Research by our Faculty

Racial/ethnic health disparities and global health; impact of behavioral, psychosocial and environmental factors on pregnancy outcomes, particularly among African Americans.

Cardiovascular Epidemiology: Role of biomarkers, such as fatty acids, in the pathophysiology and prevention of heart disease. Determining effective ways to help patients with Familial Hypercholesterolemia avoid cardiovascular disease events and measure blood pressure in novel ways.

Quality of care received by the elderly, statistical modeling and causal inference.

The role of plant-based nutrition as a therapy in various diseases.

Tobacco Cessation and Prevention Research Program - 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).

Cory-Slechta Lab - 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

Elder Lab - 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 engaged education for health professionals, health systems especially the interaction of health care delivery and public health, hospital community benefits and community health improvement planning.

Hall Lab - 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.

Health and Environmental Economics Lab - 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.

Rochester Environment and Child Health (REACH) Laboratory - 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.

Korfmacher Lab - Community engagement, policy, and reporting of research results around environmental health (e.g. healthy housing, lead, microplastics, air quality)

Lawrence Lab - 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

HIV and Infectious Disease Epidemiology: Social behavioral science and epidemiological methods to understand and reduce HIV vulnerabilities among sexual and gender minority populations (e.g. men who have sex with men).

Markowitz Lab - 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 Cessation and Prevention Research Program - 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.

Pérez Ramos Lab - Designing and implementing technological, community-oriented research initiatives to reduce health inequities and address sociostructural determinants of health among minoritized groups globally.

Irfan Rahman Lab - Environmental lung diseases COPD and IPF pathogenesis and therapeutic targets: effects of lung cellular mitochondrial dysfunction, senescence, and molecular clock

Rand Lab - Cellular and molecular mechanisms of methylmercury metabolism and toxicity in development of neural and muscular systems using invertebrate, mammalian and human models

Rich Lab - Cardiovascular, respiratory, and pregnancy health effects of exposure to environmental agents, including ambient air pollution; accountability studies.

Sarkar Lab - 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

Seplaki Lab - 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

Sobolewski Lab - Neurotoxicology, behavioral analysis, endocrine-epigenetic mechanisms, cumulative risk

Susiarjo Lab - 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

van Wijngaarden Lab - Environmental and nutritional influences on cognitive and neurodevelopmental outcomes.

Jacqueline Williams Lab - Discovering the effects of high (therapeutic) and low (environmentally-relevant) doses of radiation and their interactions with other toxic elements, such as commonly encountered infections, and better understanding differential effects of radiation in adults versus children

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.