IIT Seminar Series: Chris Corton

Tue, April 15, 2025 11:00 AM - Tue, April 15, 2025 1:00 PM at 162 Food Safety & Toxicology Building

*The Institute for Integrative Toxicology presents Dr. Chris Corton, U.S. EPA, to speak on, “Genomic Tools to Identify Potential Carcinogens,” on Tuesday, April 15, 2025, at 11:00 a.m. in 162 Food Safety and Toxicology Building.

Seminar Synopsis: Gene expression biomarkers are emerging as useful tools for interpreting transcript profiles to identify carcinogenic chemicals. These biomarkers are lists of similarly regulated genes identified in global gene expression comparisons of cells or tissues. We have characterized a set of biomarkers that measure many of the characteristics of chemical carcinogens and that can be used to screen for chemical carcinogens. These include biomarkers for identifying 1) DNA damage (TGx-DDI), 2) endocrine disruption (estrogen and androgen receptors), 3) epigenetic modulation (TGx-HDACi), 4) immune modulation (NF-kB), 5) modulation of stress factors (Nrf2, MTF-1, HSF1, HIF1a, unfolded protein response), and 6) cell proliferation. The biomarker predictions can be put into the context of the adverse outcome pathway framework to help prioritize chemicals with the greatest risk of their involvement in carcinogenesis.

Chris Corton is a Research Biologist in the Center for Computational Toxicology and Exposure at the U.S Environmental Protection Agency. He has been studying mechanisms of chemical carcinogenesis for over 30 years focusing on nongenotoxic carcinogenesis. His group is working in a number of areas to 1) reduce the need for animal testing including development of new approach methodologies to allow the prediction of cancer from analysis of gene expression profiles after short-term exposures in animals, 2) build and test tools that allow the interpretation of complex gene expression patterns in chemically-exposed cells to predict potential adverse effects, and 3) apply these tools to understand the potential toxicity of individual chemicals and complex mixtures released from oil and gas operations. He received his Ph.D. degree from the University of Kansas Medical Center followed by a post-doctoral research fellowship at Duke University. From 1989 to 2002, he was a staff scientist at CIIT in Research Triangle Park, NC. In 1994-1995 he was a visiting scientist in the “Orphan Nuclear Receptor” group at Karolinska University, Huddinge, Sweden. He is on the editorial boards of several journals including Associate Editor for Toxicological Sciences. Dr. Corton has served as the Chair of the Society of Toxicology (SOT) Continuing Education and Current Concepts in Toxicology Committees. He is past President of the Molecular and Systems Biology and Carcinogenesis Specialty Sections. He was the recipient of the SOT 2010 AstraZeneca Traveling Lectureship award and the 2023 Toxicology Forum George H. Scott Memorial Award. He is cochair of the Carcinogenomics Working Group in the eSTAR committee of HESI. He has over 200 publications, many related to predicting chemical toxicity using animal-free methods.

*Fulfills seminar requirements for the Environmental and Integrative Toxicological Sciences Graduate Programs. Seminars that fulfill this requirement are archived at: https://iit.msu.edu/training/eits/recent-seminar-list.html.