Skip to main content Skip to navigation
Toxicology Centre

Academic Credentials

  • Doctor of Philosophy, Institute of Hydrobiology and Fisheries Science, University of Hamburg
  • Diploma (Master of Science Equivalent), Institute of Hydrobiology and Fisheries Science, University of Hamburg

Current Teaching

  • ENVS 990 - Seminar in Environment and Sustainability 
  • TOX 844 - Toxicology Techniques
  • TOX 850 - Aquatic Toxicology

Current and Recent Research Projects

  • Predictive Aquatic Ecotoxicology
  • EcoToxChip: A toxicogenonomics tool for chemical prioritization and environmental management
  • Functional Omics of Native Fish Species for Improved Environmental Risk Assessment
  • Environmental risk assessment of classic (e.g. dioxins/dibenzofurans, PCBs, metals) and emerging (e.g.
  • pesticides, endocrine disrupters) pollutants.
  • Ecotoxicology of endocrine active compounds in fish, amphibians and other wildlife.
  • Development and application of bioanalytical techniques to address (eco‑)toxicological issues.
  • International (OECD) and national (EPA) validation programs for endocrine disruptor screening assays.
  • Toxicological assessment of dioxins/dibenzofurans, pesticides and metals in fish, amphibians and mammals.


Research Interests

Recent Grants/Awards

  • Winner of the “Sabex Award of Innovation” at the 2010 Celebrate Success of the Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce, Saskatoon, Canada, together with John P. Giesy and Xiaowei Zhang.  2010.
  • Royal University Hospital Foundation: “Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals: Potential Effects on Female Reproductive Health in Saskatchewan”  – Co-Principal Investigator (2011 – current).
  • Communities of Tomorrow: “Expansion and commercialization of in vitro screening assays for the detection and assessment of endocrine disrupting potentials of chemicals, waste- and drinking-water”  – Principal Investigator (2011 – current).
  • Teck America Incorporated:  Upper Columbia River Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (RI/FS)  “Assessment of Sediment Toxicity to White Sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) in the Upper Columbia River”  - Co-Principal Investigator/Study Coordinator  (2010 – current).
  • Teck America Incorporated: Upper Columbia River Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (RI/FS) “Assessment of Surface Water Toxicity to White Sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) in the Upper Columbia River”  - Co-Principal Investigator/Study Coordinator (2009 – current).
  • Boost Fund of the Exploratory Research Space @ RWTH Aachen (ERS): FLOODSEARCH II – Integrierte Hochwasserfolgenbewertung als neues Kompetenzfeld der RWTH zwischen Hochwasserrisiko, Sedimentdynamik, Sedimentqualität und Global Change  – Cooperator  (2009 – current).
  • Health Canada, National Contaminated Sites Program:  Bioaccessibility of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) Mixtures in Incidentally Ingested Brownfield Soils  – Cooperator  (2009 – current).

Publications

Woelz, J., Cofalla, C., Hudjetz, S., Roger,S., Brinkmann, M., Schmidt, B., Schaeffer, A., Kammann, U., Lennartz, G., Hecker, M., Schuettrumpf, H., Hollert, H. 2008. In search for the ecological and toxicological relevance of sediment re-mobilization and transport during flood events.  J Soils Sediments. In press.

Park, J., Tompsett, A.R., Zhang, X., Newsted, J.L., Jones, P.D., Yu, R., Wu, R.S.S., Kong, R.Y.C., Giesy, J.P., Hecker, M. 2008a. Fluorescence in situ hybridization techniques (FISH) to detect changes in CYP19a gene expression of Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes). Toxicol. Appl. Pharmacol. 232:226-235.

Hecker, M., Giesy, J.P. 2008. Novel trends in endocrine disruptor testing:  the H295R Steroidogenesis Assay to identify inducers and inhibitors of hormone production. Anal. Biochem. Chem., in press.

Hecker, M., Hollert, H., Cooper, R., Vinggaard, A.-M., Akahori, Y., Murphy, M., Nellemann, C., Higley, E., Newsted, J., Wu, R., Lam, P., Laskey, J., Buckalew, A., Grund, S., Nakai, M., Timm, G., Giesy, J. 2007. The OECD Validation Program of the H295R Steroidogenesis Assay for the Identification of In Vitro Inhibitors and Inducers of Testosterone and Estradiol Production. Phase 2: Inter-Laboratory Pre-Validation Studies. Env. Sci. Pollut. Res. 14 (Special Issue 1): 23-30.

Villeneuve, D.L., Ankley, G.T., Makynen, E.A., Blake, L.S., Greene, K.J., Higley, E.B., Giesy, J.P., Hecker, M. 2007. Comparison of a fathead minnow ovarian steroidogenesis assay and an H295R cell-based steroidogenesis assay for identifying endocrine active chemicals. Ecotox. Environ. Saf. 68: 20-32.

Murphy, M.B., Hecker, M., Coady, K.K., Tompsett, A.R., Jones, P.D., DuPreez, L.H., Everson, G.J., Solomon,  K.R., Carr, J.A., Smith, E.E., Kendall, R.J., van der Kraak, G. and Giesy, J.P. 2005. Atrazine concentrations, gonadal gross morphology and histology in ranid frogs collected in Michigan agricultural areas. Aquat. Toxicol. 76: 230-245.

Hecker, M., Park, J.-W., Murphy, M. B., Jones, P.D., Thompset, A., Solomon, K.R., Van Der Kraak, G., Carr, J.A., Smith, E.E., du Preez, L., Kendall, R.J. and Giesy, J.P.  2005. Effects of atrazine on CYP19 gene expression and aromatase activity in testes and sex steroid concentrations in plasma of male African clawed frogs (Xenopus laevis). Tox. Sci. 86(2): 273-280.

Hecker, M. and Karbe, L. 2005. Parasitism in fish - an endocrine modulator of relevance? Aquat. Toxicol. 72: 195-207