The Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (IEHS), Wayne State University (WSU), has awarded CURES Pilot Project Program funding to two faculty members, Fei Chen, professor, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Malcolm Cutchin, professor and chair, Department of Health Care Sciences, Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (EACPHS).

The principal investigators received funding of up to $150,000 for their individual research projects. Chen's project is entitled "Detroit Soil Arsenic and its Association with Carcinogenesis;" Cutchin's project, "Daily Activities, Neighborhood Stressors, and Stress of Older African-Americans."

Co-principal investigator with Chen is Jeffrey L. Howard, associate professor, Department of Geology, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS). Co-principal investigators with Cutchin are Cathy Lysack, deputy director, Institute of Gerontology (IOG), and professor, Occupational Therapy, EACPHS Department of Health Care Sciences; and Richard Slatcher, assistant professor, Department of Psychology, CLAS; co-investigators are Heather Fritz, postdoctoral fellow, IOG, and Jason Booza, assistant professor-clinical, Medical Academic and Student Programs, School of Medicine.

The IEHS is home to the CURES Center. IEHS is a core of research scientists who use state-of-the art technologies to identify the central mechanisms that lead to environmentally-linked disease. The CURES center is a diverse team of scientists, clinicians, public health professionals, educators and community leaders working together to build a healthy living and working environment in the City of Detroit. Located in the heart of the "motor city" and situated on the WSU urban campus, the CURES Center motto is "Gateway to a Healthy Detroit." (CURES is an acronym for Center for Urban Response to Environmental Stressors.)

The Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences is committed to advancing the health and well-being of society by preparing highly skilled health care practitioners and conducting groundbreaking research to improve models of practice and methods of treatment in pharmacy and the health sciences.

Wayne State University is a premier urban research institution of higher education offering 370 academic programs through 13 schools and colleges to nearly 28,000 students.

March 27, 2014

Media Contact: Kathleen Karas
Phone: 313-577-2312
E-mail: kkaras@wayne.edu