UC Berkeley Environmental Health Sciences

EHS alum Dr. Rosemarie de la Rosa and colleagues develop a cellbased bioassay to screen environmental chemicals and human serum for total glucocorticogenic activity https://setac.onlinelibrary.wiley.com//abs/10.1002/etc.4903

Prof. Jay Graham joins colleagues in examining the impact of community health promoters on awareness of a rural social marketing program, purchase and use of health products, and disease risk in a study in Kenya https://iwaponline.com//Impact-of-community-health-promote

In new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), EHS postdoctoral fellow Dr. Qu Cheng along with Prof. Justin Remais and colleagues show that famine induces long-term and intergenerational effects on infectious disease transmission, raising concerns over the converging humanitarian, climate, and public health crises being experienced across the globe https://publichealth.berkeley.edu//historic-famine-leaves/

Recent EHS MPH graduate Lauren O’Neal and Prof. Jay Graham along with colleagues adopt a One Health framework considering the health of humans, animals, and the environment in their systematic review of community-acquired antimicrobial resistant Enterobacteriaceae in Central America.

EHS doctoral student Heather Amato leads an analysis published in Science of the Total Environment examining how concentrated poultry operations affect antibiotic resistant Escherichia coli and nutrient pollution in Chesapeake Bay watersheds https://europepmc.org/article/med/32464410

Wildfire smoke is similar to tobacco smoke, except there’s no nicotine. We know a lot about cigarette smoke and birth outcomes. We also know about other types of adverse birth outcomes most associated with PM2.5, says EHS Prof. John Balmes in an interview with the SF Chronicle about wildfire smoke and health risks for pregnant women.

NIH-NIAID interviews Berkeley Public Health's Prof. Justin Remais about his group's Valley Fever research in California: "We hope to better understand how the epidemiology and etiology of cocci and COVID-19 may intersect this fall, in both populations and individuals, and how precautions like mask wearing and increased time spent outdoors may influence the risk of both infections." https://www.niaid.nih.gov/news-ev/turning-heat-valley-fever

We're very worried about the nexus right now of the pandemic and wildfire smoke, especially the kind of smoke that northern California and Oregon are getting right now; where it's really high and day after day, says EHS Prof. John Balmes in an interview about the risk of hazardous air quality.

Congratulations to EHS MPH graduates, Neil Thayamballi and Sara Habiba, for their recently published systematic review and meta-analysis of the impact of maternal demographic and socioeconomic factors on the association between particulate matter and adverse birth outcomes. Neil Thayamballi and Sara Habiba began their review and analysis during their internships at OEHHA and for their EHS capstone projects and have continued to work on this since graduating, moving the work forward to publication!

FRIDAY 12P SEMINAR: EHS FACULTY MEMBER JOSH APTE Quantifying systemic racial and ethnic inequity in air pollution concentrations in California Dr. Joshua Apte... Assistant Professor, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering and School of Public Health Friday, 9/11/2020, 12-1 pm PDT This week's ENV seminar will introduce CEE's newest faculty member, Dr. Joshua Apte! A champion of environmental justice, Dr. Apte's research on local and global air quality investigates the disproportionate impact of air pollution on the health of minorities and low-income populations, with an emphasis on identifying possible solutions. Zoom information for Friday Sep 11, 12-1pm: https://berkeley.zoom.us/j/96327260763 Meeting ID: 963 2726 0763 Passcode: seminar Abstract: Despite decades of effort to improve air quality in California, large and systemic racial and ethnic disparities in air pollution exposure still persist. In particular, people of color and members of disadvantaged communities are exposed to higher-than-average concentrations of many health-relevant air pollutants, including particulate matter and nitrogen oxides. Recent advances in measurement and modeling technology -- as well as new conceptual frameworks for evaluating environmental injustice -- can help us better understand the contours of and possible solutions to this problem. This seminar will present quantitative evidence on environmental inequity in California and the Bay Area using a combination of statewide modeling and intensive measurements using a fleet of Google Street View cars specially equipped to measure air quality. Our findings point to possible air pollution control approaches that may be especially impactful in addressing these disparities. Bio: Dr. Joshua Apte joined us in July after having spent five years in the Department of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering at The University of Texas, Austin. At UCB, Josh is jointly appointed in CEE and in the School of Public Health. He is a strong proponent of confronting environmental racism and encouraging equity in his classroom and research. Dr. Apte's research focuses on the intersection of air quality and environmental justice, and heavily emphasizes the exposure to and health impacts of air pollution. His group uses field measurements, air quality models, and satellite remote sensing to to quantify air pollutant emissions and concentrations, and their resulting spatial patterns, human exposures, and public health consequences in US communities and around the world.

Reminder - please join us today at 11:40am for a brown bag talk by EHS faculty member Dr. Sadie Costello on the implementation and impact of COVID-19 prevention measures on essential workers.

Congratulations to Whitney Mgbara, ESPM doctoral student in the research group of Prof. Justin Remais, who received two years of funding from an NIH-NIAID supplement award to study the environmental biology and ecology of Coccidioides spp. pathogens that spread in airborne dust!

The air district is reporting a situation usually less dire than what PurpleAir says, and where there are air district measurements you really should trust it, EHS Prof. Josh Apte commented in an interview about air quality data sources