Our projects

Wildfire smoke exposure is a global health concern that contributes to a variety of disease states including lung cancer. In Canada, wildfires are already the largest contributors to air pollution, and their severity and frequency is expected to increase as result of climate change. Currently, very little is known about the acute and long-term impacts of wildfire smoke exposure in human health and how this environmental insult disrupt transcription and chromatin biology. Our laboratory, aims to bridge this knowledge gap using the fruit fly model system. Fruit flies are an attractive system to quickly and systematically begin to understand how exposure to wildfire impacts health. Flies share 60% genetic homology with humans, they have respiratory systems with some similarities to the human lung, and can be exposed to wildfire smoke through inhalation, the relevant route of exposure in humans.