Hercules Exposome Research Center

HERCULES Exposome Research Center: Understanding Lifetime Exposures

Funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (P30 ES019776)

The HERCULES Exposome Research Center was funded in May 2013 for $4,500,000 over four years. In June 2017, the center was renewed for $7,500,000 over the next five years (2017-2022). It is a P30 Core Center Grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

The environment, broadly defined, plays a major role in health and disease, but has been underrepresented in the research community. The exposome provides a potential vehicle to better incorporate the environmental component into the study of disease and health. Our long-term goal is for Emory and Georgia Tech to play a leading role in the discovery, evaluation, and application of the exposome. HERCULES will provide key infrastructure and expertise to develop and refine new tools and technologies. Key among these are the Integrated Health Sciences Facility Core and the Systems Biology Core which we can develop the needed tools to assess the exposome. The former will help generate exposure data, improve metabolomic approaches, and facilitate clinical studies, while the latter will help synthesize the data into comprehensive computational models.

Director: Carmen Marsit, Ph.D.
Deputy Director: Paige Tolbert, Ph.D.
Center Administrator: Kate Hodgins, J.D., M.P.H.
Environmental Health Data Sciences Core Directors: Lance Waller, Ph.D.; Eberhard Voit, Ph.D.
Integrated Health Sciences Facility Core Co-Leads: Dean Jones, Ph.D.; Dana Barr, Ph.D.; Stefanie Sarnat, Ph.D.; Thomas Ziegler, M.D.; Miriam Vos, M.D.
Pilot Core Director : Edward Morgan, Ph.D.
Community Outreach and Engagement Core Director: Michelle Kegler, Dr.P.H.

Learn more about our Center Investigators!

The HERCULES Pilot Program is now accepting applications!

Check here for full details.

Information Session: November 12, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm, Claudia Nance Rollins Room 6001

Letter of Intent Due: December 7, 2018

Full Application Due: February 1, 2019

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Exposome: the measure of cumulative environmental influences and associated biological responses throughout the lifespan, including exposures from the environment, diet, behavior, and endogenous processes

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Twitter: EmoryHERCULES

Children’s diets are usually less varied than adults which could increase their intake of foods containing… https://t.co/tEM9aoMb9E November 13, 2018
The @EmoryHERCULES Community Engagement Core had a great set of community workshops educating and learning about th… https://t.co/CLMHKzaG3V November 13, 2018
Researchers @CERCH_UCB found that farmworkers can reduce #pesticide exposure to their families by wearing gloves an… https://t.co/yNyRgKrE68 November 13, 2018
Prenatal exposure to #chlorpyrifos can interfere with brain development. Researchers from @CCCEHColumbia found kids… https://t.co/jxvPv9JURw November 13, 2018
More than one billion pounds of #pesticides are used each year in the U.S. and more than 700 million pounds are use… https://t.co/RPLqKRJv5c November 12, 2018
RT @jdelreal: In an absolutely scathing statement, California Professional Firefighters President Brian Rice blasts President Trump’s comme… November 11, 2018
Researchers from Duke found a strong relationship btw increased early childhood lead exposure and decreased perform… https://t.co/2BCYvuz7qU November 09, 2018
Gray matter in the brain is responsible for executive functions, mood regulations, and decision-making. Childhood l… https://t.co/FhaIQXO808 November 09, 2018

@EmoryHERCULES

Visit our sister site, the Human Exposome Project

Support for research

HERCULES provides investigators at Emory and Georgia Tech with access to state of the art mass spectrometry for detection of a wide variety of chemicals, such as pesticides, heavy metals, and other persistent organic pollutants. HERCULES also provides access and expertise for high-resolution metabolomics, systems biology, computational biology, and bioinformatics.

Seeding creativity

Each year HERCULES awards pilot projects to investigators at Emory and Georgia Tech to pursue new and innovative ideas. The goal is for the investigators to generate sufficient preliminary data to compete for extramural funding to continue the research.

Commitment to community

HERCULES is committed to learning the environmental health concerns of the greater Atlanta community, facilitating community-academic collaborations, and supporting the community in its capacity to address its environmental health concerns. A stakeholder advisory board meets on a regular basis to foster these discussions and interactions.