Grantee Research Project Results
2020 Progress Report: Center for Research on Environmental and Social Stressors in Housing across the Life Course
EPA Grant Number: R836156Center: Health Effects Institute (2015 - 2020)
Center Director: Greenbaum, Daniel S.
Title: Center for Research on Environmental and Social Stressors in Housing across the Life Course
Investigators: Laden, Francine , Adamkiewicz, Gary , Levy, Jonathan , Zanobetti, Antonella , Scammell, Madeleine Kangsen , Sprengler, John D , Fabian, Maria Patricia
Current Investigators: Laden, Francine , Adamkiewicz, Gary , Levy, Jonathan , Zanobetti, Antonella , Scammell, Madeleine Kangsen , Sprengler, John D , Fabian, Maria Patricia , Lane, Kevin J
Institution: Harvard University , Boston University
EPA Project Officer: Callan, Richard
Project Period: July 1, 2015 through June 30, 2020 (Extended to June 30, 2021)
Project Period Covered by this Report: July 1, 2019 through June 30,2020
Project Amount: $1,500,000
RFA: NIH/EPA Centers of Excellence on Environmental Health Disparities Research (2015) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Human Health
Objective:
Environmental health disparities (EHDs) are based on a combination of factors, includingsociodemographic and spatial patterns of exposures to chemical and non-chemical stressors. While this phenomenon is well recognized, the methods to characterize and ultimately mitigate EHDs have been lacking. We are conducting innovative interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary studies spanning epidemiology, exposure science, risk assessment, and quantitative disparities analysis, with strong community engagement. We are examining multiple health outcomes across the life course, operating within our Center’s targeted low-income communities (Chelsea and Dorchester) as well as across Massachusetts (MA). Our projects are synergistic and interdependent, ensuring meaningful collective insights into EHDs. Our Center’s project and core aims are:
Administrative Core: 1) provide administrative infrastructure necessary to coordinate activities among projects and facilitate interactions with EPA, NIH, and other Centers; 2) monitor the productivity and resources of the Center to ensure that stated objectives are met; 3) assemble advisory committees, organize regular meetings, and ensure implementation of recommendations; 4) provide mentoring and career development opportunities for the Center’s Career Development Investigators (CDI); 5) connect Center investigators with the wider EHD communities across universities; and 6) provide platforms for disseminating research findings.
Project 1, Health Effects Across the Life course (HEAL) study: 1) develop innovative methods to estimate health effects associated with multiple chemical stressor exposures, accounting for large numbers of potential confounders and interactions; and 2) estimate the complex interactions of exposures to multiple chemical stressors with non-chemical stressors and social determinants of health disparities on birth outcomes, growth rates, and cardiovascular mortality.
Project 2, Home-based Observation Monitoring Exposure (HOME) study: 1) use portable, real-time monitoring devices to estimate indoor exposures to multiple chemical stressors, noise, and thermal comfort; 2) determine how resident behaviors and housing characteristics affect indoor-outdoor associations of chemical and non-chemical stressors; and 3) use community-based crowdsourcing approaches to assess housing and household characteristics to develop season-specific determinants that predict ventilation characteristics.
Project 3, Mapping SpAtial Patterns in Environmental Health Disparities (MAP-EHD) study: 1) characterize disparities in exposure to chemical and non-chemical stressors across MA; 2) develop and evaluate multivariable chemical and non-chemical stressor constructs to better characterize exposures hypothesized to be related to EHDs; and 3) develop models of cumulative risk for multiple health outcomes in our two target communities, including quantified health benefits and changes in EHDs associated with simulated interventions.
Community Engagement Core (CEC): 1) design, implement, and evaluate training for community residents to participate in research conducted as part of Project 2; 2) evaluate and inform Project 3 chemical and nonchemical stressor constructs, stressor exposure models, and microdata simulation constraint variables; and 3) develop culturally appropriate educational materials that translate the aims and findings of research from Projects 1, 2, and 3 to improve environmental health literacy while reducing risk.
Pilot Project Program: 1) support EHD research in new and emerging topic areas within the two target communities; 2) support the application of methods and approaches to address EHDs across a wide range of underserved communities in the United States; and 3) provide seed funding that allows junior investigators the chance to maximize opportunities for independent funding.
Progress Summary:
The Administrative Core continued to coordinate monthly Executive Committee (EC) meetings and hosted an Advisory Board Meeting on 5/28/19. Two (of six) Internal Steering Committee (ISC), four (of five) External Advisory Board (EAB) members, EC members (research project and core PIs), other project investigators, community partners, and study team members attended (32 total participants in person). Each project/core presented two, 5-minute lightning talks followed by future grant idea discussions and Q&A by the board. The EC then wrapped up the meeting and presented guiding questions. Board members and community partners then met to discuss and formulate responses and the meeting ended with their final recommendations.
Center-wide internal data sharing (available data across projects) and publication planning (manuscript progress) documents were maintained across the team in the CRESSH Google drive.
In addition, the EC and community partners (15 participants) across projects met on August 1, 2019 to plan for future National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities grant submissions, to ensure that community input was central to any future projects.
