Research Signature Areas

Environmental Impacts on Human Health

Health and Well-Being for All
College of Health Strategic Plan, 2025-2030

Environments play major roles in influencing our health.

Faculty address the health effects of multiple adverse environmental exposures (e.g., noise, air and water pollution, aeroallergens, radon), climate change, and natural disasters. Others focus on the effects of the built environment on health behaviors and outcomes (e.g., asthma, cancer, cardiometabolic risk factors and diseases, food insecurity, mental health).

Collaborating across disciplines and leveraging the university’s diverse strengths, our researchers are developing prevention and resilience solutions and translating evidence-informed policies, programs, and practices to communities.

We focus on health disparities and inequities, with sensitivity to how impacts stem from and are experienced in social environments. These impacts are often more severe for those with fewer resources, particularly in communities of color and marginalized groups and in low-income settings and populations.

We integrate the expertise of faculty from multiple disciplines and fields, including public health, kinesiology, nutrition, and human development and family sciences.

Publications

Recent environmental impacts on human health publications

(This is not an exhaustive list. Visit individual faculty profiles for more extensive lists of their publications.)

2026

Doiron, D., Jovanovic Andersen, Z., Bozigar, M., Habre, R., Hystad, P., Jarvis, I., Knapp, D., Luben, T.J., Patel, P., Pinto, J.M., Ritz, B., Volckens, J., Wellenius, G.A., Lee, J., Brauer, M., Brook, J.R., Adar, S.D.  (2026)  Integrating the physical environment into Alzheimer's disease and Alzheimer's disease related dementias research: A Gateway Exposome Coordinating Center (GECC) agenda on gaps and priorities  Alzheimer's & Dementia  22(4)
Taaime, N., Asseko, S.V., Carrijo, D.R., Celi, L., Kumar, A., Martin, M., Romani, M., Rothenberg, S.E., Seyfferth, A.L., Linquist, B.A.  (2026)  Water management impacts on the accumulation of potentially toxic elements in rice grain: A meta-analysis  Agricultural Water Management  329
Logie, C.H., Admassu, Z., MacNeil, A., Hasham, A., Mbuagbaw, L., Evelia, H., Kagunda, J., Omondi, B., Gachoki, C., Chege, M., Mwangi, M., Gittings, L., Dorea, C., Hystad, P., Turan, J.M., Narasimhan, M.  (2026)  Associations between extreme weather events, resource insecurities, and HIV vulnerabilities with self-reported urinary tract infection symptoms among adolescent girls and young women in Kenya  The Journal of Climate Change and Health  28
Adjorlolo, P.K., Attey-Yeboah, P., Molitor, J., Coker, E.S., Aheto, J.M., Amegah, A.K.  (2026)  Spatial variability in the association of ambient PM2.5 exposure with acute respiratory infection among children in Sub-Saharan Africa.  Environmental Research  
Winsor, G.L., Cook, J., Edwards, K., Gill, E., Petersen, C., Garlock, E.S., Griffiths, E., Ames, S.A., Erdman, L.M., Becker, A.H., Denburg, J.A., Patrick, D., Doiron, D., Jones, M., Dai, V., Al-Mamaar, K., Kwan, A., Lee, B., Mercada Mendoza, L., Sbihi, H., Azeez, R.M., Dai, D., Qiam, Y.C., He, S., Parks, J.G., Reyna, M., Bode, L., Duan, Q., Eiwegger, T., Goldenberg, A.J., Lotoski, L., McNagny, K., Surette, M.R., Takaro, T.K., Hystad, P., et al.  (2026)  Exposomics for childhood asthma  medRxiv  

News and stories

Recent environmental impacts on human health news and stories.