Zhu AY, McWilliams TL, McKeon TP, Vachani A, Penning TM, Hwang WT. Association of multi-criteria derived air toxics hazard score with lung cancer incidence in a major metropolitan area. Front Public Health. 2023 Jun 26;11:1002597. PMID: 37435521; PMCID: PMC10332161.
View in PubmedEmergent Areas
Our thematic areas in Air Pollution & Lung Health; Environmental Exposures & Cancer; Windows-of-Susceptibility; and Environmental Neuroscience are unified by cross-cutting themes in exposure science, or Exposomics, and the emergent threat of Climate Change on health.
Exposomics
Exposomics (strategies to capture the totality of lifetime exposures) is a growing research area in environmental health science. Our researchers continue to assess and develop new tools and technologies for exposure assessment—to better understand personal health risks associated with environmental exposures. Our Facility Cores offer the expertise and state-of-the-art instrumentation to support these endeavors.
Climate Change & Human Health
As weather-related events, such as floods, heat waves, hurricanes, tornados, and forest fires become more pronounced, the risk to human health grows, exacerbating existing physical and mental health conditions. In the Philadelphia region, three major climate change threats include air pollution, flooding, and extreme heat. Our community partners and researchers are working in sync to identify and understand research gaps on climate change and health and create opportunities to address them.
Exposomics Research
Greenblatt RE, Himes BE. Facilitating Inclusion of Geocoded Pollution Data into Health Studies. AMIA Jt Summits Transl Sci Proc. 2019 May 6;2019:553-561. PMID: 31259010; PMCID: PMC6568125.
View in PubmedChristie C, Xie S, Diwadkar AR, Greenblatt RE, Rizaldi A, Himes BE. Consolidated Environmental and Social Data Facilitates Neighborhood-Level Health Studies in Philadelphia. AMIA Annu Symp Proc. 2022 Feb 21;2021:305-313. PMID: 35308932; PMCID: PMC8861730.
View in PubmedClimate Change & Human Health Research
Burris HH, Just AC. Extreme Heat and Preterm Birth Risk—Methodologic Considerations and Policy Implications. JAMA Pediatr. 2024;178(4):337–339.
View in PubmedCrane K, Li L, Subramanian P, Rovit E, Liu J. Climate Change and Mental Health: A Review of Empirical Evidence, Mechanisms and Implications. Atmosphere (Basel). 2022 Dec;13(12):2096. Epub 2022 Dec 13. PMID: 37727770; PMCID: PMC10508914.
View in PubmedHolly Elser, Timothy B. Frankland, Sara Y. Tartof, Elizabeth Rose Mayeda, Jennifer Manly, Jaqueline M. Torres, Alexander J. Northrop, Tarik Benmarhnia, Chen Chen, Joan A. Casey. “Long-term wildfire smoke exposure and incident dementia in a large California Cohort.” (Submitted)
For more informationFeatured Center Members
Heather Burris, MD, MPH
Climate Change and Preterm Birth
Aimin Chen, MD, PhD
Climate Change & Exposomics and Development
Eva-Maria Collins, PhD
Neurotoxicant Exposome
Holly Elser, MD, PhD
Climate Change and Neurological Disorders
Blanca Himes, PhD
Geospatial Analysis of Pollution and Respiratory Outcomes
Marilyn Howarth, MD
Community Exposomics & Climate Change
Jianghong Liu, PhD
Climate Change & Social Determinants of Health
Michael Mann, PhD
Climate Education & Policy
Clementina Mesaros, PhD
Targeted & Untargeted Mass Spectrometry
Howard Neukrug
Water Security
Trevor Penning, PhD
Air Pollution Exposomics and Lung Cancer Incidence
Jennifer Pinto-Martin, PhD
Eco-anxiety and Adaptation to Climate Change
Anil Vachani, MD, MSCE
Air Pollution Exposomics and Lung Cancer Screening Uptake