The College of Public Health is pleased to announce the newest addition to the Department of Environmental Health Science — Travis Glenn.
Glenn, with a background in zoology and biotechnology, is interested in genetic mechanisms and developing new DNA techniques. He has worked with the Savannah River Ecology Lab since 1998 and in the past five years has collaborated on research funded by the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Oceans and Human Health Initiative and the Environmental Protection Agency, among many others.
Glenn said he looks forward to working in Athens and an increased focus on research and teaching in the field of public health. The opportunities provided in the College of Public Health allow for increased collaborative research related directly to human health and grants for mechanistic research from the National Institutes of Health, Glenn said.
“Technical advances in genomic methodologies will allow new insight into human health in the coming years, but the assays need to be developed and validated with animal models,” Glenn said.
And Glenn said he hopes his training will be a strong addition to collaborative research and teaching in his new department, college and across campus.
“My background with different non-traditional model organisms will be increasingly valuable in validating new assays and making advances in mechanistic understanding of certain medical problems that are difficult to study in more traditional models such as lab mice and rats,” Glenn said.
Glenn is currently working on various grants including studies of germ-line mutations and changes in gene transcription due to environmental contaminants. Germ-line mutations are genetic changes passed from parents to offspring. Gene transcription reflects what genes are turned on or off.
He said he especially hopes to continue his work developing assays for direct assessment of DNA mutations in animal models and eventually to develop such assays for humans.
“I look forward to working with even more CPH faculty and students than I have been able to previously, and the gains we can bring to the health of the citizens of Georgia, the U.S. and world.”