Thyroid hormone system disruption during early and late zebrafish embryo development.

This PhD project will investigate life-stage specific effects in zebrafish embryos exposed to thyroid hormone system disrupting chemicals. Specifically, we study the impact on the function of the hypothalamus pituitary thyroid axis and the development of target organs. We use swim bladder and eye development as model organs and we distinguish between effects on early and late embryonic development. This knowledge is crucial to advance the use of the zebrafish embryo as alternative to animal testing in thyroid hormone system disruption research and in applications for chemical safety evaluation.

Keywords:ENDOCRINE DISRUPTION, ZEBRAFISH, THYROID HORMONE, FISH ECOTOXICOLOGY

Disciplines:Aquatic biology, Environmental impact and risk assessment, Endocrinology