Margaret Bell

Classes Taught

• Discover Chicago: One Health (HON 110)
• Foundations of Health Sciences (HLTH 200)
• Cell Biology (BIO 250)
• Physiology of Poverty (HLTH 325/BIO 225)
• Introduction to Endocrinology (BIO 386)

​​​​​Research Interests

The goal of the Bell Lab is to understand how exposure to environmental contaminants during development alters behavior and health later in life, in adolescence and adulthood. The lab studies two common contaminant classes called polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), both considered ‘forever chemicals’ because they persist in the environment and our bodies for a long time. We design experiments to test how these compounds interact with other environmental challenges (infection, stress, diet, etc) over a lifetime to influence neural, endocrine, and immune systems, using primary cell culture and behavioral, physiological, and molecular approaches in a rat model. Findings may help the field focus on key health outcomes to monitor, identify vulnerable populations to protect, and inform risk assessment and potential regulatory approaches. 

Select Publications

Please see Google Scholar or ORCID for complete references.

• Margaret R Bell, Katherine A Walker, Gia M Valdez, and Carissa E Dressel, 2026. Advances and challenges in studying effects of EDCs on tissue-resident macrophages in inflammation. Journal of the Endocrine Society 10 (4), bvag044. doi: 10.1210/jendso/bvag044
• Katherine A Walker, Simone T Rhodes, Debbie A Liberman, Andrea C Gore, Margaret R Bell. 2024. Microglial responses to inflammatory challenge in adult rats altered by developmental exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls in a sex-specific manner. NeuroToxicology, 104, 95-115. doi: 10.1016/j.neuro.2024.07.009
• Deborah A. Liberman, Katherine A. Walker, Andrea C Gore, and Margaret R Bell. 2020. Sex-specific effects of developmental exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls on neuroimmune and dopaminergic endpoints in adolescent rats. Neurotoxicology and Teratology, 79:106880.  doi: 10.1016/j.ntt.2020.106880
• Margaret R Bell. 2018. Comparing Postnatal Development of Gonadal Hormones and Associated Social Behaviors in Rats, Mice, and Humans. Endocrinology, 159(7):2569-2613. doi: 10.1210/en.2018-00220
• Margaret R Bell, Bethany Hart, Andrea Gore. 2016. Two-hit exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls at gestational and juvenile life stages: 2. Sex specific neuromolecular effects in the brain.  Molecular and Cellular Neuroendocrinology, 420:125-137. doi: 10.1016/j.mce.2015.11.024