in Environmental Exposures and Health
CIREEH supports research in three major areas:
Imaging methodology. The recent advances in imaging methodology provide highly sensitive techniques for examining health effects of exposures with resolution that was not previously possible and generating a volume of data that previously did not seem conceivable. It is now feasible to integrate what previously appeared to be independent neuroimaging readouts to generate a far more precise picture of overall pathology. For example, the capacity of new integrated neuroimaging technologies (e.g., structural MRI, magnetic resonance spectroscopy—MRS, functional MRI—fMRI, diffusion weighted tensor imaging—DWTI, perfusion MRI) to detect subtle central nervous system effects of exposures to neurotoxicants is a promising new area of investigation. Furthermore, the use of MRI to analyze the effects of environmental chemicals on brain development and to track the effects of potential therapeutics for a range of immunologic and neurodegenerative diseases over time in live animals has enormous potential that has yet to be realized. Similarly, applying a series of major advances in cellular imaging, particularly with regard to flow cytometry, to basic environmental science promises to advance at an unprecedented rate our understanding of biochemical pathways impacted by immunotoxicants.
Lifespan developmental research. A lifespan developmental approach to research emphasizes the continuity of exposure effects from prenatal life through old age and the role of development in determining these effects. It recognizes that early exposures may have effects that do not appear until later in life (perhaps much later) and that there are life stages when individuals may be particularly vulnerable to exposure effects. These vulnerable periods include aging as well as the prenatal period and childhood. In pursuing research with a lifespan developmental perspective, Center research includes projects that explore environmental contributors to degenerative diseases and dysfunction associated with aging, effects of environmental exposures during prenatal life and childhood on later development and function, and gene-environment interactions that may mediate relationships between exposure early in life and later health problems.
Community methods approaches to environmental health research. In keeping with BUSPH’s long-standing commitment to real-world involvement, Center researchers have a strong interest in environmental health at the community level. These interests and expertise range from collaborative research on urban environmental health issues, such as the health effects of the indoor and built environment effects of public housing, to multilevel research that combines information on the individual and neighborhood level. The latter is a relatively new and rapidly growing focus of epidemiological research. Collectively, these efforts aim to increase understanding of the role of the community context in health. This new paradigm places environmental exposures in the totality of the built, physical and social environments and allows the development of new models, techniques and methods for community environmental health research and analysis.