Agnes Kane
Professor:
Pathology & Laboratory Medicine
Phone: +1 401 863 1110
Phone 2: +1 401 863 3119
Agnes_Kane@Brown.EDU
My research focuses on the potential health effects of environmental and occupational exposure to asbestos fibers,metallic nanoparticles, and carbon nanomaterials. My laboratory has also developed a murine model of asbestos induced malignant mesothelioma that reproduces the morphologic and molecular characteristics of the human disease. This murine model will be used to develop new strategies for prevention and treatment of asbestos-related cancer.
Biography
Agnes B. Kane, M.D., Ph.D. is Professor and Chair of the Deartment of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Brown University where she has pursued research on fiber toxicology and nanotoxicology with funding from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, US EPA, and NSF. She is board-certified in anatomic pathology and has studied murine models of asbestos-induced disease. She has served as scientific advisor and invited participant in workshops on fiber toxicology and nanotechnology for NIOSH, US EPA, NAS, IOM, NTP, and ILO. She has participated in three IARC Working Groups on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans. She is the Director of the Traininig Program in Environmental Pathology at Brown University, now in its 17th year of funding from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
Interests
MECHANISMS OF ASBESTOS CARCINOGENESIS
Asbestos fibers persist in the lungs and cause chronic inflammation, pulmonary and pleural fibrosis, lung cancer, and malignant mesothelioma after latent periods of 20-40 years. Recent experimental evidence based on animal models using genetically-engineered mice have provided new insight about the mechanistic links between chronic inflammation, fibrosis, and cancer. Recruitment and activation of inflammatory cells in response to biopersistent fibers is accompanied by release of reactive oxygen species leading to oxidant stress, DNA damage, and mutations. Inflammatory cells can release cytokines and growth factors that stimulate stromal remodeling and angiogenesis. It is hypothesized that reciprocal activation of tumor and stromal cells facilitates growth and invasion of diffuse malignant mesothelioma. In vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo assays using well-characterized, transplantable murine mesothelial cell lines will be used to test this hypothesis. Newly-developed technologies including laser capture microdissection, cDNA microarrays, and quantitative analysis of gene expression provide powerful tools for this experimental approach.
NANOTECHNOLOGY AND NANOTOXICOLOGY
Nanotechnology is an emerging discipline with promising applications for environmental remediation at Superfund and other toxic waste sites. Airborne nanosize dusts are produced as combustion by-products and have been identified as a major contributor of adverse health effects of air pollution. New engineered nanomaterials are being developed for use as environmental sensors, in-situ catalysts for detoxification of chemical wastes, and diagnostic and drug delivery devices. The potential human health effects of occupational and environmental exposure to nanomaterials is unknown. Agnes Kane, Professor of Medical Science, and Robert Hurt, Professor of Engineering, are collaborating on an interdisciplinary research project investigating the toxicology of nanomaterials. They are working with an interdisciplinary research team of scientists, postdoctoral fellows and graduate students to synthesize and characterize model nanoparticles and to develop short-term screening assays to assess their potential toxicity.
Degrees
B.A., Swarthmore College, M.D., Ph.D. Temple University School of Medicine
Awards
Graduated with Distinction, Swarthmore College, 1968
Phi Beta Kappa; Sigma Xi Research Society, 1968
Lucretia Mott Graduate Fellowship, 1969-1971
University Fellow of Temple University, 1971-1973
Research Career Development Award, National Institutes of Health, 1981-1986
Distinguished Teaching Award, Brown University Medical School Graduating Class, 1986, 1987
Mary Putnam-Jacobi Award, Brown University Women in Medicine, 1986
Senior Citation, Brown University Medical School Graduating Class, 1988
Honorary Citation, Brown University Association of Women Medical Faculty and the Office of Women in Medicine, 1996
Associate Editor for The American Journal of Pathology, 1992-1996
Burroughs Wellcome Visiting Professorship in the Basic Medical Sciences, 1998
Temple University School of Medicine Alumni Achievement Award, 1999
Dean's Teaching Excellence Award, Brown Medical School, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
De Trana Endowed Lectureship in Pathology, University of Illinois Medical School, 2004
Brown University and Women & Infants' Hospital National Center of Excellence in Women's Health, Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award, 2008
Affiliations
1993-1996 Mine Health Research Advisory Committee, National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health
