Contact Rose Branstrom with any items that should be included in next month's M-LEEaD newsletter.
M-LEEaD’s Climate, Environment & Health Legislative Forum in Lansing on Tuesday, September 19, 2023 focused on providing scientific research and expertise relating to Michigan's most pressing climate issues. This bipartisan forum, sponsored by Michigan State Representatives Abraham Aiyash and Greg Markkanen, offered legislators and staffers access to prominent researchers speaking on topics of affordable water, improving community environmental health, weatherizing homes, and wildfire preparedness.
Elizabeth Mack, PhD, MA, from Michigan State University, spoke on “Steps Towards Affordable Water: A Policy Agenda.” Dr. Mack’s research utilizes mixed methods to understand the evolution of the economy in the face of rapid technological change and climate change.
Devon Payne-Sturges, PhD, MPH, from the University of Maryland, focused on “Cumulative Risks, Impacts, & Solutions: Prescriptions for Improving Community Environmental Health.” Her research explores the challenge of cumulative environmental health risks and social disparities in environmental health.
Carina J. Gronlund, PhD, MPH, from the University of Michigan, spoke on “‘Inside’-er Tips for Adapting to and Mitigating Climate Change by Weatherizing Homes.” With Detroit community and State of Michigan government partners, she studies how social, economic, health, and built environment characteristics and air quality affect vulnerability to extreme heat, extreme precipitation, and pollen.
Stuart Batterman, PhD, from the University of Michigan, closed the panel with a presentation on “Wildfire Preparedness and Response and Public Health.” Dr. Batterman's research and teaching interests address environmental impact assessment, human exposure and health risk assessment, and environmental management.
Laprisha Daniels, MPH, MS, Executive Director of Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice and Co-Chair of the M-LEEaD Stakeholder Advocacy Board, and Amy Schulz, PhD, MPH, MSW, M-LEEaD Community Engagement Core leader, served as the co-facilitators for the session. View a recording of the event and the comprehensive information package (including speaker bios, factsheets, and proposed Michigan Legislation relating to climate, environment and health) at the legislative forum webpage here.
Image description- Speakers and co-facilitators of the Climate, Environment & Health Legislative Forum, from left to right: Carina Gronlund, Elizabeth Mack, Devon Payne-Sturges, Amy Schulz, Laprisha Daniels, Stuart Batterman.
Toxic “forever chemicals” callled PFAS have long been used in consumer products and may found in tap water inside homes. The chemicals have been linked to myriad health problems, including high cholesterol, certain types of cancer and a decreased immune response, says Jackie Goodrich, a research associate professor of environmental health sciences at the University of Michigan. Read more here.
Nearly half of the tap water in the U.S. is contaminated by PFAS chemicals, or per-and poly-fluoroalkyl substances. The Biden administration through the EPA proposed a regulation that if finalized, "would regulate PFOA and PFOS as individual contaminants, and will regulate four other PFAS – PFNA, PFHxS, PFBS, and GenX Chemicals – as a mixture," a news release reads. Justin Colacino, an associate professor of environmental health sciences at the University of Michigan, said if the new regulations proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency become reality, it would be "a major public health victory toward reducing exposure to these toxic and persistent chemicals." Read more here.
PFAS lurk in so much of what we eat, drink and use. However, scientists are only beginning to understand how they’re impacting our health and chronic exposure to pollutants is not well covered in medical school. “People want to know, could this have contributed to my high cholesterol, my miscarriage, my loved one’s cancer?” Courtney Carignan, an exposure scientist and epidemiologist at Michigan State University and M-LEEaD member, told me. “These are reasonable questions, and doctors are often very dismissive. They don’t have the knowledge to answer those questions.” Read more here.
Recipients of the NIEHS Outstanding New Environmental Scientists (ONES) and Revolutionizing Innovative, Visionary Environmental Health Research (RIVER) awards gathered at NIEHS for a symposium to discuss their scientific endeavors and forge new connections. Justin Colacino, an associate professor of environmental health sciences at the University of Michigan, presented a plenary talk on his ONES grant, which was so successful that he was able to renew it on the first try. Colacino’s project focuses on development, stem cells, and breast cancer disparities. Read more here.
A recent study conducted by Michigan Medicine reveals that individuals with type 2 diabetes who have had the condition for longer durations are more likely to experience changes in brain structure. “This study is critical to our understanding of how diabetes affects brain health and lays the groundwork for a larger, longitudinal study addressing how persons with diabetes can maintain a healthy brain,” senior author Eva Feldman, professor of Neurology and director of NeuroNetwork for Emerging Therapies and ALS Center of Excellence at Michigan Medicine, University of Michigan, said. Read more at Nutrition Insight, Physician's Weekly, and Express Healthcare Management.
Exposure to a type of air pollution called fine particulate matter, or PM2.5, has recently been identified as a potential risk factor for dementia. “We saw in our research that all airborne particles increased the risk of dementia but those generated by agricultural settings and wildfires seemed to be especially toxic for the brain,” says Sara Adar, associate chair of the department of epidemiology in the School of Public Health at the University of Michigan. Read at NIH, Michigan News, The Washington Post, Futurity, MinuteMirror, Express Healthcare Management, and Earth.com.
