I am a Professor in the Environmental Health Sciences Department within the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. I teach graduate level toxicology courses and guest lecture in several other departments.

I study the molecular effects of TCDD (dioxins), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and other toxic pollutants that exert their effects through the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (a.k.a. dioxin or xenobiotic receptor). I also study how chaperone proteins (members of the Hsp90 protein complex) regulate the aryl hydrocarbon receptor and other signal tranduction pathways. My laboratories are located in the Center for Bioenvironmental Research within the J.B. Johnston Building at Tulane University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans, LA. (telephone 504-988-6942, e-mail rellim@tulane.edu)

TCDD, the dioxin that became infamous from "Agent Orange" spraying during the Viet Nam War, is associated with increased risks of cancers, birth defects, endocrine disruption, reproductive impairment, immunotoxicity, and neurotoxicity in animals that are exposed at relatively high doses. Whether pollutants such as dioxins, PCBs, and related compounds cause health effects at environmentally relevant concentrations is literally a billion dollar question. Molecular toxicological experiments will help answer this question.