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Bae, JuYun
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Boehm, Bayli
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Boley, Patricia
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Brody, Matthew
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Mehta, Vatsal
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Novick, Rachel
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Pham, Ly
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Rufer, Echoleah
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Sand, Jordan
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Yu, Min
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Rufer, Echoleah
 Echoleah Fluegel Rufer - Email
PhD Candidate - Started 2004
Native of Wisconsin
Lab of Susan Smith, PhD
Undergraduate Work
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Bachelor of Science, Pharmacology & Toxicology (2004)
Memberships
Society of Toxicology (2005 - 2007), Science Alliance (2004 – present), METC Student Liaison Committee (2005 – present), METC Graduate Achievement and Curriculum Committee (2005 – present)
Interests/Hobbies
Lately, my spare time has been dominated by my house. My husband and I recently bought a “fixer upper” and have embarked on the challenge of renovating the entire thing ourselves. Other than that I enjoy many things including reading, scrapbooking, and shopping.
Funding
National Research Service Award Predoctoral Traineeship (NIEHS Training Grant T32, 09/2006-present)
Research as of Spring 2008
Prenatal alcohol exposure is the leading known cause of mental retardation. Because prevention of alcohol use is difficult there is great interest in therapies that ameliorate alcohol’s damage. The severity of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) increases with parity, implying the depletion of a protective maternal factor, perhaps nutritional. Although micronutrient deficiencies (e.g. vitamins, minerals) are common in alcoholics this hypothesis remains largely untested. Because chronic alcohol consumption may alter micronutrient homeostasis, as well as its effects on food choice and intake, there is growing interest in the potential interaction between maternal nutrient status and alcohol-induced fetal injury.
Iron deficiency is the most common single nutrient deficiency in women, affecting 22% of women of child-bearing age (Stoltzfus 2001). Iron inadequacy (ID) strongly correlates with maternal parity (Milman et al. 1992). Importantly, Streissguth et al. (1983) found that 10-20% of alcoholic pregnant women, 50% in the heaviest drinkers, were iron deficient. In human and animal studies, gestational ID produces psychomotor deficits that affect attention, learning and motor skills. These deficits can occur even when overt anemia is absent. Developmental ID causes neurodevelopmental deficits that parallel FASD, thus I hypothesize that ID and alcohol may synergize to heighten alcohol’s neurotoxicity. My first studies focus upon the cerebellum, for which alcohol’s effects are well described.
In addition, I am investigating the teratogenic effects of trichloroethylene (TCE), the most commonly reported groundwater contaminant. Current EPA limits allow a maximum contaminant level of 5 parts per billion (ppb) while actual environmental concentrations range from well below the 5 ppb EPA limit to over 20,000 ppb at superfund sites. Previous research in our lab has shown significant cardiac teratogenic effects in chick embryos after in ovo exposure to concentrations at or near the EPA allowed contamination levels. I have found the critical window of exposure for TCE to be during valvuloseptal morphogenesis in the chick embryo. Embryos exposed during this time exhibit a biphasic doses response curve with survival as an endpoint, with mid-range doses (a concentration of approximately 8 ppb in the egg) being the most lethal and the higher and lower doses having little effect on survival. Echocardiography on hatched chicks surviving TCE exposure shows a significant incidence of ventricular septal defects (38% in treated vs. 0% in control chicks).
Publications- Rufer ES, Hacker TA, Lough J, and Smith SM. 2008. Low-dose trichloroethylene exposure during valvuloseptal morphogenesis causes ventricular septal defects in hatched chicks. (In preparation)
- Rufer ES, Tran T, and Smith SM. 2008. Moderate maternal iron inadequacy worsens the neurobehavioral outcomes of developmental alcohol exposure in adolescent rats. (In preparation)
Posters- Victoria J. Drake, Echoleah S. Fluegel, Marie A. Daleo, John W. Lough*, and Susan M. Smith. Trichloroethylene Exposure Increases Cardiac Cushion Proliferation and Cellularity in the Chick Embryo. Presented at Weinstein Conference in May 2005 in Tuscon Arizona.
* Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI - Echoleah S. Rufer, Victoria J. Drake, Timothy A. Hacker#, John W. Lough*, and Susan M. Smith. Determination of the Cardioteratorgenic Window for Low-Dose Trichloroethylene Exposure to Chick Embryos. Presented at Weinstein Conference in May 2007 in Indianapolis, Indiana. #Dept of Medicine, UW-Madison
- E.S. Rufer1, V. Drake1, J Lough2, and SM Smith1 Title: Examination of the Critical Window For Low Dose Trichloroethylene Exposure to Chick Embryos 1Nutritional Sciences, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, WI
2Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI Sponsor: C. Jefcoate (Poster presented at 2006-SOT in San Diego) - Echoleah S. Rufer, Timothy A. Hacker#, John W. Lough and Susan M. Smith. 2008. Low-dose trichloroethylene exposure during valvuloseptal morphogenesis causes ventricular septal defects in hatched chicks. Presented at the Society of Toxicology Meeting in Seattle, WA. #Dept of Medicine, UW-Madison. Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI.
- Echoleah S. Rufer, Tran T, and Susan M. Smith. 2008. Moderate maternal iron inadequacy worsens neurobehavioral outcomes of developmental alcohol exposure in adolescent rats. Presented at the Society of Toxicology Meeting in Seattle, WA. #Dept of Psychology, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC.
Echo Rufer (standing)
Susan Smith, PhD (sitting)
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