Contact information
clemonsj@landcare.cri.nz

Education

BSc Biology, Co-op Program, University of Waterloo. April. 1991
PhD Biology, University of Waterloo. April, 1996.
Post Doctoral Fellow Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology, University of Western Ontario and Department of Biochemistry, Michigan State University, Nov., 1995 to Feb. 1999.

Current Position
Reseach Scientist at Landcare Research New Zealand Limited, Manaaki Whenus Landcare Research Center, Lincoln, New Zealand, March 1999-Present

Research Project

Fish Estrogen Receptor/Reporter Gene Bioassay Development

The objective of my postdoctoral work is to establish a viable bioassay to screen for potential estrogenic chemicals found in the aquatic environment. Currently, Dr. Zacharewski employs an assay that is able to monitor the estrogenic potency of chemicals by their ability to bind the human estrogen receptor (hER) and cause upregulation of an engineered reporter gene construct. Although this assay is very specific for monitoring chemicals that will bind the human receptor, the appropriateness of using the hER to evaluate the potential risk posed to aquatic species is in question. Therefore, the rainbow trout chosen as the fish surrogate species since this genus reproductively sensitive in the wild. Comparison of region of the receptor responsible for ligand binding finds that it is only 47% identical to the hER ligand binding domain, thus further suggesting that the hER may not be an appropriate surrogate for the rainbow trout ER (RtER). Therefore, the RtER has been cloned and a chimeric yeast-RtER plasmid constructed. This plasmid along with a luciferase reporter gene has been introduced, through transient transfection, into several different continuous fish cell lines and has been used to assess the estrogenicity of individual compounds or complex mixture of chemicals. Similar mammalian-based bioassay have been previously used to assess the estrogenic activity of natural products, environmental pollutants, drugs, industrial chemicals and complex mixtures such as urban air particulate material, industrial plasticizers, polycyclic aromatic compounds, creosote and pulp and paper mill effluent.