Prime Highlights
- University of Winnipeg student Chathuri Mudalige, winner of the MEIA Deb Tardiff Scholarship for her research in the environmental sciences through the MESC.
- She aims to enhance the quality and efficiency of testing persistent organic pollutants (POPs) with New Approach Methodologies (NAMs).
Key Background
Of an estimated 350,000 chemicals registered with the Chemical Abstract Services, less than 35% have been tested for toxicity. Bridging this gap, University of Winnipeg second-year Master of Environmental and Social Change (MESC) student Chathuri Mudalige is leading the charge to speed up chemical toxicity testing.
In March of 2025, Mudalige received the prestigious Deb Tardiff Scholarship from the Manitoba Environmental Industries Association (MEIA). The award recognizes her outstanding performance in academics, volunteering, and success in environmental science. With appreciation for the award, Mudalige remarked, “I am very thankful for this award and continue committed to performing well within the area.” She would also like to thank her supervisor, Dr. Jean-Pierre Desforges, for everything he had helped her with in the duration of her study.
Mudalige’s UWinnipeg’s Desforges Lab work focuses on transforming screening for long-lasting organic pollutants (POPs), which are already documented to be responsible for human and wildlife health. Classical chemical toxicity assessment has traditionally entailed using animal tests—a procedure that has ethical issues and requires long periods of time, typically three or four years to notice pertinent changes. The longer durations have been a major factor in the chemical toxicity testing backlog as it is today.
In order to tackle such difficulties, Mudalige uses New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) in which human cultured cells are used to conduct in vitro tests. Examining changes at the level of the genome, i.e., tracking gene expression variation, under this system it has become possible to screen many chemicals within a time period of some months. These technologies not only accelerate the establishment of safe levels of chemicals for human and environmental exposure but are especially crucial to the preservation of sensitive ecosystems, such as those occurring within the Arctic.
Mudalige’s work has the potential to revolutionize chemical toxicity testing into a more ethical, cheaper, and more precise model that can profoundly promote public and environmental well-being.
