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Environmental Medicine

URMC / Environmental Medicine / People / Faculty

 

Faculty

Primary Faculty
Research Faculty
Secondary Faculty
Emeritus Faculty

Primary Faculty

Deborah Cory-Slechta
Deborah Cory-Slechta, Ph.D.
Research Interest: 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.
Cristina Demian-Popescu
Cristina A. Demian-Popescu, M.D., M.P.H.

Alison Elder
Alison Elder, Ph.D.
Research Interest: Toxicology of inhaled ultrafine particles (UFPs) on the lung, cardiovascular and central nervous system
Katrina Korfmacher
Katrina Korfmacher, Ph.D.

Research Interest: Community outreach and engagement, role of science in public decision-making
B. Paige Lawrence
B. Paige Lawrence, Ph.D.
Research Interest:

Delineating mechanisms by which environmental exposures during different life stages alter immune function

Dina Markowitz
Dina G. Markowitz, Ph.D.

Research Interest: Developing and coordinating a wide variety of science education and outreach programs for students (elementary through high school), teachers, and the general community.
Hae-Ryung Park
Hae-Ryung Park, Ph.D.
Research Interest:

Identify new targets susceptible to environmental perturbation in relevance with neurodevelopment or neurodegenerative diseases by utilizing functional genetics/genomics (RNAi and CRISPR screens and Next-Generation sequencing), and molecular benchwork. Discover the link between genetic polymorphism of the targets and neurological diseases. Explore novel roles of extracellular vesicles (EV) in receptor signaling and cell communication. Identify EV-encapsulated biomolecules released by the placenta in response to environmental perturbation. Explore the roles of placenta-derived EVs on neurodevelopment or neurodegeneration

Irfan Rahman
Irfan Rahman, Ph.D.
Research Interest:

Redox signaling mechanism of Proinflammatory gene expression in pathogenesis of chronic inflammatory lung diseases caused by environmental toxicants

Matthew Rand
Matthew D. Rand, Ph.D.
Research Interest: Mechanisms of toxicity of the environmental contaminant and neurotoxicant methylmercury (MeHg), defining MeHg effects on early life development of neural and muscular systems at the molecular, cellular, and organismal levels using invertebrate and mammalian models, and detailed characterization of MeHg metabolism and elimination kinetics in humans.
Souvarish Sarkar
Souvarish Sarkar, PhD
Research Interest:

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

Marissa Sobolewski-Terry
Marissa E Sobolewski-Terry, Ph.D.
Research Interest:

Neurotoxicology, Etiology of neurobehavioral disease, Endocrine dysfunction, Synergistic Toxicity.

Martha Susiarjo
Martha Susiarjo, Ph.D.
Research Interest:

Our research program focuses on mechanisms underlying gene environment interaction in pregnancy. We are interested in elucidating how environmental factors influence epigenetic regulation of developmental-relevant genes including imprinted genes, and how exposure modulates maternal-fetal health.

Jacqueline Williams
Jacqueline Patricia Williams, Ph.D.

Research Interest: Discovering the effects of high (therapeutic) and low (environmentally-relevant) doses of radiation and their interactions with other toxic elements, such as commonly encountered infections, and better understanding differential effects of radiation in adults versus children.

Research Faculty

Christina Post
Christina Post, Ph.D.
Research Interest:

Effects of exposure to perfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) on antiviral immunity

Secondary Faculty

Mark Frampton
Mark Frampton, M.D.

Research Interest: Effects of particle exposure on lung function, airway inflammation, and cardiovascular function.
Steve Georas
Steve Georas, M.D.
Research Interest:

Defining molecular pathways by which allergens and particulates activate epithelia and dendritic cells in the lung immune system

Todd Jusko
Todd A. Jusko, Ph.D.
Research Interest: Environmental and Maternal and Child Health Epidemiology: Defining the impact of environmental chemicals on immunity and immune-mediated diseases and as a mechanism for susceptibility to other disease outcomes, such as neurobehavioral disorders.
Thomas Mariani
Thomas Mariani, Ph.D.
Research Interest:

Genetic and environmental susceptibility to developmental lung injury

Richard Miller
Richard K. Miller, M.D.
Research Interest: Determining the impact of maternal stress and other maternal factors on the birth outcomes and in the children.
Gary Myers
Gary J. Myers, M.D.

Research Interest: Environmental toxins, specifically mercury; methyl mercury exposure
Michael O'Reilly
Michael A. O'Reilly, Ph.D.
Research Interest:

Defining how an aberrant oxygen environment and oxygen-induced DNA damage signaling alter distal lung development, the host response to respiratory viral infections, and promotes cardiovascular disease later in life

Gloria Pryhuber
Gloria S. Pryhuber, M.D.
Research Interest:

Chronic lung disease of prematurity and lung development

J. Edward Puzas
J. Edward Puzas, Ph.D.

Research Interest: Molecular signals that govern osteoporosis and arthritis
David Rich
David Rich, Sc.D., M.P.H.
Research Interest:

Cardiovascular, respiratory, and perinatal/reproductive health effects of exposure to environmental agents, including ambient air pollution

Jacques Robert
Jacques Robert, Ph.D.
Research Interest: Experimental platform using the amphibian Xenopus for research in immunotoxicology, fundamental and medical immunology
James Tacci
James Tacci, M.D., J.D., M.P.H.

Sally Thurston
Sally Thurston, Ph.D.

Research Interest:

Using statistics in environmental health, measurement error, multiple outcomes, Bayesian inference

Mark Utell
Mark Utell, M.D.

Gene Watson
Gene Watson, D.D.S., Ph.D.

Collynn Woeller
Collynn Woeller, Ph.D.
Research Interest: Understanding the key molecular and cellular pathways involved in eye disease, with a particular focus on Thyroid Eye Disease (TED)
Jeffrey Wyatt
Jeffrey Wyatt, DVM, MPH

Edwin van Wijngaarden
Edwin van Wijngaarden, Ph.D., M.Sc.
Research Interest: Environmental and Neurologic Epidemiology: Defining influences of environmental exposures, in particular toxic metals, on cognitive outcomes in children and adults.

Emeritus Faculty

Thomas Clarkson
Thomas Clarkson, Ph.D.

Research Interest:

Understanding the toxicities, mechanisms of action, and dose-response relationship for methyl mercury and other heavy metals.

Jacob Finkelstein
Jacob N. Finkelstein, Ph.D.
Research Interest: 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.
Günter Oberdörster
Günter Oberdörster, D.V.M., Ph.D.
Research Interest: Biokinetics, Effects and Mechanisms of Inhaled Micro- and Nano- Particles: Dosimetry, Risk Extrapolation and Risk Assessment