Faculty

Dr. Elizabeth Putnam

Associate Professor
Email: elizabeth.putnam@umontana.edu
Phone: (406) 243-4794

After completing undergraduate work in Biochemistry at Rutgers College in New Brunswick, NJ, Elizabeth Putnam earned a Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences in Houston. Following postdoctoral fellowships at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and the University of Texas Medical School, she moved to the University of Montana as a Research Assistant Professor in 2000.

Research Statement

Research in the Putnam laboratory focuses on the role of genetic variability in susceptibility to environmental insult. Inherited differences in DNA sequence contribute to phenotypic variation, influencing an individual’s risk of disease and response to the environment. Investigations into gene expression changes after exposure to environmental toxins provide insight into possible mechanisms of response, and the influence of genetic polymorphisms on expression of this response. Using the latest technologies for microarray analysis and automated DNA sequencing, these studies hold great promise for dissecting response to environmental toxins and identifying potential targets for therapeutic intervention.

Recent Publications

Pershouse MA, Smartt AM, Schwanke C and Putnam EA. Differences in gene expression profiles from asbestos-treated SPARC-null and wild type mouse lungs.  Genomics in press 2009.

Smartt AM, Brezinski M, Trapkus M, Gardner  D and Putnam EA.  Collagen accumulation over time in the murine lung after exposure to crocidolite asbestos or Libby amphibole. Env Toxicol, 2009 Feb 13 [epub ahead of print].

Putnam EA, Smartt AM, Brezinski M, Groves A, Schwanke C, and Pershouse MA. Histologic and gene expression changes after amphibole exposures in a mouse model. J Immunotox 5(2):139-44, 2008.