Multidisciplinary Science Building II, Room 408
Education
- Ph.D. in Environment, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, 2022
- Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science with Honors, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, 2013
Biography
Leuthner joined the O’Neill School in 2025 as a Precision Toxicology F100 Assistant Professor. She is an environmental toxicologist broadly interested in understanding how pollution affects health. The Leuthner lab uses the roundworm C. elegans to study the effects of exposure to chemical toxicants on individual and population health. Our current research focuses on the contribution of genetic variation on susceptibility and response to various chemical exposures with a particular emphasis on identifying novel molecular mechanisms of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) toxicity.
Highlights
- 2023-2025, Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Postdoctoral Fellowship (Parent F32). National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
- 2023, Best New Investigator Platform Presentation, Environmental Mutagenesis and Genomics Society 54th Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, USA
- 2022, American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellowship
- 2022, Best Platform Presentation, Genetics and Environmental Mutagenesis Society Fall Meeting, Durham, NC, USA
- 2022, Charles W. Hargitt Postdoctoral Fellowship. Department of Biology, Duke University
- 2021, Dean’s Award for Excellence in Mentoring. Duke University Graduate School
- 2020-2022, Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Predoctoral Fellowship(Parent F31). National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
- 2019, Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Instructor of Record Teaching Fellowship, The Graduate School, Duke University. Course title: “One Environmental Health Seminar”
- 2018-2019, Preparing Future Faculty Fellow, The Graduate School, Duke University
Selected Works
- Leuthner, TC, S Zhang, BF Kohrn, H Stapleton, LR Baugh. 2025. Structure-specific variation in per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances toxicity among genetically diverse Caenorhabditis elegans strains. Toxicological Sciences, DOI: 10.1093/toxsci/kfaf014.
- Leuthner, TC, L Benzing*, BF Kohrn, CM Bergemann, MJ Hipp, KA Hershberger, DF Mello, T Sokolskyi*, K Stevenson, IR Merutka, SA Seay, SG Gregory, SR Kennedy, JN Meyer. 2022. Resistance of mitochondrial DNA to cadmium and Aflatoxin B1 damage-induced germline mutation accumulation in C. elegans. Nucleic Acids Research, 50(15): 8626-8642. *Undergraduate co-author.
- Leuthner, TC and JN Meyer. 2021. Mitochondrial DNA Mutagenesis: Feature of and Biomarker for Environmental Exposures and Aging. Current Environmental Health Reports.
- Leuthner, TC, JH Hartman, I Ryde, JN Meyer. PCR Based Determination of Mitochondrial DNA Copy Number in Multiple Species. Methods in Molecular Biology: Mitochondrial Regulation, 2021, 2310:91-111.
- Nash, A, M Samoylova, TC Leuthner, M Zhu, L Lin, JN Meyer, T Brennan. 2020. Effects of Immunosuppressive Medications on Mitochondrial Function. J. Surg. Res. 249:50-57
- Hershberger KA, Leuthner TC, Waters TA, Meyer J.N. 2019. Caenorhabditis elegans strain sensitivity to sodium arsenite exposure is varied based on age and outcome measured. microPublication Biology.
- Hibshman, JD, TC Leuthner, C Shoben, DR Sherwood, JN Meyer, LR Baugh. 2018. Non-selective mitophagy reduces mitochondrial content during starvation in Caenorhabditis elegans. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol, 315(6):C781-C792.
- Sanders, LH, JP Rouanet, EH Howlett, TC Leuthner, JP Rooney, JT Greenamyre, JN Meyer. 2018. Newly revised protocol for quantitative PCR-based assay to measure mitochondrial and nuclear DNA damage. Current Protocols, 76(1).
- Meyer, JN, TC Leuthner, AL Luz. 2017. Mitochondrial fusion, fission, and mitochondrial toxicity. Toxicology, 391:42-53.
- Luz, AL, TR Godebo, LL Smith, TC Leuthner, LL Maurer, JN Meyer. 2017. Deficiencies in mitochondrial dynamics sensitize Caenorhabditis elegans to arsenite and other mitochondrial toxicants by reducing mitochondrial adaptability. Toxicology, 387: 81-94.
- Lindberg, CD, N Jayasundara, JS Kozal, TC Leuthner, RT Di Giulio. 2017. Resistance to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon toxicity and associated bioenergetic consequences in a population of Fundulus heteroclitus. Ecotoxicology, 3:435-448.
- Ahrenhoerster, LS, TC Leuthner, ER Tate, PA Lakatos, MD Laiosa. 2015. Developmental exposure to 2,3,7,8 tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin attenuates later-life Notch1-mediated T cell development and leukemogenesis. Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology, 283(2), 99–108