GC-CPEH Hosts 2025 Annual Center Retreat at UTMB Open Gates

The Gulf Coast Center for Precision Environmental Health (GC-CPEH) held its 2025 Annual Center Retreat on October 16, 2025, at Open Gates, UTMB in Galveston, Texas. The full-day event brought together Center members, Pilot Project awardees, and leadership teams for collaboration, updates, and scientific exchange.

The morning opened with remarks from Dr. Cheryl Walker, Center Director, followed by presentations from each core highlighting key progress and priorities. Updates covered new career development initiatives, expanded community partnerships, enhanced research infrastructure, and translational efforts linking environmental exposures to health outcomes. External Advisory Board members joined virtually to engage with leadership and provide feedback.

A Pilot Project Awardees session featured innovative studies addressing critical environmental health issues—from vitamin C’s genetic links to congenital defects, to the microbiome as a sentinel of exposure, and firefighter smoke-exposure impacts.

Afternoon sessions highlighted Environmental Health Sciences grantees, including Dr. Kristina Whitworth on children’s environmental health in the ECHO cohort and Dr. Elise Smith, recipient of an NSF grant, who introduced a social responsibility toolkit for scientists working on Superfund cleanup sites.

The Community Engagement Core (CEC) shared results from its recent member engagement survey, conducted to identify member needs, guide future activities, and strengthen collaboration on community-engaged research. The session underscored the Core’s commitment to inclusive, bidirectional partnerships that translate science into local impact.

The retreat concluded with a networking reception that celebrated collaboration, strengthened connections, and reaffirmed GC-CPEH’s shared commitment to advancing environmental health research across its partner institutions.

Time	Program		Presenter	Room
9:15 am – 9:50 am	Registration & Breakfast			Foyer
9:45 am – 9:50 am	External Advisory Board Join via Teams			Gold Room
9:50 am – 11:15 am	Directors’ Presentation: 10-min Presentation & 5-min Q&A		Presenters	Gold Room
	09:50-10:00 Welcome & Session Overview		Cheryl Walker, BCM	View Bio
	10:00-10:15 Career Development Program		Fernanda Laezza, UTMB	View Bio
	10:15-10:30 Community Engagement Core		Abi Oluyomi, BCM	View Bio
	10:30-10:45 PIPELINE Facility Core		Cristian Coarfa, BCM	View Bio
	10:45-11:00 Pilot Project Program		Casey Wright, UTMB	View Bio
	11:00-11:15 Translational Research Supporting Core		Elaine Symanski, BCM	View Bio
11:20 am -11:35 am	Members Coffee Break  @ Foyer	Executive Committee Meeting with EAB via Teams @ Room 201
11:35 pm – 12:40 pm	Pilot Awardees Presentation: 10-min Presentation & 5-min Q&A		Presenter	Gold Room
	11:35-11:40  Session Introduction		Casey Wright, UTMB
	11:40-11:55  “Vitamin C, TET1 and genetic risks in congenital defects.”		Kian Koh, BCM	View Bio
	11:55-12:10  “Arnt genes are required for hematovascular specification?”		Dan Gorelick, BCM	View Bio
	12:10-12:25  “Microbiomes- Sentinels of Environmental Determinants of Health.”		Kamil Khanipov, UTMB	View Bio
	12:25-12:40  “Genesis and Health Consequences of Toxic Smoke Exposure from Emergency Fires in Firefighters.”		Jooyeon Hwang, UT Health	View Bio
12:40 pm – 1:30 pm	Working Lunch: Thematic Focus Small Group Meeting		Walker/Symanski/Linder	Gold Room
1:30 pm – 2:25 pm	EHS Grantees Presentation: 20-min Presentation & 5-min Q&A		Presenters	Gold Room
	1:30-1:35 Session Introduction		Elaine Symanski, BCM
	1:35-2:00: “Addressing Children’s Environmental Health in the ECHO Cohort”		Kristina Whitworth, BCM	View Bio
	2:00-2:25: “Developing a Social Responsibility Tool-Kit for Scientists Working on Cleanup Sites”		Elise Smith, UTMB	View Bio
2:30 pm -3:30 pm	Community Engagement Core Affinity Mapping		Abi Oluyuomi, Drew Helmer, Lea Steele (BCM), Stephen Linder (UTHealth)	Linder  Helmer Steele
3:30 pm – 5:00 pm	Reception (Beer, Wine, Snacks)		All Members	Gold Room

Retreat Archives

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