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SU Environmental Toxicology Department receives FAMRI Grant

The Southern University Baton Rouge Environmental Toxicology department recently received renewal of a Flight Attendant Medical Research Institute (FAMRI) grant for 2017-2018.

The $108,000 grant is supporting research of the cytosolic receptor PAN5/PYNOD/ NALP10 and how it regulates secondhand smoke induced inflammation. Specifically, the team’s focus is the importance of cellular membrane micro domains, autophagy, immunoproteasomes and epigenetic markers in inflammation if the cytosolic receptor is absent. 

“This is our fifth year receiving support from the Flight Attendant Medical Research Institute to fund our research,” says Sanjay Batra, associate professor of Environmental Toxicology. “The continuation of this funding is a significant recognition to the work of my research group.”

The grant provides full assistantships for the five SU Environmental Toxicology Ph.D students that make up the research group. In addition to providing funding for this study, the University benefits indirectly from the institute’s support. Batra and his team have written several articles focusing on the molecular mechanisms which are being targeted by our group and two other manuscripts are currently in revision. 

FAMRI is a non-profit, private foundation formed from class action law suit brought on behalf of non-smoking Flight Attendants in 1991.