Centers

The overall goals of the CEHNM are to: 1) identify and understand environmental exposures that contribute to the pathophysiology of human disease; 2) communicate these results to other researchers, impacted communities, and the public; and 3) develop strategies for translating these findings into practice leading to protection against these diseases and improving public health. The CEHNM provides resources and infrastructure to enhance the work of its members to meet these goals.

A number of CEHNM members are studying the health effects of air pollutants in respiratory diseases including mold, cockroach and rodent allergens, pesticides, diesel exhaust, residential heating emissions, and cigarette smoke. These studies examine the basic mechanisms of action of these environmental mixtures and investigate the impact of exposure in epidemiologic studies in humans, including birth cohorts. On the international level, the CEHNM has successfully cultivated a major new research program concerning the combustion of biomass, including a study testing the effectiveness of low cost improved cook stoves in improving reproductive and infant health outcomes in Ghana. Active translation of results to the protection of the public health nationally and internationally is also a major focus of this work.

The second major theme of the Center, oxidative stress, is now considered an important mechanism in cancer, respiratory, and neurodegenerative diseases. Oxidative damage biomarkers are being measured in cells treated with carcinogens such as arsenic, in animals treated with carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic estrogens, and in subjects with and without cancer. The role of oxidative stress in inflammation is being studied in respiratory disease and in neurotoxicity resulting from arsenic exposure. Work in amyotropic lateral sclerosis is investigating oxidative stress and disease etiology and progression.

Gene-environment interaction studies, the third theme, entails genotyping being carried out in candidate genes involved in multiple pathways performed by the Integrative Health Sciences Facility Core. Center members are also participating in genome wide association studies of cancer and neurologic diseases.

The fourth theme is related to life course exposures. It is becoming increasingly clear that the timing of environmental exposures plays a major role in determining the resulting health effects.  Accumulating epidemiological evidence points to the long-term influence of prenatal and early postnatal environments on adult health.  To fully understand risk, epidemiological studies need to start in pregnancy, and perhaps even before conception, as birthweight itself is a crude proxy for the intrauterine environment. Postnatal measures are also needed to capture the complex interplay linking the pre- and postnatal environment to adult health. Center studies are taking advantage of longitudinal data, beginning in the prenatal period and continuing across the life course.

The interest of many Center members focuses around the fifth theme - epigenetics - specifically investigating the role of promoter hypermethylation, genome wide hypomethylation and imprinting. Ongoing studies are looking at the relationship between carcinogen exposure and gene specific methylation, the presence of methylated tumor DNA in blood as an early marker of disease, the relationship of dietary folate and arsenic to global DNA methylation, and the role of in utero and early life factors in global DNA methylation. It is clear that epigenetic mechanisms also play a role in other diseases besides cancer with several studies ongoing in asthma. Center members are expanding epigenetic studies bringing in assays of microRNA and modified histones to obtain a more complete picture of epigenetic effects of environmental exposure.

The health effects of climate change is the newest theme of the CEHNM. Work starts from the premise that one of society’s greatest challenges in coming decades will be to enhance population health in the face of emerging risks related to climate change.  Overcoming this challenge will require new science to identify impacts, mechanisms, and policy levers, and a new workforce of well-trained professionals.  The magnitude and type of health impacts due to climate change will depend on improved understanding of the relationship between climatic variables, vulnerability factors, and disease outcomes. Improved public-health strategies such as indoor climate control, optimum air filtration and ventilation, and improved anticipatory public-health messaging will be critical to adaptation.

To better address other new initiatives that connect the disease-focused research groups, flexible working groups have been established including Biomass Combustion, Epigentics, Environmental Exposures across the Life Course, Environmental Determinants of Neurological Disease and Climate and Health.