I am interested in drinking water epidemiology, coastal community health, and the impacts of climate change on toxic chemical exposures. In all of these areas, I am interested in the implications for minority health, health disparities, and global health equity. Here are some of my research group's current activities:
1) Prevention of Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning in Subsistence Shellfish Harvest Communities of Southeast Alaska (R01ES029165). This community-based participatory research (CBPR) project with Alaska Native tribal organizations, spearheaded by Sitka Tribe of Alaska, seeks to prevent paralytic shellfish poisoning among subsistence harvest communities in Southeast Alaska through environmental monitoring, modeling, and K12 education. As CBPR, this work evolves in response to community needs, and recently the tribes have also been interested in other shellfish toxins including okadaic acid (a potential colorectal carcinogen) and domoic acid (causes damage to hippocamus).
2) The Impact of Drought on Arsenic Exposure and Cardiometabolic Outcomes in a Rural Aging Population (R01ES032612). This community-engaged project in San Luis Valley, Colorado seeks to evaluate the roles of drought and arsenic in shaping cardiometabolic disease for Latino and white adults in the San Luis Valley, through hydrogeological and epidemiological modeling. This work also includes K12 outreach and education. Multiple Principal Investigator project co-led with Kathy James (University of Colorado) and Ryan Smith (Missouri Science & Technology). Potential climate change impacts on arsenic exposure could also be broadly relevant for many other public health outcomes including several kinds of cancer, developmental outcomes, and immune function.
