Environmental Health Chat

In this episode, we’ll hear about the power of partnering with the cooperative extension system for research translation. We’re joined by Molly Kile, Sc.D., and Allison Myers, Ph.D., who discuss how they work with Oregon State University’s cooperative extension to improve children’s environmental health across the state.

In this episode, Abbey Alkon, Ph.D., R.N., talks about her NIEHS-funded research to reduce pesticide exposures in child care centers and educate child care facility staff about integrated pest management. Her goal is to create healthy environments to support children’s early learning and development.

In this episode, NIEHS-funded scientist Phoebe Stapleton, Ph.D., talks about her research to track the movement and potential health effects of micro- and nanoplastics in the body. Plus, she offers practical tips to reduce your exposure to plastic particles.

In this episode, Jodi Flaws, Ph.D., provides a brief overview of menopause and discusses her NIEHS-funded research, which examines how exposure to chemicals called phthalates may affect women’s reproductive aging. She also discusses gaps in what we know about menopause, and how research can inform clinical care to help women manage and treat their symptoms during the transition to menopause.

In this episode, Annie Nigra, Ph.D., talks about how exposure to arsenic in drinking water may affect health, disparities in exposure, and how her research can help inform policies to protect people from arsenic in drinking water. Plus, she discusses her work with Native American youth to address arsenic and other environmental health issues in their communities.

In this episode, Kevin Riley, Ph.D., talks about the health risks of working in extreme heat and highlights tools employers and workers can use to prevent heat-related illness in the workplace.

In this episode, NIEHS-funded researcher Homero Harari, Sc.D., talks about the potential health and safety concerns of playing on artificial turf. He also discusses how communities can make informed decisions about whether to install synthetic surfaces at schools, parks, and playgrounds.

In this episode, NIEHS-funded researcher Maggie Sugg, Ph.D., talks about how climate disasters affect mental health in youth. She also discusses some strategies to promote mental health resilience in young people and communities affected by disasters.

In this episode, we’ll hear from NIEHS-funded researcher Staci Bilbo, Ph.D., who studies how environmental exposures and stress, especially during early development in the womb, influence children’s brain and behavioral development.

In this episode, we’ll learn how the NIEHS Pediatric and Reproductive Environmental Health Scholars (PREHS) program is teaching health care professionals about the many interactions that occur between children, pregnant women, new mothers, and their environment.

In this episode, Ellen Hahn, Ph.D., discusses her work to increase radon awareness and testing in rural Kentucky and help residents take action to reduce their exposure at home.

In this episode, Jane Hoppin, Sc.D., discusses how she helped launch a study to address North Carolina residents’ concerns following the discovery of PFAS in their drinking water. She also provides tips to reduce one’s exposure to PFAS in drinking water.

In this episode, Mónica D. Ramírez-Andreotta, Ph.D., discusses how participatory research can generate change in the social, economic, and political structures that drive many environmental health disparities.

In this episode we talk with Marilyn Howarth, M.D., who works with community partners to better understand the factors associated with lead exposure across Philadelphia. As part of a community project, she and the team created a map that combines socioeconomic, demographic, and soil lead data to show exposure risk across Philadelphia neighborhoods. Howarth discusses how the map can help decision makers identify and prioritize neighborhoods for cleanup and offers tips to reduce lead exposure.

In our second episode exploring the exposome, Melanie Pearson, Ph.D., discusses how incorporating community perspectives into the exposome concept could help researchers better understand the totality of lifetime exposures and improve human health.

In part one of our two-episode series on the exposome, Douglas Walker, Ph.D., will discuss how the field of exposomics is transforming environmental health research. Walker also talks about challenges in the field and opportunities for exposomic research to improve public health.

In this episode, we’ll hear from Jeff Burgess, M.D., who has been a leader in the field of firefighter health and safety research for more than 30 years. Burgess discusses the health risks of firefighting and shares best practices to reduce occupational exposures and improve firefighter health.

In this episode, we’ll hear from Jochem Klompmaker, Ph.D., a research fellow at Harvard University who led one of the largest studies to date examining the link between the natural environment and neurodegenerative disease risk. Klompmaker discusses how access to nature may protect against Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s and the implications of his findings for creating greener communities.

In this episode we’ll hear from Johnathan Levy, Sc.D., an environmental health researcher who has studied gas stove emissions for more than two decades. Levy discusses how pollutants released by gas stoves can harm health and the environment. He also offers tips to reduce indoor air pollutants and health risks associated with gas stoves.

In this episode we’ll hear from Anna Goodman Hoover, Ph.D., a public health researcher at the University of Kentucky, and Nina McCoy, who leads the group Martin County Concerned Citizens. They are working with residents in rural eastern Kentucky who are concerned about high levels of disinfection byproducts detected in their drinking water. Hoover and McCoy discuss potential health effects of long-term exposure to disinfection byproducts and an NIEHS-funded community-engaged project to raise local awareness of these compounds in drinking water and reduce exposure to them.