Doug Crump

Molecular Toxicologist - Avian Species

Current research and/or projects

Contributing to Environment Canada’s mandate to ensure wildlife is conserved and protected

  • Toxicogenomics – Use of in vitro (cell culture) and in ovo (egg injection) approaches to determine the effects of priority environmental contaminants (e.g., brominated flame retardants) on gene expression in avian species
  • Identify novel mechanisms of action of priority chemicals (e.g., thyroid hormone disruption)
  • Field assessments of the health of colonial bird populations at contaminated sites on the Great Lakes using Herring Gulls as a model species
  • Conservation genetics – Use DNA obtained from avian material (i.e., eggshells, feathers, blood) to determine sex, relatedness, parentage and embryonic viability

Professional activities / interests

Co-supervise 4th-year Honours students from University of Ottawa and Carleton University

Education and awards

M.Sc. (Chemical and Environmental Toxicology), University of Ottawa

B.Sc. (Biology/Environmental Science), Trent University

Key publications

Egloff, C., A. Labrosse, C. Hebert and D. Crump. 2009. A non-destructive method for obtaining maternal DNA from avian eggshells and its application to embryonic viability determination in herring gulls (Larus argentatus). Molecular Ecology Resources, 9:19-27.

Crump, D., S. Chiu, C. Egloff and S.W. Kennedy. 2008. Effects of hexabromocyclododecane and polybrominated diphenyl ethers on mRNA expression in chicken (Gallus domesticus) hepatocytes. Toxicol. Sci. 106 (2): 479-487.

Crump, D., M.M. Jagla, A. Kehoe and S.W. Kennedy. 2008. Detection of polybrominated diphenyl ethers in herring gull (Larus argentatus) brains: Effects on mRNA expression in cultured neuronal cells. Environ. Sci. & Tech. 42: 7715-7721.

Crump, D., M.M. Jagla, S. Chiu and S.W. Kennedy. 2008.Detection of PBDE effects on mRNA expression in chicken (Gallus domesticus) neuronal cells using real-time RT-PCR and a new differential display method. Toxicol. in Vitro 22(5):1337-1343. [doi:10.1016/j.tiv.2008.03.015]

Crump, D., S. Chiu, V.L. Trudeau and S.W. Kennedy. 2008. Fluorescent RNA Arbitrarily Primed (FRAP) PCR - A new differential display approach to detect contaminant-induced alterations of gene expression in wildlife species. In Methods in Molecular Biology 410: Environmental Genomics (Martin, C., ed.). Humana Press (Totowa, NJ), pp. 15-27.

Helbing, C.C., K. Werry, D. Crump, D. Domanski, N. Veldhoen and C.M. Bailey. 2003. Expression profiles of novel thyroid hormone-responsive genes and proteins in the tail of Xenopus laevis tadpoles undergoing precocious metamorphosis. Molecular Endocrinology 17(7): 1395-1409.

Crump D., K. Werry, N. Veldhoen, G. Van Aggelen and C.C. Helbing. 2002. Exposure to the herbicide acetochlor alters thyroid hormone-dependent gene expression and metamorphosis in Xenopus laevis. Environ. Health Perspect. 110(12): 1199-1205.

Crump D., D. Lean and V.L. Trudeau. 2002. Octylphenol and UV-B radiation alter larval development and hypothalamic gene expression in the leopard frog (Rana pipiens). Environ. Health Perspect. 110(3): 277-284.