Our next seminar will be held on Feb. 20, 2025, from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. in the Integrative Biosciences Center (IBio), located at 6135 Woodward, room 1D. The seminar is also available via Zoom. Zoom details will be emailed to all registrants.

The guest speaker will be Dr. Samson Jamesdaniel, associate professor in the Institute for Environmental Health Sciences and the Department of Family Medicine and Public Health Sciences. He will present, “Ototoxic Interactions of Environmental Stressors."

The adverse impact of exposure to ototraumatic agents at low-moderate levels is often underestimated because single-agent exposure at low levels rarely causes significant hearing loss. However, repeated co-exposure to multiple ototraumatic agents in the urban environment, even at moderate levels, can be harmful, particularly when these agents share the mechanistic pathway by which they induce ototoxicity. As 68% of the world's population is projected to live in urban areas by 2050, such co-exposures are likely to contribute to the anticipated doubling of the prevalence of hearing loss worldwide. Therefore, there is a critical need to define the dose-response relationship and the otopathology associated with pervasive multi-pollutant exposure to chemical and physical stressors in the urban environment. Our recent studies showed that the ototoxic interactions associated with concurrent exposure to lead and noise, which remains a public health hazard in many post-industrial cities, exacerbate hearing impairment, degrading the quality of life and productivity of vulnerable residents. Delineation of the mechanism by which co-exposure to lead and noise exacerbates hearing impairment provides a framework for developing strategies to prevent the harmful auditory effects of multiple-pollutant exposures.

Dr. Samson Jamesdaniel is an associate professor (tenured) in the Institute for Environmental Health Sciences and in the Department of Family Medicine and Public Health Sciences. Dr. Jamesdaniel's research is focused on understanding the redox sensitive molecular mechanisms underlying the ototoxic effects of physical and chemical stressors. Noise, a pervasive environmental stressor, induces oxidative stress to affect physiological as well as psychological well-being. Its interaction with environmental ototoxicants, such as lead and cadmium, can potentiate the damage to the auditory system. His laboratory is interested in delineating these interactions and associated signaling mechanisms. In addition, he is also investigating the nitrative stress mechanism in cisplatin-induced hearing loss. His research projects are supported by grants from the National Institute of Health and the Department of Defense.