Kassim Traore
Duquesne University, PA·Pharmacology
Phthalates are chemicals that make plastics flexible, and people are exposed to them throughout life. Some act as endocrine disruptors, chemicals that interfere with the body's hormones.
- Fields
Pharmacology
Physiology
Biology
- Topics
endocrine-disrupting chemicals
phthalates
plasticizers
- Grants
- 1 known grant, last ended Aug 2026
What they work on
- Test how MEHP, the active breakdown product of the plasticizer DEHP, affects the development of testosterone-producing Leydig cells from stem Leydig cells grown in vitro.
- Measure the long-term effects of environmentally relevant MEHP doses on testosterone production by stem cell-derived adult Leydig cells that sustain hormone output for months.
- Compare single versus repeated MEHP exposures to test whether early exposure makes Leydig cells more vulnerable to later low, normally non-toxic doses, including through redox imbalance.
More about the research
One phthalate, DEHP (di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate), can harm the male reproductive system. This project asks how phthalates lower testosterone, the main male sex hormone. It also asks whether early exposure makes the body more sensitive to later, low-dose exposures.
Why it matters
The work could clarify how everyday, low-level exposure to plastic-related chemicals contributes to low testosterone and reproductive defects in males. In particular, it may show whether early-life exposures leave men more vulnerable to later exposures. This mechanistic understanding could inform how the risks of common phthalates are judged.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Carolina Jorgez
Baylor College of Medicine, TX·Genetics
Define why male mice lacking Wnt4 in the gubernaculum, the tissue that guides testis descent, are infertile, separating the effects of testis position, the genetic defect and hormone imbalance in both testes.
Howard Gritton
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, IL·Neuroscience
Test whether developmental phthalate exposure reduces anatomical and functional connectivity among frontal, sensory and limbic brain regions in mice, using whole-brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Zelieann Craig
University of Arizona, AZ·Physiology
Identify the tissues and molecular events that raise free fatty acid levels inside ovarian follicles of mice exposed to human-relevant phthalate mixtures, testing the role of the LXR-SREBP1c pathway that controls fat production.
The school
Duquesne University: 3 labs on PI Pages, $18M a year on research, 90 research doctorates a year.
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