Erica D. Bruce
Associate Professor
Department of Environmental Science
Baylor University
United States of America
Biography
Dr. Bruce joined the Baylor faculty in the fall of 2008. Previously, she was an independent environmental consultant working for various clients including the Department of Energy. While at Texas A&M University she received the National Science Foundation Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP), the Bridge to Doctorate (BTD) Fellowship. Dr. Bruce is also a member of the Society of Toxicology (SOT), where she holds a national leadership position, the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC), and Chi Epsilon (National Civil Engineering Honor Society). On a lighter note, Dr. Bruce enjoys cooking, gardening, outdoor adventures and any time spent with her husband and young daughters. The overarching focus of research performed in my laboratory is answering a variety of mechanistic toxicological questions relating to insult, injury, and healing of human systems. My area of major interest is in areas relating to hypoxia-induced medical conditions occurring from insults, injury, or exposures to environmental contaminates and pharmaceuticals (i.e., traumatic brain injury (TBI), burns, cancer, chronic wound healing). The role that the environment plays in human health and subsequent healing following the aforementioned insults or injuries is of significant interest. Our investigations focus on the cellular mechanisms of toxic action/healing and the mechanisms of uptake for nanomedicine applications to treat these hypoxia-induced conditions. Areas of ongoing research includes developing nanomedicine interventions to reverse hypoxia in situ, evaluating environmental contribution to hypoxia-induced conditions (e.g. human health risk assessment), using quantitative structure-activity (QSAR) modeling for drug design, and evaluating mechanistic biological responses, that play a role in healing, from exposures to environmental contaminants and pharmaceuticals.
Research Interest
hypoxia-induced medical conditions
Publications
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Gaskill SJ, Bruce ED*. Binary Mixtures of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) Display Non-Additive Mixture Interactions in an In Vitro Liver Cell Model. Risk Anal 2015; In Press.
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Usenko CY, Abel EL, Kudela M, Janise A, Bruce ED*. Comparison of PBDE congeners as inducers of oxidative stress in zebrafish. Environ Toxicol Chem 2015; 34(5): 1154-1160.
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Zhang F, Durham P, Sayes CM, Lau BLT, Bruce ED*. Particle uptake efficiency is significantly affected by type of capping agent and cell line. J Appl Toxicol 2015.