Detroit is one of the worst cities in the country for people with asthma, leaving adults and children to struggle with what can be a fatal disease. Stuart Batterman, a professor of environmental health sciences at the University of Michigan’s School of Public Health, says "We have a lot of demolition and renovation and earth moving that leads to exposed soils where allergenic plants, like ragweed, move in very quickly and produce tremendous amounts of allergens in the air. You have poverty and racism, and all of these things are the combination that is promoting these environmentally-related diseases.” Read here.
Tuesday, October 24, 2023 • 12:00 PM — 01:00 PM on Zoom Residents & Researchers: “Navigating Lead Contamination in Neighborhoods”with Rachel Marquez (Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation) and Eri Saikawa (Emory University); Moderated by Natalie Sampson (University of Michigan Dearborn)
Register here
The Gulf Coast Center for Precision Environmental Health is excited to host the 2023 NIEHS Environmental Health Science Core Centers (EHSCC) Annual Meeting in Houston. The EHSCC Meeting brings together leading researchers, scientists, and the community in the field of environmental health science. Join us for a three-day event filled with enlightening sessions, interactive discussions, and networking opportunities.
Date: Tuesday, October 17 to Thursday, October 19, 2023
Location: The Westin Houston Medical Center in Houston, Texas
Info and registration here
The 2023 Center for PFAS Research 2nd Annual Symposium will focus on the theme of PFAS: Current Knowledge and Applications for Agricultural Production. The symposium will allow participants to exchange scientific information and discoveries while also discussing PFAS contamination in agricultural systems, transport into crops and livestock, remediation, policy, and emerging issues of PFAS. Participants will have the opportunity to learn about new skills and technologies that may influence the scientific direction, management strategies, and supply chain sectors of PFAS contamination and solutions.
Date: Sunday, October 22, 2023 to Tuesday, October 24, 2023
Location: In-person at Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center in Lansing, MI or online Info and registration here
The USA Exposome Symposium will bring together academic, government, and community partners to share research findings, discuss the use of computational analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) in analyzing results of large, multi-dimensional data sets, and discuss translational interventions and policies needed to reduce the effects of environmental injustice on child health.
Date: Monday, January 22, 2024, to Wednesday, January 24, 2024
Location: Nashville, TN Info and registration here
The purpose of this RFA is to invite applications from eligible organizations that can serve as Health Equity Research Hubs (Hubs) for awarded community-led health equity structural intervention (CHESI) projects within the Community Partnerships to Advance Science for Society (ComPASS) Program. The Hubs will serve as a centralized research resource, providing tailored scientific, technical, and collaborative support for sustainable community engagement, research capacity building, and training to assigned CHESI projects that address SDOH and structural factors to improve health outcomes.
Applications are due October 31, 2023. Learn more here.
The Michigan Lifestage Environmental Exposures and Disease (M-LEEaD) Center announces the Pilot Project Program to initiate new research projects, or extend research directions of existing projects, that aim to define, explain, or mitigate impacts of environmental exposures during vulnerable stages of life. Projects that aim to include, develop, or expand research-community partnerships are encouraged.
Applications are due November 8, 2023. Learn more here.
Recent Publications citing M-LEEaD:
Peng MQ, Karvonen-Gutierrez CA, Herman WH, Mukherjee B, Park SK. Phthalates and Incident Diabetes in Midlife Women: The Study of Women's Health Across the Nation (SWAN). J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2023 Jul 14;108(8):1947-1957. doi: 10.1210/clinem/dgad033. PMID: 36752637; PMCID: PMC10348472.
Svoboda LK, Perera BPU, Morgan RK, Polemi KM, Pan J, Dolinoy DC. Toxicoepigenetics and Environmental Health: Challenges and Opportunities. Chem Res Toxicol. 2022 Aug 15;35(8):1293-1311. doi: 10.1021/acs.chemrestox.1c00445. Epub 2022 Jul 25. PMID: 35876266; PMCID: PMC9812000.
Iglesias-Rios L, Valentín-Cortés M, Fleming PJ, O’Neill MS., & Handal AJ. The Michigan Farmworker Project: A Community-Based Participatory Approach to Research on Precarious Employment and Labor Exploitation of Farmworkers. Labor Studies Journal. 2023 Aug 30; 0(0). doi: 10.1177/0160449X231196227.
Buxton MA, Castillo-Castrejon M, Godines-Enriquez M, Valentín-Cortés M, Morales-Hernández V, de Arellano LM, Sánchez BN, Osornio-Vargas A, O'Neill MS, Vadillo-Ortega F. The pregnancy research on inflammation, nutrition, & city environment: systematic analyses study (PRINCESA) cohort, 2009-2015. Eur J Epidemiol. 2023 Sep;38(9):1009-1018. doi: 10.1007/s10654-023-01040-1. Epub 2023 Aug 29. PMID: 37642793.
Zamora AN, Jansen EC, Goodrich JM, Téllez-Rojo MM, Song PXK, Meeker JD, Dolinoy DC, A Torres-Olascoaga L, Cantoral A, Peterson KE. Cross-sectional associations between phthalates, phenols, and parabens with metabolic syndrome risk during early-to-mid adolescence among a cohort of Mexican youth. Environ Res. 2023 Jul 19;236(Pt 1):116706. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2023.116706. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37474091.
Click here for a PDF with useful information about NIH Public Access Policy regarding citing the center grant.
Per NIH grants policy, all publications, press releases, and other documents relevant to research funded by the center must include a specific acknowledgement of support. For the EHS Core Center, this statement may read:
“Support for this research was provided by grant P30ES017885 from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.”
