Area of Research

• Dr. Lein's research focuses on understanding how environmental factors influence the development and function of the nervous system with the goal of developing more effective approaches for preventing and/or mitigating environmentally induced neurodevelopmental and neurological disorders. These efforts have contributed to our mechanistic understanding of how endogenous signaling factors (cytokines and growth factors), pharmacological agents (statins, soluble epoxide hyrdrolase inhibitors) and environmental contaminants of public health concern (organophosphorus pesticides, persistent organic pollutants, and traffic-related air pollution) interfere with normal patterns of neuronal connectivity in the central nervous system and modulate interactions between peripheral neurons and their effector targets. Dr. Lein's laboratory has applied our basic mechanistic observations to develop in vitro screening methods to identify chemicals with potential developmental neurotoxicity and to identify biomarkers and neuroprotective strategies for organophosphate-induced neurotoxicity.