DUST Center Team Showcases Work at Superfund Annual Meeting in Texas

Jan. 20, 2026
Andreanna Roros, PhD student, discusses her poster on assessing arsenic and lead in residential soil and dust with Dr. Jon Chorover (Project 4) and Dr. Joe Hoover (CEC).

Andreanna Roros, PhD student, discusses her poster on assessing arsenic and lead in residential soil and dust with Dr. Jon Chorover (Project 4) and Dr. Joe Hoover (CEC).

Xenia De Gracia

Happy New Year! 

Last month, the DUST Center team traveled to Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas to participate in the Superfund Annual Meeting. The Center was well represented with 16 attendees including project leaders, administrators, and trainees!

Dr. Diksha Manhas presenting poster to NIEHS Superfund Program Coordinator

Dr. Diksha Manhas discusses her poster on bioavailablity and toxicokinetics of arsenic associated with dust exposure in mice with NIEHS Superfund Program Director Dr. Michelle Heacock

Associate director Dr. Raina Maier, RETCC lead Dr. Monica Ramirez-Andreotta, and Dr. Nirav Merchant from DMAC were invited to speak about their Center work to other superfund professionals and NIEHS representatives from around the country. Maier discussed her work on sustainable recovery of strategic metals from aqueous-phase mine wastes. Ramirez-Andreotta focused on research translation strategies that help build participatory and cross-disciplinary approaches to create solutions to make communities more resilient in the face of exposure to compounding hazards. Merchant discussed his experience and thoughts about the use of AI and bridging the gap between promise and practice in science.

Five Center Trainees presented their work including: 

  • Xenia de Gracia (Project 3) presented: “Why Some Mine Tailings Are More Toxic Than Others: The Role of Climate and Minerals in Human Health Risk”
  • Kelsey Graves (Project 4) presented: “Uranium Adsorption by Novel Bioinspired Hydrogel Polymer”
  • Dr. Diksha Manhas (Project 2) presented: “Bioavailability and toxicokinetics of arsenic associated with dust exposure in mice”
  • Lois Polashenski (Project 3) presented: “Chemical Characterization of Repurposed Copper Slag and Community Science in Cottonwood, Arizona”
  • Andreanna Roros (Project 3) presented: “Assessing Arsenic and Lead in Residential Soil and Dust to Advance Youth Environmental Health, Data Literacy, and Protection Practice”

Center Director Xinxin Ding said: “We truly appreciated the amazing effort of Texas A&M to coordinate this meeting. It was great to hear from the new NIEHS director Dr. Kyle Walsh about his vision for NIEHS and enthusiasm for the SRP, to meet with the SRP leadership in person, and to learn from our colleagues from around the country about their latest progress. We are supercharged.” 

The DUST Center looks forward to a new year of research to better understand the environment and its impact on health!