Vance L Trudeau

I am the Principal investigator leading TEAMENDO.ca. A long time ago my graduate students and I were looking for a lab name, so the contracted version of Toxicology, Evolution and Molecular Endocrinology became our moniker. We study the hormonal regulation of development and reproduction in fish and frogs. We try to understand the basic mechanisms of hormone effects, and how they may be disrupted by pesticides, industrial contaminants and human pharmaceutical that enter aquatic ecosystems. This concept is called Endocrine Disruption, and is linked to health problems in many species. Two recent discoveries emphasize what we do. Along with several colleagues we have established that environmental pollutants do more that upset hormones. They can also disrupt reproductive outcomes and coping behaviours- effects that can last generations even after a singe short exposure in early life. One of the most compelling discoveries is a potential new sex hormone called secretoneurin. It controls an animal's ability to breed normally. It is a neuropeptide that is found in all vertebrate animals and we are using genetically modified fish to figure out its importance. Hormone systems are conserved in evolution, so what we learn from one species, for example a fish or a frog, has applications in other species, including humans.

I am able to give interviews in both English and French. I acknowledge that I work and live on the unceded Algonquin territory of the Three Fire Confederacy, Anishinaabewaki. I respect the traditional guardians of these and other regions of the world I am privileged to visit.