Current Projects

Our PROGRESS MRI Study is a neuroimaging study embedded in the ongoing PROGRESS study in Mexico City. Started in 2007 by Drs. Robert Wright and Martha Mara Tellez-Rojo, PROGRESS follows over 600 child-caregiver dyads from pregnancy through adolescence, collecting longitudinal information on environmental exposures and health outcomes. In the MRI study, we invite participants in PROGRESS to participate in an additional visit in which we collect additional neuropsychological assessments focused on socio-emotional processing and a multi-modal magnetic resonance imaging scan. The objective is to understand how exposure to environmental toxicants, including heavy metals, during gestation and early childhood impact structural and functional brain development and neurodevelopmental outcomes in early adolescence.

Funding: NIEHS R01ES028927

The Public Health Impact of Metals Exposure (PHIME) Study is longitudinal cohort study in its third cycle of funding. PHIME is designed to investigate the neurological effects of early-life exposure to manganese and metal mixtures on children living in three communities in Northern Italy that differ in the timing and intensity of environmental metal exposure from current or historic ferromanganese alloy plant operations. Retrospective exposure assessment leveraging deciduous baby teeth provide objective measures of metal exposure throughout gestation and early childhood. Neurodevelopment, behavior, motor and olfactory function are assessed in children at 11-13 years of age (Stage 1) and again at 17-20 years of age (Stage 2). Magnetic resonance imaging scans are acquired in Stage 2. In the current renewal, we will collect longitudinal behavioral and MRI scans to examine changes in developmental trajectories associated with early life environmental exposures.

Funding: NIEHS R01ES019222

The men and women involved in the rescue and recovery efforts following the events of September 11, 2001 were exposed to extraordinarily hazardous working conditions and toxic agents. The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) implemented the World Trade Center Health Program (WTCHP), which provides health surveillance to monitor and treat WTC-related health consequences among rescue/recovery workers involved in the emergency response and cleanup. Using high dimensional mixtures approaches, this study comprehensively examines how characteristics of WTC experience during rescue and recovery efforts are associated with the risk of WTC-related health outcomes. We focus on WTC-certified outcomes including posttraumatic stress disorder, gastroesophageal reflux (GERD), asthma and cancers, as well as emerging morbidities. This project addresses a critical gap in our understanding of risk and protective factors for WTC-related health outcomes and helps us identify responders at risk to developing adverse outcomes and identify factors that may protect against the development or progression of disease. Ultimately, this will better identify responders at risk to developing adverse outcomes and identify factors that may protect against the development or progression of disease.

Funding: CDC/NIOSH U01OH012075