Martyn T. Smith, Ph.D.
Professor of Toxicology
PHONE: (510) 642-8770
FAX: (510) 642-0427
LOCATION: 215A Hildebrand Hall
E-MAIL: martynts@berkeley.edu
WEBSITES: Genes & Environment Laboratory, Superfund Research Project, Exposome Alliance Project
Education
- B.Sc. (Honors) in Biology, Queen Elizabeth College, University of London, UK, 1977
- Ph.D. in Biochemistry, Medical College of St. Bartholomew's Hospital Charterhouse Square, London, UK, 1980
- Post-doctoral training in toxicology with Prof Sten Orrenius at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, 1981
Research Interests
- The causes of leukemia and lymphoma
- Metabolism and toxicity of benzene
- Applying 'Omic' technologies to develop biomarkers of exposure, early effect and susceptibility in humans
Research Description
Dr. Smith has expertise and a broad background in molecular epidemiology, toxicology and genomics, aimed at finding the causes of chronic disease including lymphoma and leukemia. His interest in the subject of benzene toxicity began in the mid-1980’s and he has published extensively on this topic, most recently as a review for the 2010 Annual Reviews of Public Health. Dr. Smith is working with collaborators internationally to explore study of the emerging field of exposomics.
Current Projects
Dr. Smith has led the Superfund Research Program at Berkeley since its inception in 1987. This program has been peer reviewed and renewed 5 times. The overall goal of the Program is to improve understanding of the relationship between exposure and disease; provide better human health risk assessments; and, develop a range of prevention and remediation strategies to improve and protect public health and the environment. In addition, he is a collaborator on numerous other projects examining emerging technologies to develop biomarkers for human studies, improve chemical detection, and facilitate waste remediation.
Publications
Akers NK, Curry JD, Conde L, Bracci PM, Smith MT, Skibola CF (2011) Association of HLA-DQB1 alleles with risk of follicular lymphoma. Leuk Lymphoma. Jan;52(1):53-8. PMID: 21133715.
Ren X, McHale CM, Skibola CF, Smith AH, Smith MT, Zhang L (2011) An emerging role for epigenetic dysregulation in arsenic toxicity and carcinogenesis. EHP. Jan;119(1):11-9. PMCID: PMC3018488.
Novak R, Zeng Y, Shuga J, Venugopalan G, Fletcher DA, Smith MT, Mathies RA (2011) Single cell multiplex gene detection and sequencing with microfluidically generated agarose emulsions. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. Jan 10;50(2):390-5. PMCID: PMC3027204.
Ren X, Lim S, Ji Z, Yuh J, Peng V, Smith MT, Zhang L (2011) Comparison of Proliferation and Genomic Instability Responses to WRN Silencing in Hematopoietic HL60 and TK6 Cells. PLoS One. Jan 18;6(1):e14546. PMCID: PMC3022623.
Zhang L, Lan Q, Guo W, Hubbard AE, Li G, Rappaport SM, McHale CM, Shen M, Ji Z, Vermeulen R, Yin S, Rothman N, Smith MT (2011) Chromosome-Wide Aneuploidy Study (CWAS) in Workers Exposed to an Established Leukemogen, Benzene. Carcinogenesis. Apr;32(4):605-12. PMCID: PMC3066415.
Smedby KE, Foo JN, Skibola CF, Darabi H, Conde L, Hjalgrim H, Kumar V, Chang ET, Rothman N, Cerhan JR, Brooks-Wilson AR, Rehnberg E, Irwan ID, Ryder LP, Brown PN, Bracci PM, Agana L, Riby J, Cozen W, Davis S, Hartge P, Morton LM, Severson RK, Wang SS, Slager SL, Fredericksen ZS, Novak AJ, Kay NE, Habermann TM, Armstrong B, Kricker A, Milliken S, Purdue MP, Vajdic CM, Boyle P, Lan Q, Zahm SH, Zhang Y, Zheng T, Leach S, Spinelli JJ, Smith MT, Chanock SJ, Padyukov L, Alfredsson L, Klareskog L, Glimelius B, Melbye M, Liu ET, Adami HO, Humphreys K, Liu J. (2011) GWAS of Follicular Lymphoma Reveals Allelic Heterogeneity at 6p21.32 and Suggests Shared Genetic Susceptibility with Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma. PLoS Genet. 2011 Apr;7(4):e1001378. PMCID: PMC3080853.
McHale CM, Zhang L, Lan Q, Vermeulen R, Li G, Hubbard AE, Porter KE, Thomas R, Portier CJ, Shen M, Rappaport SM, Yin S, Smith MT, Rothman N (2011) Global Gene Expression Profiling of a Population Exposed to a Range of Benzene Levels. Environ Health Perspect. May;119(5):628-34. PMCID: PMC3094412.
Ren X, Aleshin M, Jo WJ, Dills R, Kalman DA, Vulpe CD, Smith MT, Zhang L (2011) Involvement of N-6 Adenine-Specific DNA Methyltransferase 1 (N6AMT1) in Arsenic Biomethylation and Its Role in Arsenic-Induced Toxicity. Environ Health Perspect. Jun;119(6):771-7. PMCID: PMC3114810.
Smith MT, Zhang L, McHale CM, Skibola CF, Rappaport SM. (2011) Benzene, the exposome and future investigations of leukemia etiology. Chem Biol Interact. Jun 30;192(1-2):155-9. PMID: 21333640.
Shen M, Zhang L, Lee KM, Vermeulen R, Hosgood HD, Li G, Yin S, Rothman N, Chanock S, Smith MT, Lan Q. (2011) Polymorphisms in genes involved in innate immunity and susceptibility to benzene-induced hematotoxicity. Exp Mol Med. Jun 30;43(6):374-8. PMID: 21540635.
Akers NK, Curry JD, Smith MT, Bracci PM, Skibola CF (2011) Multiplexed, ligation-dependent probe amplification for rapid and inexpensive HLA-DQB1 allelotyping. Tissue Antigens. Jul 18 [Epub ahead of print]. PMID: 21762399.Other Interests
- Member, UCB Committee on Research
- Member of the Editorial Board
- Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, Reviews in Mutation Research, Cell Biochemistry and Function
- Elected Member, Scientific Advisory Board of the International Agency for Research on Cancer
- Member of the Advisory Board to HuGeF
- Member of the Advisory Board of the EU "Envirogenomarkers" project led by Prof. Soterios, Athens, Greece
- Member, External Advisory Board of the Center for Environmental Health Sciences at Univ. of North Carolina
- Member of the Advisory Board for the MRC-HPA Centre for Environment & Health at the University of London, UK
Profile updated: October 20, 2011