Dr. Faqi Leads IITRI in Developmental and Reproductive Toxicology Bioassays

As Study Director for teratology and reproductive toxicology studies at IITRI, Dr. Ali S. Faqi evaluates the potential effects of drugs, food additives and environmental chemicals on reproduction and development. Working with a specially trained team, he leads staff from IITRI's Life Sciences Group in performing bioassays for sponsors in the chemical, pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, and for the National Cancer Institute and other government agencies.

	"Low-level exposure to hormone modulating chemicals occurs throughout our lives and probably during gestation and lactation. The risks associated with these exposures are still largely unknown and highly controversial." Dr. Ali Faqi, Study Director Teratology and Reproductive Toxicology

One area of Dr. Faqi's research is in the study of endocrine disrupters and their effects on reproduction. "In recent years, there has been increasing public concern that chemicals in the environment are affecting human health by disrupting normal hormone function," he says. These chemicals interfere with normal functions by mimicking the sex steroid hormone estrogens and androgens by binding to hormone receptors or cell signaling pathways. Disturbances in hormonal regulation during prenatal or early postnatal development may adversely affect male and female fertility, he explains.

"Low-level exposure to hormone modulating chemicals occurs throughout our lives from food, air, water, soil and household products, and probably during gestation and lactation," Dr. Faqi says. "The risks associated with these low-level and constant exposures are still largely unknown and highly controversial."

The primary goal is to determine the lowest level of exposure that elicits an adverse effect (LOAEL). Animal studies on lindane and TCDD, for example, show that the lowest dose tested produces a significant effect on sperm number, daily sperm production and sperm morphology.

The major challenge then remains "to determine whether exposure to low levels of these chemicals during gestation and lactation induces subtle changes in humans, as determined in experimental animals."

Dr. Faqi received a Ph.D. in Developmental/ Reproductive Toxicology from the University of Leipzig, Germany, a Diploma of Specialization in Experimental Pharmacology from the University of Milan, Italy, and a D.V.M. from Somali National University, Mogadishu.

Before joining IITRI, he worked at Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, GA, at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, PA, and at the Institute for Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology, Free University of Berlin (Germany).

Dr. Faqi has published in peerreviewed scientific journals approximately 25 articles and 50 abstracts on developmental and reproductive toxicity and teratogenicity studies.