Environmental Health Sciences

The Department’s three large core programmatic grants are organized around the following disease topics and their corresponding environmental exposures:

1. cancer/chemical carcinogens and radiation;
2. respiratory disease/air pollution and allergens; and,
3. neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental disorders/metals, pesticides and other pollutants.

For example, the NIEHS Center for Environmental Health in Northern Manhattan (CEHNM) focuses on cancer, respiratory disease, and neurodegenerative disorders in adults, and the Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health (CCCEH) focuses on cancer, asthma, and neurodevelopmental disorders in children. The Superfund Basic Research Program (SBRP) focuses primarily on arsenic toxicity, which includes cancer, respiratory disease and neurodevelopmental disorders, among others. The SBRP also studies the neurologic consequences of excessive manganese exposure from drinking water.

Outreach programs in the CEHNM and the CCCEH both work with community partners, such as West Harlem Environmental Action (WEACT), to:

• raise awareness of environmental issues in the local communities,
• train community leaders to take action on environmental issues, and
• influence policy and legislation to improve the environmental health of these communities.

The SBRP has also worked to augment the quality and quantity of environmental professionals in Bangladesh through its own training activities as well as through a related training grant from the NIH Fogarty Center.

Program in Climate and Health

In 2008, a new Program in Climate and Health within the Department of Environmental Health Sciences was created to foster expansion of the research and teaching on climate and health. Directed by Patrick Kinney, ScD, [link to faculty profile] Associate Professor of Environmental Health Sciences, the Program has been established to foster expansion of the research and teaching on climate and health across the Mailman School, and will serve as a means to facilitate the School's interactions and collaborations with the Columbia Climate Center—part of The Earth Institute —and the International Research Institute for Climate and Society.