Environmental Health Sciences Department Newsletter: Spring 2024

EHS Department Newsletter Spring 2024

Letter from the Interim Chair

Dear EHS Family:

Welcome to the Spring 2024 EHS Department Newsletter! We are delighted to share so many incredible updates with you

I stepped in as Interim Chair of Environmental Health Sciences in January after our department said farewell to Dr. Andrea Baccarelli as he transitioned to his new role as Dean of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. My time in this new role has opened my eyes to the breadth of our department. When I joined the department in 1983, we were a small division in the Department of Public Health in the College of Physicians and Surgeons. Today, our department is a vibrant entity combining laboratory science, field research, and community -based efforts to understand the impact of the environment on human health, develop safeguards, fight for environmental justice, identify ways to protect vulnerable populations and create a healthy environment for all.

I have been honored to shepherd the department through the past few months, but I am thrilled to announce that Dr. Ana Navas-Acien will be stepping into the role of Department Chair in July. She is a Professor in our department and has also been serving as our Vice Chair of Faculty and Research. Her research investigates the health effects of environmental exposures (metals, tobacco smoke, e-cigarettes, air pollution), molecular pathways and gene-environment interactions, and effective interventions for reducing involuntary exposures and their health effects. I look forward to her continued leadership in this new role.

In January, the Environmental Health and Justice Academy launched with a cohort of 7 faculty members and one postdoctoral research scientist Among those are our EHS colleagues, Robbie M. Parks, Kathrin Schilling, Randolph Reyes Singh, Marcela Tamayo y Ortiz, and Hui-Chen Wu This initiative aims to address environmental exposure inequities and health disparities through transformative solutions. The academy trains junior faculty in best practices for engaging with community groups and fostering genuine partnerships.

This spring, our department also launched 3 new course offerings: The Scientist and the Storyteller, Introduction to Network Science, and Foundations in Environmental Justice: From Theory to Action. While all these courses are fantastic additions, I am particularly excited about The Scientist and the Storyteller, a flagship cross-disciplinary frontiers course taught by Dr. Julie Herbstman (EHS) and Dr. Duy Linh Tu (Journalism School), focused on bridging the gap between scientific research and the distribution of important health information to the public. This is the first cross-disciplinary frontiers course at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.

I am excited to see what the next chapter in EHS brings and look forward to our continued success.

Regina M. Santella, PhD Professor and Interim Chair Department of Environmental Health Sciences

Updates: Faculty

Dr. Maya Deyssenroth

The Deyssenroth lab recently published research in a cohort of participants in Cape Town, South Africa that documents placental patterns of expression among genes involved in erythropoiesis and angiogenesis vary by prenatal alcohol exposure. Read more here!

Dr. Robbie Parks

The P30 pilot-funded Heat Exposure And Temperature Equity (HEATE): Characterizing indoor heat stress in housing in NYC project has been working hard to: 1) Collect temperature and humidity data within apartments throughout Northern Manhattan and South Bronx during 2024. 2) Assess trends and relationships with demographic factors, neighborhood characteristics, and building data. 3) Compare indoor temperature information with ambient outdoor air temperature during extreme heat events. The HEATE team includes Yoshira Ornelas Van Horne, Diana Hernandez, Ava Chow, Carina Yiu, Zhiyu (Audrey) Wei, Jordyn Pykon, Janna Zilkha and Maren Hale, and Robbie M. Parks. Highlights include presenting a poster at the PEPH Conference at NIEHS Headquarters in February 2024 in North Carolina, presenting at the WE ACT Membership meeting in March 2024, as well as spending lots of time meeting and understanding the concerns of the community in Northern Manhattan and the South Bronx regarding extreme indoor temperatures. The project continues through 2024 and is still actively recruiting and working on larger, longer-term projects.

Updates: Faculty

Dr. Lewis Ziska

Columbia University Press nominated Greenhouse Planet for the Suzanne J. Levinson Prize from the History of Science Society. Congratulations!

Updates: Staff

Dr. Katelyn McGraw

Dr McGraw, EHS postdoc, was selected as one of twelve publications in Environmental Health Perspectives Editors' Choice Collection for 2023.

Updates: Students

Tanya Butt, PhD Candidate

Tanya recently published a review in the journal Aging and Disease, written in collaboration with physician scientists from Katsuren Hospital in Okinawa, Japan. They summarized and discussed the potential of physical exercise on counteracting aging-associated white matter demyelination, which causes cognitive decline in Alzheimer's Disease. They highlighted the need of further basic and clinical research investigations on this topic for healthier and improved brain aging.

