Bypass the primary and secondary navigation and continue reading the main body of the page
Christine Broussard

Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals

Dr. Christine Broussard heads research in the area of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals and T Cell development.  She only accepts/has 10 students at a time working on this project. She also heads research focused on Developmental Immunotoxicology and STEM Education Reform.

Description:

  • Determine the mechanism by which endocrine-disrupting chemicals affect the development of the immune system
    • –EDCs are ubiquitous
      • Plastics – BPA
      • Medication – DEC
      • Pesticides – MXC
  • Use mice and cell lines (mouse/human)

Techniques used:

  • Tissue culture
  • In vitro differentiation of thymocytes
  • Flow cytometry and fluorescence microscopy
  • Western blot
  • PCR
  • Embryo dissection
  • Large data set analysis
  • Cell Biology and Immunology
  • Immunophenotyping & flow cytometry
  • Tissue Culture
  • CURE curriculum design

Student Requirements:

  • Completion of BIOL 345 Immunology by the end of junior year.
  • Juniors and seniors have specific “lab jobs”
  • Hands-on to help students move along the project
  • Be self-motivated and enthusiastic
  • Need to work in teams and be reliable!

Past Research: 

  • BIOL 345 – Immunology

Developmental Immunotoxicology

Lucie Leung-Gurung*, Priscilla Escalante Cobb*, Faraj Mourad*, Cristina Zambrano*, Zachary Muscato*, Victoria Sanchez*, Kanya Godde & Christine Broussard (2018). Methoxychlor metabolite HPTE alters viability and differentiation of embryonic thymocytes from C57BL/6 miceJournal of Immunotoxicology, 15:1, 104-118, DOI:10.1080/1547691X.2018.1474978

*La Verne students

Eddie Avellaneda*, Atalie Lim*, Sara Moeller*, Jacqueline Marquez*, Priscilla Escalante Cobb*, Cristina Zambrano*, Aaditya Patel, Victoria Sanchez*, K. Godde, and Christina Broussard. (2021). HPTE-Induced Embryonic Thymocyte Dath and Exacerbated by Concurrent TCR SignalingInternational Journal of Molecular Sciences, 22(18), 10138.

*La Verne students

  • STEM Education Transformation

Broussard, Christine, Margaret Gough Courtney, Sarah Dunn, K. Godde, and Vanessa Preisler. “Course-based undergraduate research experiences performance following the transition to remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.” Journal of College Science Teaching 51, no. 1 (2021): 27-41.