Nicole Renee Sparks
Biography
Nicole Renee Sparks, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at the University of California, Irvine. Dr. Sparks is the DECADE mentor for the Joe C. Wen School of Population and Public Health. Her research investigates how environmental toxicant exposures disrupt embryonic development and contribute to skeletal malformations and disease. Using human pluripotent stem cells and animal models, Dr. Sparks studies transcriptional and epigenetic regulators as predictive biomarkers of developmental toxicity and examines mechanisms underlying toxicant-mediated inhibition of bone development.
Dr. Sparks earned her Ph.D. in Environmental Toxicology from the University of California, Riverside in 2018. Her doctoral research focused on the embryotoxic effects of harm reduction tobacco products on osteoblast development from human embryonic stem cells. She subsequently completed postdoctoral training at UC Riverside from 2018–2022, supported by the NIEHS MOSAIC K99/R00 and UC Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellowships, where she investigated toxicant-sensitive transcription factors and epigenetic regulators involved in osteoblast differentiation.
Her research program is currently supported by multiple NIH awards, including an NIGMS R35 grant (2025–2030) focused on epigenetic regulation of lineage specification in human pluripotent stem cells. Dr. Sparks is also a member of the UCI Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center and the UCI Stem Cell Research Center.
In addition to her research, Dr. Sparks serves as Chair of the Membership & Engagement Committee for the Society for Birth Defects Research and Prevention. She is an active member of several professional organizations, including the Society of Toxicology and the American Society for Cell Biology. She has mentored numerous undergraduate and graduate trainees and has received multiple honors recognizing her contributions to stem cell toxicology and developmental biology.
Return to topEducation
- Ph.D. in Environmental Toxicology, University of California Riverside, 2018
- M.S. in Biological Sciences, California State University San Bernardino, 2012
- B.S. in Biological Sciences, La Sierra University, 2007
Distinctions
- Vice-Chair, Continuing Education Committee; Society of Toxicology (SOT), 2026
- New Investigator Award; Society for Birth Defects Research and Prevention (BDRP), 2026
- Chair, BDRP 2026 symposium session , 2026
- Chair, Membership & Engagement; Society for Birth Defects Research and Prevention (BDRP), 2025
- NIGMS MIRA R35; Epigenetic Regulation in Human Embryonic Stem Cell Lineage Specification, 2025
- Vice Chair, DEIA Committee; BDRP, 2024
- NIEHS R00; Analysis of environmentally-sensitive epigenetic machinery during osteogenic differentiation, 2023
- NIEHS Loan Repayment Program (LRP), 2023
- NIEHS K99; Analysis of environmentally-sensitive epigenetic machinery during osteogenic differentiation, 2021
Areas of Expertise
- Developmental Toxicology
- Human Pluripotent Stem Cells
- Skeletal Development and Teratogenicity
- Environmental Toxicant Exposure
- Epigenetic Regulation of Differentiation
- Oxidative Stress Mechanisms
- Endocrine Disruptor Toxicity
- Air Pollutant Toxicity
- Developmental Biomarkers
Recent Publications
- Iwobi N, Sparks NR, “Endocrine Disruptor-Induced Bone Damage Due to Hormone Dysregulation: A Review”, Int J Mol Sci, vol. 24, no. 9, pp. 8263, 2023.
- Martinez IKC, Sparks NRL, Madrid JV, Talbot P, zur Nieden NI, “Exposure to cigarette smoke impedes human osteoblast differentiation independently of nicotine”, Nicotine and Tobacco Research, vol. 24, no. 12, pp. 1921-1926, 2022.
- Sparks NRL, Walker LM, Sera SR, Madrid JV, Hanna M, Dominguez EC, zur Nieden NI, “Sidestream Smoke Extracts from Harm-Reduction and Conventional Camel Cigarettes Inhibit Osteogenic Differentiation via Oxidative Stress and Differential Activation of intrinsic Apoptotic Pathways”, Antioxidants, vol. 11, no. 12, pp. 2474, 2022.
- Walker LM, Sparks NRL, Puig-Sanvicens V, Rodrigues B, zur Nieden NI, “An Evaluation of Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells to Test for Cardiac Developmental Toxicity”, Int J Mol Sci, vol. 22, no. 15, pp. 8114, 2021.
- Martinez IKC, Sparks NRL, Madrid JV, Affeldt H 3rd, Vera MKM, Bhanu B, zur Nieden NI, “Video-based kinetic analysis of calcification in live osteogenic human embryonic stem cell cultures reveals the developmentally toxic effect of Snus tobacco extract” (opens in new tab), Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology, 2019.
- Vliet SMF, Dasgupta S, Sparks NRL, Kirkwood JS, Vollaro A, Hur M, Zur Nieden NI, Volz DC, “Maternal-to-zygotic transition as a potential target for niclosamide during early embryogenesis” (opens in new tab), Toxicol Appl Pharmacol, 2019.
- Sparks NRL, Martinez IKC, Soto C, zur Nieden NI, “Low osteogenic yield in human pluripotent stem cells associates with differential neural crest promoter methylation” (opens in new tab), Stem Cells, 2018.
- Madrid JV, Sera SR, Sparks NRL, zur Nieden NI, “Human Pluripotent Stem Cells to Assess Developmental Toxicity in the Osteogenic Lineage”, Methods Mol Biol, vol. 1797, pp. 125-145, 2018.
- McClelland DLV, Satoorian TS, Walker LM, Sparks NRL, Keller KC, Pulyanina PY, zur Nieden NI, “Glucose-induced oxidative stress reduces proliferation in embryonic stem cells via FOXO3a/β-Catenin-dependent transcription of p21cip1”, Stem Cell Reports, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 55-68, 2016.
- Keller KC, Ding H, Tieu R, Sparks NRL, Ehnes DD, zur Nieden NI, “Wnt5a supports osteogenic lineage decisions in embryonic stem cells”, Stem Cells Dev, vol. 25, no. 13, pp. 1020-32, 2016.
- Sparks, N. R.L., zur Nieden, N. I., “Pluripotent Stem Cells as Tools to Assess Developmental Toxicity: Diversity Instead of Consolidation” (opens in new tab), Handbook of Nanotoxicology, Nanomedicine and Stem Cell Use in Toxicology, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 2014.
Contact Information
Email: nrsparks@uci.edu
Phone: (949) 824-2932
Address: 3628 Susan & Henry Samueli College of Health Sciences, Irvine, CA 92697
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Last updated on 5/19/2026.