint, DTT activity. Synergistic/antagonistic interactions among organic species and transition metals were observed, indicating that simple summation of individual OP activities might lead to highly biased total activity due to interactions. To understand different ROS generation pathways catalyzed by different redox-active PM constituents, a multiple endpoint analyzing protocol was developed and automated for the second topic. Both DTT-based assays and surrogate lung fluid (SLF) based assays were integrated into the semi-automated multi-endpont ROS-activity analyzer (SAMERA) system. This system is currently employed for a spatiotemporal variability assessment on ambient PM2.5 in Midwest U.S, which serves as the third topic.

I am Haoran Yu, a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate in Dr. Vishal Verma’s research group in University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. My anticipated graduation is in May 2021. I will be seeking a post-doctoral research position after graduation from my doctoral program in aerosol toxicology research associated with public health discipline. My research focus is the health relevance of the oxidative potential from different chemical mechanisms, and my special interest is on the connection of chemical identification of organic species in ambient PM2.5 with the health outcomes from these species. I have no geographical preferences.