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Signature Research Programs
ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH SIGNATURE PROGRAM (EHSP)
MISSION
The Mission of the EHSP is to perform basic and translational research on
regionally-relevant environmental public health issues that address the
overall health needs of unique Southwestern communities and to contribute to
our understanding of global environmental health issues.
GOALS
- To increase scholarship and the RO1 (NIEHS and other NIH institutes) and other research support for basic and translational research in environmental health
- To build the infrastructure for increasing the competitiveness for program project grants, center grants, and training grants; identify and increase institutional support for environmental health sciences
- Identify research opportunities, create synergy, and facilitate communication across thematic areas.
- To build collaborations and partnerships between UNM colleges, departments, and non-UNM partners (National Labs, Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute, communities, etc)
- To facilitate translation of research findings through multi-directional communications amongst researchers, health providers, communities, and policy/decision makers.
- To support mentoring and training of graduate, professional, and
post graduate students.
THEMATIC RESEARCH AREAS AND LEADERS
Environmental Toxicology (Leaders: Hudson/Liu)
Abstract - It is widely believed that many non-infectious disease states
such as asthma, diabetes, and cancers are environmentally induced or
triggered. The Environmental Toxicology Thematic Area investigates
molecular mechanisms of environmentally-induced diseases. Environmental
stimuli are broadly defined to include an array of physical and chemical
challenges to human beings resulting in toxicity and responses which may
adversely affect human health.
Members: Laurie Hudson, PhD, Jim Liu, PhD, Scott W. Burchiel, PhD, Jim
Feng, PhD, Todd Thompson, PhD
Secondary Members: Andrea Allan, PhD (Neuro), Marianne Berwick, PhD
(Cancer), Nancy Kanagy, PhD (CV), Mary Walker, PhD (CV), Dan Savage, PhD
(Neuro)
Associate Members: Matt Campen, PhD (LRRI), Amie Lund, PhD (LRRI)
Environmental Exposure and Epidemiology (Leaders: Gonzales/Rowland)
Abstract - The focus of Epidemiology and Exposure thematic area is the
recognition, evaluation and control of environmental hazards in relation
to human health. Thematic area members represent a wide range of
specialties in environmental health sciences which intersect in the
areas of exposure assessment for toxic substances and environmental
epidemiology. Specific expertise includes exposure measurement and
modeling, mechanisms of exposure, perinatal epidemiology, pediatric
epidemiology, development of molecular biomarkers, population and
laboratory studies of gene-environment interaction, quantitative
exposure-response relationships and interactions, biostatistical methods
for complex environmental mixtures; and geospatial analysis of exposures
and health outcomes.
Members: Melissa Gonzales, PhD, Andrew Rowland, PhD, Ludmilla Bakhireva,
PhD, Alexis Handal, PhD, Orrin Myers, PhD, Chris Stidely, PhD, Kristine
Tollestrup, PhD
Secondary Members: Ed Bedrick, PhD (Cancer), Marianne Berwick, PhD
(Cancer), Eszter Erdei, MD, PhD (Cancer), Kristina Flores, PhD (Cancer),
Linda Cook, PhD, Rob Annette, PhD
Environmental Geography and Global Health (Leaders: Lewis/Perkins)
The Geographic and Global Community Environmental Health Cluster is a
multidisciplinary cluster that is focused on developing novel methods
for approaching environmental health problems common to specific
demographic or geographic regions. The Cluster combines research
expertise in community-based participatory research, outreach, remote
sensing, geographic information systems, infectious disease, global and
tribal health, and Bayesian and spatial modeling. The researchers
believe that commonalities that exist among geographically isolated
communities in the US and in remote global regions serve to inform both
recognition of risk factors, identification of emerging diseases, and
appropriate intervention strategies to mitigate adverse health impacts
of changing climates, and to inform effective communication strategies
based in active partnerships among researchers, health care providers,
community members, and policy makers.
Examples of areas of interest
include using remote sensing to predict changes in regional climates
that increase the risk of vectors for infectious disease, allowing us to
utilize strategies effective in South American communities to inform
early detection and intervention strategies in the Southwestern United
States. At a different level, methodologies developed to allow us to
separate the relative risk of demographic, environmental, and health
risk factors in the etiology of disease can be applied to allow similar
evaluation of relative risks in similar communities in global at-risk
communities. Finally, the strategies developed for effectively engaging
community members, providers, researchers and policy makers in
addressing environmental health concerns in tribal and rural communities
in the Southwest can inform similar efforts with our global partners.
Members: Johnnye Lewis, PhD, DJ Perkins, PhD, Ravi Durvasula, MD,
Stefani Hines, MA, MS, Alexis Kaminsky, PhD
Associate Members: Karl Benedict, PhD (EDAC), Michele Guindani, PhD
(Math/Stats), Gabriel Huerta, PhD (Math/Stats)
Environmental Medicine (Leaders: Sood/Moseley)
The proposed research interests and goals of this cluster is to perform
clinical translational research in the field of environmental health.
This includes the effect of occupational and environmental exposures on
various organ systems such as lung, kidney, and gastrointestinal tract.
This also includes the study of host susceptibility factors for chronic
diseases such as genetics, obesity, and physical inactivity.
Members: Akshay Sood, MD, Pope Moseley, MD, Denece Kesler, MD, Henry
Lin, MD, Dominic Raj, MD, Mark Schuyler, MD
Associate Members: Yohannes Tesfaigzi, PhD (LRRI), Ted Barrett, PhD (LRRI),
Suzanne Schneider, PhD (Exercise Sports Science)