Kat Morgan, MPH

Kat was selected as a citizen diplomat for the U.S. State Department's Critical Language Scholarship and will dedicate eight weeks to learning Swahili in Tanzania this summer. The fully-funded program, administered by the U.S. Department of State, emphasizes formal classes and provides a distinctive opportunity for students like Kat to actively engage with the local community through hands-on activities in the CLS Swahili Program. She aims to leverage her language proficiency to understand the challenges faced by smallholder farmers affected by climate change. As an environmental health scientist, she aims to advocate for climate-resilient sustainable food production by learning directly from farmers at the community level. Mastering Swahili is essential for effective communication in this grassroots effort.

Updates: Students

Kevin Patterson, PhD Student

Collaboration to Lower Exposure to Arsenic and Uranium on the Navajo Nation (CLEANN):

This is a pilot funded by SRP trainee Kevin Patterson, Dr. Annie Nigra, and Sean Kinney from LDEO. This project aims to leverage the diverse scientific expertise of our study team and existing multi-disciplinary research collaborations and relationships with local scientists, engineers, and community members from Navajo Nation to lower drinking water metal exposures across Native communities.

Updates: Alumni

As an epidemiologist for the Santa Clara County Public Health Department, Peggy had the opportunity to present their team's work at the 2023 American Public Health Association Annual Meeting (APHA). The presentation was titled, "Utilizing vaccination data to improve completeness of race/ethnicity information for COVID-19 cases." To summarize, they found that filling in missing race/ethnicity (R/E) among COVID-19 cases using immunization records results in substantial reductions in missing R/E data. Using this supplemental source of R/E data, the team found evidence of more severe disparities among non-White R/E groups than are apparent when more R/E data were missing. More accurate estimation of disparities can inform vaccine distribution and target groups for outreach. Overall, more complete data improves understanding of how COVID-19 may disproportionately affect communities of color.

Peggy (Pei Yang) Hsieh, MPH ‘19

Updates: PrIMER

Izzy (Isabella) Pacenza

“I went to the PEPH 2024 meeting in Durham, NC where I presented a research poster titled "Methods and guidelines for reporting back metal exposure results to Native American participants." This poster was the culmination of the research I carried out under Drs. Yoshira Ornelas Van Horne and Ana Navas-Acien through PrIMER, where I focused on understanding what methods and guidelines are best for reporting individual metal testing results from the CUNP-SRP to Indigenous participants.

It was a great experience to hear all of the presentations about the past, present, and future of environmental public health, and other peoples' posters were so interesting and enlightening. I met some amazing people and feel like I learned a lot, so I'm very glad I went!”

Updates: PrIMER

Z (Z'Dhanne) Williams

“I wanted to thank the PrIMER program for the opportunity to attend the 2024 SOT ToxExpo in Utah for the past few days! I had an incredible experience presenting my research centered on investigating the influence of prenatal metals exposures on childhood mitochondrial biomarkers. I am so proud of the project and the poster!

Special thank you to Dr. Allison Kupsco and Millie for helping me organize my poster and taking the time to help me practice my presentation. I am so grateful for the opportunity to work with you both on this project during my time in the program.”

Letter from SEA

Dear EHS Family,

We are excited to kick off the semester by welcoming our new executive board!

President- Janna Zilkha (she/her)

Janna is a first-year MPH student in EHS with a Certificate in Toxicology. She is interested in working in EHS data analysis and bridging the gap in environmental health communication between experts and the public. In her free time, she loves walking around Central Park, baking, and playing with her cat.

VPCommunityOutreach- Krishna Arun (she/her)

Krishna is a first-year MPH student in PopFam with a Certificate in Climate and Health. She is passionate about better understanding the complex nexus of climate change, agrifood systems, and public health. In her free time, she loves spending time outside, listening to music, and painting!

VP Finance- Rocky Mack (she/her)

Rocky is a first-year MPH student in EHS with a Certificate in Environmental Health Policy. She is interested in working on environmental policies that benefit marginalized communities facing health disparities. In her free time, she loves reading, watching movies, and walking outside!

VP Communications- Catalina Ferreira-Dias (she/they)

Catalina is a first-year MPH student in EHS with a Certificate in Climate and Health. As a VenezuelanAmerican, they are passionate about uplifting marginalized Latinx voices who are disproportionately affected by climate change. She finds joy going to listening to podcasts, aimlessly walking in parks, and spending time with friends.

Thank you to everyone who attended our General Body Meeting! We loved getting to know you all and are so excited about the upcoming year! Thank you to the 2023 SEA Board for helping us with our transition and Nina and Brandy for helping make this semester’s events a reality!

We are creating our first ever SEA zine and we want our EHS family to be a part of it! We are accepting most forms of media submissions. Some ideas include photos, paintings, poems, stories, short essays, and opinion pieces (short op-eds could be a great submission!). Just make sure they are environmental/EJ/climate-related. Submissions can be made here and our deadline is before the start of the Fall 2024 semester. Feel free to DM us on Instagram or email us with any questions!