1995 Scientific Advisor, International Agency for Research on Cancer, World Health Organization
1995 Invited Participant, Workshop on Chronic Inhalation Toxicity and Carcinogenicity: Testing of Respirable Fibrous Particles, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
1996 Vice-Chair, IARC Working Group on Silica, Some Silicates, Coal Dust and Para-Aramid Fibrils
1998-1999 Invited Participant, Subcommittee on Manufactured Vitreous Fibers, Committee on Toxicology, National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council
1999 Invited Participant, IARC Working Group on the Evaluation of Foreign Bodies, Surgical Implants and Prosthetic Devices
1996-2005 Editorial Board, Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology
1996-2003 Editorial Board, The American Journal of Pathology, Toxicologic Pathology
2000 Chair, NIOSH Review Committee on Effects of Mixed Dusts on Pulmonary Inflammation, Reactivity and Susceptibility of Pulmonary Infection
2001 Chair, IARC Working Group on Man-Made Vitreous Fibres
2003 Invited Participant, Workshop on Genetically Modified Rodent Models for Cancer Hazard Identification, National Toxicology Program
2004 Invited Participant, Nanotoxicology Workshop, NSF, EPA, and NTP
2004-2005 Invited Participant, Committee on Asbestos, Institute of Medicine
2003-2007 Member of the Environmental Health Sciences Review Committee, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
2005 Guest Editor, Carbon
2005-present Editorial Board, The International Journal of Nanomedicine
2005 Phase I and Phase II Reviewer for Superfund Basic Research Program Grants
2005-06 Member, Committee on Asbestos: Selected Health Effects, Institute of Medicine
2006-2009 Member of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Science Advisory Board
2007-2008 Chair, IARC Working Group on Burden of Cancer Caused by Asbestos, World Health Organization
2007 Invited Participant, International Council on Nanotechnology (ICON) Panel to establish priorities for nanotechnology research, Zurich, Switzerland, June 5-7, 2007
2007 NanoBusiness Alliance Public Policy Tour, Washington, D.C., January 30-31, 2007
2008 Co-Chair and Organizer, Symposium on Environmental and Human Health Impacts of Nanomaterials, 236th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, August 20, 2008
2008-11 Member of the editorial board of Particle Fibre Toxicology
2009 Invited Speaker, Symposium on Present and Future Directions in Nanotechnology, AAAS Annual Meeting, Chicago, February 12-16,2009
2009 Invited participant, IARC Working Group for Monograph Volume 100C on Metals, Arsenic, Dusts, and Fibres
Teaching
I have served as course leader for the General and Systemic Pathology courses required for Brown medical students and graduate seminars on Molecular Mechanisms of Disease, Environmental Hazards and Human Disease, and Small Wonders: Science, Technology, and Human Health Impacts of Nanomaterials.
Funded Research
5 T32 ES07272-17, NIH/NIEHS
Kane (PI) 07/01/1992–06/30/2012
"Training in Environmental Pathology"
The major goal of this training program is to prepare our predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees for research careers in environmental pathology and toxiciology.
1P42 ES013660-04, SBRP
Boekelheide (PI) 4/01/2005-3/31/2014
Project 2, Kane (PI)
"Toxicity of Metallic Nanoparticles and Carbon Nanotubes"
The goal of this project is to explore mechanisms of toxicity of metallic nanoparticles and carbon nanotubes containing nickel.
Core F, Kane (PI) 4/01/2005–3/31/2014
"Training Core"
The goal of this core is to develop, implement, and assess didactic and research experiences for undergraduate and graduate trainees at Brown University working at Superfund and Brownfield sites in Rhode Island.
DMI-050661, NSF
Hurt, Kane (Co-PI), Crawford, Morgan, Brown 9/1/2005–8/31/2009
"NIRT: Micropatterned Nanotopography Chips for Probing the Cellular Basis of Biocompatibility and Toxicity"
The major goal of this grant is to characterize the fundamental interactions of mammalian cells with nanomaterials and nanostructured surfaces as the key issue in both biocompatibility and toxicity.
R01 ES016178-02 NIH/NIEHS 10/01/07-09/30/11
Kane (PI), Hurt (Co-PI)
"Chemical, Structural, and Superstructural Determinants of Nanocarbon Toxicity"
The goal of this grant is to determine the properties of nanomaterials responsible for production of lung granulomas and fibrosis.
RD-83386201 EPA 08/01/08-07/31/11
Hurt (PI), Kane (Co-PI)
"Bioavailability, Environmental Transformation, and Detoxification of Core/Shell Nanomaterials"
The goal of this grant is to develop and validate chemical screening assays for bioavailability assessment, data on environmental degradation, and toxicant release throughout product lifecycle. Practical protocols for material detoxification will be developed.
Web Links
- Seed Fund Awards go to six multidisciplinary research projects
- Pathobiology Graduate Program
- Superfund Basic Research Program
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
