Basu Lab - Research at the Interface of Human, Wildlife, and Ecosystem Health

Niladri Basu, Ph.D.

Title

Assistant Professor of Environmental Health Sciences

Full CV

Curriculum Vitae (PDF, 294,236 KB)

Research Groups & Projects

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Contact

E-mail: niladri@umich.edu

Fax: (734) 936-7283

6634 SPH Tower
1415 Washington Heights
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2029

Associated URLs

Summary

Nil Basu is an environmental toxicologist interested in the risk assessment of aquatic pollutants, development of neurochemical biomarkers, the use of fish and wildlife as sentinels of human and environmental health hazards, and global studies concerning community health of Indigenous Peoples. Prior to joining the Faculty in September 2007, he spent two years as a NSERC Postdoctoral Fellow at the National Wildlife Research Center (Environment Canada) and the Center for Advanced Research in Environmental Genomics (University of Ottawa).

Teaching

EHS500: Principles of Environmental Health Sciences
EHS614: Water and Global Health

Research Areas

Projects
>> Dietary exposure of captive mink to environmentally relevant concentrations of methylmercury. The ability to raise mink in captivity makes them a particularly useful model in toxicology as quantitative exposure-response relationships can be derived. In 2004 our research team carried out a large-scale, methylmercury and selenomethionine feeding experiment on 96 captive mink at the Nova Scotia Agricultural College (Truro, Canada). Juvenile mink were exposed to ecologically relevant concentrations of methylmercury (0, 0.1, 0.5, 1, and 2 ppm) via the diet for 3 months. Several publications have emerged from this ... More >>
>> Neurochemical effects of mercury on fish-eating wildlife. In a series of experiments on free-ranging wildlife we found significant correlations between the concentrations of brain mercury and levels/activities of several neurochemical receptors/enzymes. We have collected evidence from wild mink, river otters, common loons, bald eagles, and polar bears. These findings suggest that: 1) mercury is affecting neurochemical signaling in fish-eating wildlife; 2) multiple pathways and components are disrupted; 3) the effects occur at ecologically-relevant exposure levels; 4) changes occur at exposure levels below protective guidelines; ... More >>
>> In vitro biomarker platforms to rapidly assess the neurotoxicity of priority and emerging chemicals Thousands of different chemicals are released into our environment but few risk assessment tools are available to rapidly assess their potential to cause harm. Based on the premise that neurochemical changes precede overt neurotoxicity, our main objective is: to develop, validate, and use a practical in vitro/in vivo biomarker platform to screen the early effects of high-priority emerging contaminants (e.g., PFCs, PBDEs, siloxanes). Effects on key neurochemical endpoints including receptors, enzymes, and transporters involved in the neurotransmission of GABA, ... More >>

Selected Publications

Search PubMed for publications by Niladri Basu >>

Basu, N., Nam, D.-H., Kwansah-Ansah, E., Nriagu, J., Renne, E. (2011). Multiple metals exposures among small-scale artisanal gold miners. Environmental Research, 463-467.
Basu, N., Head, J. (2010). Mammalian wildlife as complementary models in environmental neurotoxicology. Neurotoxicology and Teratology, 32, 114-119.
Basu, N., Abare, M., Buchanan, S., Cryderman, D., Nam, D-.H., Sirkin, S., Schmidtt, S., Hu, H. (2010). A Combined Ecological and Epidemiologic Investigation of Exposure to Metals amongst Indigenous Peoples Near the Marlin Mine in Western Guatemala Science of the Total Environment, 79-77.
Pilsner JR, Lazarus AL, Nam DH, Letcher RJ, Sonne C, Dietz R, Basu N. (2010). Mercury-associated DNA hypomethylation in polar bear brains via the LUminometric Methylation Assay: a sensitive method to study epigenetics in wildlife. Molecular Ecology, 19, 307-314.
Basu, N., Ta, C. A., Waye, A., Mao, J., Hewitt, M., Arnason, J., Trudeau, V. (2009). Pulp and paper mill effluents contain neuroactive substances that potentially disrupt neuroendocrine control of fish reproduction. Environmental Science and Technology, 43, 1635-41.
Basu, N., Scheuhammer, A. M., Sonne, C., Letcher, R. J., Born, E. W., and Dietz, R. (2009). Is dietary mercury of neurotoxicological concern to polar bears (Ursus maritimus)? Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 28, 133-140.
Scheuhammer, A.M., Basu, N., Burgess, N., Elliott, J.E., Campbell, G.D., Wayland, M., Champoux, L., Rodrigue, J. (2008). Relationships among mercury, selenium, and neurochemical parameters in common loons (Gavia immer) and bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus). Ecotoxicology, 17, 93-101.
Basu, N., Scheuhammer, A.M. , Rouvinen-Watt, K., Grochowina, N.M., Evans, R.D., O'Brien, M. and Chan, H.M. (2007). Decreased N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA) receptor levels are associated with mercury exposure in wild and captive mink. Neurotoxicology, 28(3), 587-593.
Basu, N., Scheuhammer, A.M., and O'Brien, M. (2007). Polychlorinated biphenyls, organochlorinated pesticides, and polybrominated diphenyl ethers in the cerbral cortex of wild river otters (Lontra canadensis). Environmental Pollution, 149, 25-30.
Basu, N., Scheuhammer, A.M., Rouvinen-Watt, K., Grochowina, N., Klenavic, K., Evans, R.D. and Chan, H.M. (2006). Merthylmercury impairs components of the cholinergic system in captive mink (Mustela vison). Toxicological Sciences, 91, 202-209.
Bull, K., Basu, N., Bursian, S., Zhang, S., Martin, J.W., Martin, P. and Chan, H.M. (2007). Dietary and in utero exposure to a pentabrominated diphenyl ether mixture (DE-71) did not affect cholinergic parameters in the cerebral cortex of ranch mink (Mustela vison). Toxicological Sciences, 96(1), 115-122.
Basu, N., Scheuhammer, A.M., Bursian, S., Rouvinen-Watt, K., Elliott, J. and Chan, H.M. (2007). Mink as a sentinel in environmental health. Environmental Research., 103, 130-144.