Sean M. Harris

About

Sean M. Harris, PhD, is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at the U-M School of Public Health. His research aims to advance understanding of how environmental toxicants contribute to adverse pregnancy outcomes such as preterm birth and preeclampsia. Dr. Harris employs a combination of approaches including transcriptomics, metabolomics, primary tissue models, and computational/data mining methods to investigate the molecular mechanisms of toxicant effects on the placenta and fetal membranes. He also investigates extracellular vesicles as a source for circulating biomarkers of toxicant effects on the placenta. His research projects include studying the impact of chlorinated hydrocarbons like trichloroethylene and perchloroethylene on the placenta, utilizing primary placenta tissue models and integrated omics approaches. Dr. Harris's work is part of larger programs such as the Puerto Rico Testsite for Exploring Contamination Threats (PROTECT) and the Michigan Center on Lifestage Environmental Exposures and Disease (M-LEEaD). His expertise encompasses female reproductive toxicology, immunotoxicology during pregnancy, toxicant-pathogen interactive effects in pregnancy, extracellular vesicle biology, and computational toxicology. Dr. Harris's contributions include investigating how environmental chemicals influence pregnancy-related genes and pathways, with a focus on identifying biomarkers and understanding molecular mechanisms…

Research topics

• Biology
• Environmental science
• Bioinformatics
• Environmental chemistry
• Computational biology
• Organic chemistry
• Chemistry
• Genetics
• Medicine

Selected publications

• Identification of environmental chemicals targeting miscarriage genes and pathways using the comparative toxicogenomics database

  Environmental Research · 2020 · 35 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  DOI

• Placenta as a target of trichloroethylene toxicity

  Environmental Science Processes & Impacts · 2020 · 26 citations

  Trichloroethylene (TCE) is an industrial solvent and a common environmental contaminant detected in thousands of hazardous waste sites. Risk of exposure is a concern for workers in occupations that use TCE as well as for residents who live near industries that use TCE or who live near TCE-contaminated sites. Although renal, hepatic and carcinogenic effects of TCE have been documented, less is known about TCE impacts on reproductive functions despite epidemiology reports associating maternal TCE…

  DOI

• Prenatal exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and their influence on inflammatory biomarkers in pregnancy: Findings from the LIFECODES cohort

  Environment International · 2024-11-13 · 16 citations

  articleOpen access

  BACKGROUND: Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are fluorinated chemicals linked to adverse pregnancy and birth outcomes. However, the underlying mechanisms, specifically their effects on maternal inflammatory processes, are not well characterized. OBJECTIVE: We examined associations between prenatal PFAS exposure and repeated measures of inflammatory biomarkers, including C-reactive protein (CRP) and four cytokines [Interleukin-10 (IL-10), IL-1β, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α)…

  PublisherDOI

• Placental single cell transcriptomics: Opportunities for endocrine disrupting chemical toxicology

  Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology · 2023-09-09 · 10 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Interplay of education and DNA methylation age on cognitive impairment: insights from the Health and Retirement Study

  GeroScience · 2024-09-25 · 7 citations

  articleOpen access

  Few studies have assessed the association of educational attainment on dementia and cognitive impairment through DNA methylation age acceleration, while accommodating exposure-mediator interaction effects. We evaluated the mediation role of six epigenetic clocks with dementia, cognitive impairment non-dementia, and normal cognition, while accommodating exposure-mediator interaction effects. To understand the joint association of low education (≤12 years) and DNA methylation age acceleration (yes…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• Project 3 - Effect of Extreme Weather on Potential Exposure of Contaminant Mixtures in Karst Water Systems

  NIH · $13.7M · 2010–2026

Frequent coauthors

• Rita Loch‐Caruso

  University of Michigan–Ann Arbor

  21 shared

• Kelly M. Bakulski

  University of Michigan–Ann Arbor

  12 shared

• Elana R. Elkin

  San Diego State University

  12 shared

• Anthony L. Su

  Translational Therapeutics (United States)

  11 shared

• Erica Boldenow

  Calvin University

  7 shared

• Elizabeth E. Puscheck

  Wayne State University

  6 shared

• Daniel A. Rappolee

  Wayne State University

  6 shared

• Olivia Harlow

  Calvin University

  6 shared

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