Faculty
Primary Faculty
Racial/ethnic health disparities and global health; impact of behavioral, psychosocial and environmental factors on pregnancy outcomes, particularly among African Americans
Development and implementation of mobile health interventions for smoking cessation among underserved populations (e.g., Latinos, people living with HIV, people living in low- and middle-income countries).
Defining the impact of environmental chemicals (e.g., metals and air pollution) on brain development and behavior, with emphasis on attributable risk to neurodevelopmental disorders.
Toxicology of inhaled particulate matter on the lung, cardiovascular, and central nervous systems
Nutritional Epidemiology: Development of interventions that will help individuals avoid excessive weight gain.
Community engagement and overall reduction of health disparities in deaf populations with a particular focus on the relationship between early childhood language experiences and subsequent health, cognitive, education, and overall quality of life outcomes across the lifespan and the phenomenon of language deprivation
Causal inference, ML/AI use in clinical care, early origins research, maternal-child health, Medicaid policy, maternal mental health, opioid crisis, air and drinking water pollution, extreme temperatures, environmental determinants of premature mortality
Defining the impact of environmental toxicants on maternal and child health, with a focus on persistent organic pollutants (PCBs and PFAS), metals, and their mixtures, and immune system development and function.
Community engagement, policy, and reporting of research results around environmental health (e.g. healthy housing, lead, microplastics, air quality).
Defining the impact of environmental exposures on immune system development and function, with emphasis on how early life exposures shape health and disease later in life.
Outcomes assessment and quality report cards; nursing home policies and impacts on quality; and the quality of healthcare for persons with mental illness
Developing and coordinating a wide variety of science education and outreach programs for students (elementary through high school), teachers, and the general community.
Environmental Medicine and Medical Ecology; Public Health implications of endocrine disrupting compounds, social determinants of academic success, and program evaluation
Tobacco-product cessation in special populations; technology/web assisted risk behavior intervention; and dissemination of effective interventions to physician practices.
Cancer and Aging: Improvement of health outcomes for older adults with cancer; Polypharmacy and use of high-risk medications in older adults with cancer; Treatment decision-making, including chemotherapy dosing decisions, treatment tolerability, and efficacy of cancer therapeutics.
Designing and implementing technological, community-oriented research initiatives to reduce health inequities and address sociostructural determinants of health among minoritized groups globally.
Environmental lung diseases COPD and IPF pathogenesis and therapeutic targets: effects of lung cellular mitochondrial dysfunction, senescence, and molecular clock.
Cellular and molecular mechanisms of methylmercury metabolism and toxicity in development of neural and muscular systems using invertebrate, mammalian and human models.
Develop a research program concentrating on identifying genetic modifiers of environmental factors in disease etiology using a combination of Drosophila genetics, cell culture, and rodent models.
Epidemiology of Aging: Physical and mental health in later life, mechanisms of vulnerability and resilience, population health determinants, issues in measurement and estimation, complex systems analysis
Neurotoxicology, behavioral analysis, endocrine-epigenetic mechanisms, cumulative risk.
Exploring the mechanisms underlying gene-environment interactions in pregnancy; exploring the role of tryptophan catabolism in pregnancy and on the metabolic health of mother and offspring.
Behavioral interventions to improve the quality of life and associated disease outcomes in primarily African American women with lupus
Reza's main line of interest includes the application of a social network analysis lens to inform and promote the process of knowledge translation and program implementation. He is especially interested in designing network-informed and network-rewiring interventions, and studying networks as the outcome of the implementation. He has applied network analysis in various contexts including co-authorship, information seeking and influential discussions in health care settings, and partnerships among health organizations.
Environmental and nutritional influences on cognitive and neurodevelopmental outcomes.
Research Faculty
Science communication, community outreach and engagement.
Effects of exposure to perfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) on antiviral immunity
Combining population-based research and alternative animal models to study early health effects of flavors in electronic cigarettes. Leveraging social media data through artificial intelligence-based analysis to design vaping prevention strategies targeting youth and young adults. Integrating artificial intelligence methods and community participatory based approach to improve science communication among Spanish-speaking populations. Generating translational models to optimize the communication of basic and clinical research to community members, healthcare providers, and advocates.
Secondary Faculty
Environmental epidemiology on the effect of air pollution on respiratory health
Defining molecular pathways by which inhaled allergens and particulates activate lung mucosal immunity.
Genetic and environmental susceptibility to developmental lung injury.
Medical Toxicology and Emergency Medicine education, with interest in novel psychoactive substances and adulterated drugs of abuse
Defining how gene environment interactions shape alveolar lung development and the risk for lung disease over the lifespan.
Elucidate the molecular mechanisms of divalent metal neurotoxicity and mitochondrial dysfunction in Alzheimer's disease pathogenesis.
Multiple molecular modality identification of lung cell types, subtypes and states in health and disease with focus on diseases of children.
Cardiovascular, respiratory, and pregnancy health effects of exposure to environmental agents, including ambient air pollution; accountability studies.
Experimental platform using the amphibian Xenopus for research in immunotoxicology, fundamental and medical immunology.
Environmental health applications, models for multiple outcomes, multiple exposure models, measurement error, Bayesian inference.
Investigating the influence of exposures (environmental, dietary, dental materials) on oral health and neurodevelopment in children.
Investigating how environmental exposures influence molecular pathways driving inflammation and fibrosis in and around the eye.
Refugee community-led environmental research involving healthy choices, eating local fish, and improvement of air quality in kitchens in multifamily dwellings
Emeritus Faculty
Understanding the toxicities, mechanisms of action, and dose-response relationship for methyl mercury and other heavy metals.
Delineating the role of alveolar epithelium in modulating the pulmonary injury response to physiological and toxicological stimuli, including oxidant induced signaling in the pulmonary epithelium and macrophages, and epithelial production of mediators that regulate inflammatory functions of macrophages.
Biokinetics, Effects, Mechanisms and Risk of Inhaled Particles: Dosimetry; Neuronal Nano-Particle Translocation Nose to Brain; Translation Human to Rodent and vice-versa.
Behavioral medicine and outcomes management include tobacco use and smoking interventions, obesity prevention and exercise.
Adjunct Faculty
Chemical characterization of ambient aerosol samples; source/receptor relationships for ambient air pollutants; Indoor air quality; Exposure and risk assessment.
