University of Pennsylvania · PharmacologyLab for Air Pollution and Carcinogenesis
Trevor M Penning · Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Research Focus
Dr. Trevor M. Penning's lab at the University of Pennsylvania focuses on the health impacts of air pollution, specifically studying nitroarenes—carcinogenic compounds found in diesel exhaust. The lab investigates how these chemicals are activated in human lung cells and their potential to cause DNA damage, which may lead to cancer. Through a mix of molecular biology techniques and cell models, the lab aims to uncover mechanisms of lung cancer initiation related to environmental exposures.
air pollutionnitroarenescarcinogenesishuman lung cellsNRF2-KEAP1 pathwayDNA adductsmutagenicityproteomicsCRISPR
Research Aims
4AIM 01Determine how human AKR1C enzymes metabolically activate nitroarenes in lung cell lines.
AIM 02Investigate the impact of nitrosoarenes on protein modifications in human bronchial epithelial cells.
AIM 03Measure the DNA adducts formed from nitroarene exposure to assess NRF2 dependence.
AIM 04Evaluate whether AKR1C enzymes increase the mutagenicity of nitroarenes in specific genes.
Skills the Lab Values
cell cultureCRISPR/Cas9 genetic editingliquid chromatographymass spectrometrytargeted proteomicsAmes AssayDNA damage assessmentprotein modification analysiscell line development
Output against the department
Publications1,986top 1% of dept.4th of 462
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations28ktop 11% of dept.49th of 462
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.