We are in the middle of organizing our bi-annual panel event, SEA of Thoughts, where we will be inviting an amazing group of faculty and subject-matter experts to discuss environmental health topics. Keep an eye out for future emails with more information, we are looking forward to seeing you there!

Later this semester, SEA will host a spring clothing swap to promote sustainable consumption and fashion. This is a perfect opportunity to clean out your closet and find new outfits for the spring and summer! We will be sending out emails with more information over the next few weeks, so stay tuned for details!

Follow us on social media and Engage to stay up to date on future events!

Facebook: facebook.com/sea.columbia.publichealth

Instagram: @seacolumbia

Engage: SEA on Engage

Sewell Lecture 2024

Majid Ezzati, Professor of Global Environmental Health at Imperial College London (Cities as Unequal Opportunities for Good Health), spoke on February 27, 2024. The title of his talk was “Cities as unequal opportunities for good health”. Watch the recording here (link will open a new window.)

SHARP Summer Workshops

30+ Trainings in Health Research Methods

• Thank you to our summer instructors from EHS: Jaime Benavides, Joel Capellan, Julie Herbstman, Marianthi-Anna Kioumourtzoglou, Norman Kleiman, Allison Kupsco, Yunjia Lai, Gary Miller, Robbie M. Parks, Matthew Perzanowski, Jeremy Porter, Diane Re, Cecilia Sorensen

• Registration is open for all 30 Skills for Health and Research Professionals (SHARP) trainings!

• Trainings are being offered in a variety of formats: in-person, virtual, and hybrid.

• Early-bird rates are available, and members of Columbia receive an additional discount.

• Offering four new trainings: Better Presentations Workshop, The Scientist and the Storyteller Workshop, K Awards Training, and Data, Designed Workshop

Publications

Please check out some of the amazing work being published by our community! These publications are listed in chronological order, by initial publication. Faculty, students, and staff names are bolded:

McGraw, K. E., Nigra, A. E., Klett, J., Sobel, M., Oelsner, E. C., Navas-Acien, A., Hu, X., & Sanchez, T. R. (2023). Blood and urinary metal levels among exclusive marijuana users in NHANES (2005–2018). Environmental Health Perspectives, 131(8).

https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp12074

Slowly, M., Domingo-Relloso, A., Santella, R. M., Haack, K., Fallin, D. M., Terry, M. B., Rhoades, D. A., Herreros-Martinez, M., Garcia-Esquinas, E., Cole, S. A., Tellez-Plaza, M., Navas-Acien, A., & Wu, H.-C. (2023). Blood DNA methylation and liver cancer in American Indians: Evidence from the Strong Heart Study. Cancer Causes & Control, 35(4).

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-023-01822-8

McLarnan, S. M., Bramer, L. M., Dixon, H. M., Scott, R. P., Calero, L., Holmes, D., Gibson, E. A., Cavalier, H. M., Rohlman, D., Miller, R. L., Kincl, L., Waters, K. M., Anderson, K. A., & Herbstman, J. B. (2024). Predicting personal PAH exposure using high dimensional questionnaire and WRISTBAND DATA. Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41370-023-00617-y

Deyssenroth, M. A., Williams, R. P., Lesseur, C., Jacobson, S. W., Jacobson, J. L., Cheng, H., Bose, P., Li, Q., Wainwright, H., Meintjes, E. M., Hao, K., Chen, J., & Carter, R. C. (2024). Prenatal alcohol exposure is associated with changes in placental gene co-expression networks. Scientific Reports, 14(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-52737-6

Butt, T. H., Tobiume, M., Re, D. B., & Kariya, S. (2024). Physical exercise counteracts agingassociated white matter demyelination causing cognitive decline. Aging and Disease, 0. https://doi.org/10.14336/ad.2024.0216

Meltzer, G. Y., Factor-Litvak, P., Herbstman, J. B., Wylie, B. J., & Hernández, D. (2024). Indoor temperature and energy insecurity: Implications for prenatal health disparities in extreme heat events. Environmental Health Perspectives, 132(3). https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp13706

Benavides, J., Usmani, S., Kumar, V., & Kioumourtzoglou, M.-A. (2024). Development of a community severance index for urban areas in the United States: A case study in New York City. Environment International, 185. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2024.108526

Tuholske, C., Lynch, V. D., Spriggs, R., Ahn, Y., Raymond, C., Nigra, A. E., & Parks, R. M. (2024). Hazardous heat exposure among incarcerated people in the United States. Nature Sustainability. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-024-01293-y 14

Share Your News With Us

We enjoy sharing news about our EHS Family with the community and we want to hear from you!

Please send us information about your accomplishments, awards, presentations, publications, pictures, and any noteworthy EHS updates you’d like to share.

Email Nina Kulacki at njk2128@columbia.edu with your submissions.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Be well and keep in touch!