EHSC Members

Investigates nurse-led interventions using Community-Based Participatory Research to advance youth environmental health literacy and lifelong health.

Investigating insulin signaling in the polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) ovary and the role of dietary advanced glycation end-products in PCOS using a mouse model of this syndrome. My clinical interest is in managing the symptoms and reducing the metabolic risks associated with PCOS, as well as managing other conditions of disordered sex steroids.

Defining the impact of environmental chemicals (e.g., metals and air pollution) on brain development and behavior, with emphasis on attributable risk to neurodevelopmental disorders. 

Environmental epidemiology on the effect of air pollution on respiratory health

Nanomaterial and microplastic toxicology focused on the skin; develop novel microphysiologic tissue chips for drug discovery and toxicity testing; investigate environmental pollutants in autoimmune disease.

Toxicology of inhaled particulate matter on the lung, cardiovascular, and central nervous systems

Delineating the role of alveolar epithelium in modulating the pulmonary injury response to physiological and toxicological stimuli, including oxidant induced signaling in the pulmonary epithelium and macrophages, and epithelial production of mediators that regulate inflammatory functions of macrophages. 

How RNA modifications impact neurodevelopment and disease.

Defining molecular pathways by which inhaled allergens and particulates activate lung mucosal immunity.

Pediatric asthma and improving access to guideline-based care.

Early origins research, reproductive environmental health, air and drinking water pollution, extreme temperatures, environmental determinants of premature mortality.

Chemical characterization of ambient aerosol samples; source/receptor relationships for ambient air pollutants; Indoor air quality; Exposure and risk assessment.

Defining the impact of environmental toxicants on maternal and child health, with a focus on persistent organic pollutants (PCBs and PFAS), metals, and their mixtures, and immune system development and function.

Effect of lifestyle, human milk, and infant microbiome of development of immune system and allergic diseases.

Community engagement, policy, and reporting of research results around environmental health (e.g. healthy housing, lead, microplastics, air quality).

Science communication, community outreach and engagement.

Defining the impact of environmental exposures on immune system development and function, with emphasis on how early life exposures shape health and disease later in life.

Investigates prenatal and early life nutritional and environmental exposures that impact the development of asthma and affect lung growth.

Finding hidden groups and their meanings; latent variable modeling; methods and techniques for Bayesian solutions. 

Glia-neuron interactions during synaptic plasticity in health and disease.

Genetic and environmental susceptibility to developmental lung injury.

Developing and coordinating a wide variety of science education and outreach programs for students (elementary through high school), teachers, and the general community.

Impact of iron deficiency on brain development and interactions with environmental toxicants and genetic factors.

Developing methods to: model microRNA-seq data, analyze confocal microscopy images of microglia, and estimate gene regulatory networks from perturbation experiments.

In vitro models of human lung and vascular barriers during inflammation.

Airway epithelial stem cells in chemical inhalation exposures.

Smoking cessation in special populations; technology/web assisted risk behavior intervention; and dissemination of effective interventions to physician practices.

Application and development of 3-D global models of atmospheric chemistry and climate to examine various couplings between atmospheric chemistry and the climate system in the past, present and future.

Defining neuro-inflammatory processes that contribute to pathology and disease progression in Alzheimer's disease, as well as late CNS effects following radiation exposure.

The mechanisms by which early stress exposures, including prenatal maternal anxiety and caregiving stress, may persistently shape children's behavioral and biological health.

Defining how gene environment interactions shape alveolar lung development and the risk for lung disease over the lifespan.

Biokinetics, Effects, Mechanisms and Risk of Inhaled Particles: Dosimetry; Neuronal Nano-Particle Translocation Nose to Brain; Translation Human to Rodent and vice-versa.

Elucidate the molecular mechanisms of divalent metal neurotoxicity and mitochondrial dysfunction in Alzheimer's disease pathogenesis.

Behavioral medicine and outcomes management include tobacco use and smoking interventions, obesity prevention and exercise.

Multiple molecular modality identification of lung cell types, subtypes and states in health and disease with focus on diseases of children.

Environmental lung diseases COPD and IPF pathogenesis and therapeutic targets: effects of lung cellular mitochondrial dysfunction, senescence, and molecular clock.

Cellular and molecular mechanisms of methylmercury metabolism and toxicity in development of neural and muscular systems using invertebrate, mammalian and human models.

Cardiovascular, respiratory, and pregnancy health effects of exposure to environmental agents, including ambient air pollution; accountability studies.

Experimental platform using the amphibian Xenopus for research in immunotoxicology, fundamental and medical immunology.

Develop a research program concentrating on identifying genetic modifiers of environmental factors in disease etiology using a combination of Drosophila genetics, cell culture, and rodent models.

Molecular determinants of and clinical outcomes related to normal and abnormal development of the adaptive immune system in human infants.

Neurotoxicology, behavioral analysis, endocrine-epigenetic mechanisms, cumulative risk.

Primary management of patients with asthma, food allergy, allergic rhinitis, drug allergy, immunodeficiency

Exploring the mechanisms underlying gene-environment interactions in pregnancy; exploring the role of tryptophan catabolism in pregnancy and on the metabolic health of mother and offspring.

Environmental health applications, models for multiple outcomes, multiple exposure models, measurement error, Bayesian inference.

Investigating the influence of exposures (environmental, dietary, dental materials) on oral health and neurodevelopment in children.

Investigating the impact of secondhand tobacco and marijuana smoke exposure on children, tobacco smoke exposure in multi-unit housing, and how to help parents quit smoking.

Investigating how environmental exposures influence molecular pathways driving inflammation and fibrosis in and around the eye.

Refugee community-led environmental research involving healthy choices, eating local fish, and improvement of air quality in kitchens in multifamily dwellings

Environmental and nutritional influences on cognitive and neurodevelopmental outcomes.