Exposure Assessment for Epidemiologic Studies
Most epidemiological research has focused on ambient air pollution, using data from regulatory air quality monitors to estimate the population’s exposure and then correlate these area-wide exposures with disease. However, for two primary reasons, my research in this area has focused on indoor exposures. First, most individuals spend the majority of their time indoors and indoor air pollution concentrations often exceed those measured outdoors due to indoor sources (e.g., smoking, cooking, burning candles). Second, while governmental agencies, like the US EPA, have responsibility for setting and enforcing regulatory standards, individuals can modify indoor concentrations and choose behaviors to reduce their exposures to air pollutants, if provided evidence-based recommendations. Currently, I lead the exposure assessment team for several ongoing studies, both domestic and international, and including participants with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, or persons living with or at risk for HIV. In these studies, we use an array of state-of-the-science and lower-cost approaches to characterize exposures to particulate matter, gaseous pollutants, and tobacco smoke exposure.
Publications
- Hansel N.N., N. Putcha, H. Woo, R. Peng, G.B. Diette, A. Fawzy, R.A. Wise, K. Romero, M.F. Davis, A.M. Rule, M.N. Eakin, P.N. Breysse, M.C. McCormack, K. Koehler. Randomized Clinical Trial of Air Cleaners to Improve Indoor Air Quality and COPD Health: Results of the CLEAN AIR STUDY. Am J Respir Crit Care Med, 205(4):421-430, PMID: 34449285, 2022.
- Raju S, H. Woo, K. Koehler, A. Fawzy, C. Liu, N. Putcha, A. Balasubramanian, R.D. Peng, C.T. Lin, C. Lemoine, J. Wineke, R.D. Berger, N.N. Hansel, M.C. McCormack. Indoor Air Pollution and Impaired Cardiac Autonomic Function in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. Am J Respir Crit Care Med, 207(6): 721-730, PMID: 36288428, 2022.
- Fandiño-Del-Rio, M., J.L. Kephart, K.N. Williams, T. Shade, T. Adekunle, N.K. Steenland, L.P. Naeher, L.H. Moulton, G.F. Gonzales, M. Chiang, S. Hossen, R.T. Chartier, K. Koehler, W. Checkley, Cardiopulmonary outcomes and Household Air Pollution (CHAP) trial Investigators. Household air pollution concentrations from a liquefied petroleum gas intervention in rural Peru: Findings from a one-year randomized controlled trail followed by a one-year pragmatic crossover trial. Environ Health Perspect, 130(5), PMID: 35549716, 2022.
- Fandiño Del Rio, M., J. L. Kephart, K.N. Williams, L. H. Moulton, K. Steenland, W. Checkley, K. Koehler. Household Air Pollution Exposure and Associations with Household Characteristics Among Biomass Cookstove Users in Puno, Peru. Environ Res, 191:110028, 2020.
- Kephart, J.L., M. Fandiño-Del-Rio, K.N. Williams, G. Malpartida, K. Steenland, L.P. Naeher, G.F. Gonzalez, M. Chiang, W. Checkley, K. Koehler. Nitrogen dioxide exposures from biomass cookstoves in the Peruvian Andes. Indoor Air, 30(4): 735-744, DOI: 10.1111/ina.12653, 2020.
- Bose, S., G.B. Diette, H. Woo, K. Koehler, K. Romero, A. Rule, B. Detrick, E. Brigham, M.M. McCormack, and N.N. Hansel. Vitamin D status modifies the response to indoor particulate matter in obese urban children with asthma. J Allergy Clin Immunology: In Practice. 7(6): 1815-1822, 2019.
- Brigham, E.P, H. Woo, M. McCormack, J. Rice, K. Koehler, T. Vulcain, T. Wu, A. Koch, S. Sharma, F. Koladooz, S. Bose, C. Hanson, K. Romero, G. Diette, N.N. Hansel. Omega-3 and Omega-6 Intake Modifies Asthma Severity and Response to Indoor Air Pollution in Children. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 199(12): 1478-1486, 2019.