Project 1 – HEAL Study:
We finalized most of the epidemiologic analyses started in the previous years, using birth data from Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH), mortality data from MDPH, and Boston Children’s HealthWatch (CHW) data, resulting in 7 manuscripts published. Two additional papers were recently submitted, focusing on: 1) the combined associations between environmental and built environment exposures, and birthweight, among women residing in urban neighborhoods in Massachusetts; 2) the effects of nativity status, immigrant enclaves, and environmental exposures on low birthweight among low-income and non-smoking women in the CHW cohort. One more manuscript, in which we examined the role of time-varying postnatal 90-day average spatio-temporal fine particulate matter as an effect modifier on sex-specific growth trajectories in early childhood and the magnitude of the impact at different ages, will be submitted soon.
Project 2 - HOME Study:
All recruitment efforts and indoor/outdoor data collection were completed for baseline (N=150) and follow-up (N=121) visits across Chelsea and Dorchester, MA. Detailed data cleaning and QA/QC continued for Dorchester data, including a detailed codebook for surveys and assessment tools. Data processing documents were completed for Qualtrics (survey data), pollutant (PM2.5, CO, CO2, NO, NO2), and NetAtmo weather station data (temp, relative humidity & noise). Data were delivered to the Community Engagement Core in preparation for the Dorchester report backs. Also weekly meetings began between BU CEC and Harvard Project 2 teams in preparation to adapt community meeting processes in response to feedback and lessons learned from the Chelsea results meeting. Changes in Dorchester will address report backs (layout and automation), results meeting presentation, and report/meeting evaluation surveys. Additionally, due to COVID restrictions implemented in March of 2020, Dorchester participants were surveyed about their interest in a virtual (Zoom) results meeting. Surveys were mailed to 75 participants; 48 responded to the survey and 41 said they would be interested in a virtual meeting (2 = maybe, 4 = no, and 1 = did not respond to that question). Report back distribution and virtual results meetings are planned to take place in November/December of 2020 (participation via phone will be offered.) All report back results and meeting documents will be translated into Vietnamese and a virtual results meeting will be offered with concurrent translation.
Human subject compliance is up to date and manuscript development continues. Tomsho et al. was published in Oct 2019 reporting on the evaluation of sharing air pollution exposure data with participants. A second manuscript about real-time monitoring of PM2.5, is under review for publication. An additional manuscript is in preparation related to drivers of NO2 concentrations in indoor air.
Project 3 - MAP-EHD study:
We continued expanding our spatial database, and leveraged it to inform several projects related to disparities in Covid-19 transmission in Massachusetts, and vulnerability to heat in Chelsea and East Boston. We created a new Covid-19 vulnerability StoryMap (https://arcg.is/1Oaej4) with articles and links to data layers illustrating differences in environmental exposures as well as sociodemographic characteristics for all towns in Massachusetts. The StoryMap map informed an environmental justice policy brief released by the Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General, titled “COVID-19’s Unequal Effects in Massachusetts”. The report drew parallels between coronavirus vulnerability and air pollution among communities of color and immigrant communities, and provided recommendations on how to strengthen environmental regulations that protect public health. Additionally, the StoryMap was used by Barr Foundation to prioritize communities to receive COVID-19 support.
We continued working in tandem with the CRESSH HEAL group developing multivariable epidemiologic models that incorporate both chemical and non-chemical stressors, including constructs developed in the MAP-EHD project. This work resulted in multiple published manuscripts, and others in preparation.
For our cumulative risk work we built synthetic microdata for Chelsea and Dorchester, tailoring the populations to fit sociodemographic characteristics, chemical and non-chemical risk factors identified in epidemiological models within the HEAL project. The microdata were used to estimate the potential changes in birthweight given interventions in environmental factors (e.g. noise, air pollution) as well as non-chemical stressors (e.g. economic dissimilarity). This work has been submitted for publication. We also published our work characterizing community-wide housing attributes using georeferenced street-level photography (Petropoulos et al 2020, JESEE), and submitted a paper related to modeling land surface temperature. Details of the manuscripts under review are below.
Over the past year, the CEC has prepared data and findings to report back with 78 HOME Study participants in Dorchester, MA. The CEC has worked closely with the HOME Study team in this process, and engaged Health Resources in Action and Codman Square Neighborhood Development Corp. Specifically they have evaluated the Report Back packets and strategized incentives to optimize participant attendance for future meetings. Feedback from the evaluation, including interviews with study participants, has been used to improve upon the Dorchester Report Back process. We also created a Visual Basic Application macro tool in Excel to streamline the compilation process of report back packets.
Pilot Project Program
No new applications were requested during the final year of the grant, however following are brief updates for proposals awarded in Year 4.
Children's Health and Growth and Family Material Hardships in three US cities: As a CRESSH partner, Children’s HealthWatch (CHW) linked data from children less than 4 years old from low-income families in Greater Boston with children’s electronic health records (EHR), allowing longitudinal examinations of children’s health, including growth. With this pilot grant we expanded the work to link CHW data from two cities: Little Rock, AR (n=11,972), and Minneapolis, MN (n=8,361). We geocoded addresses and linked CHW data to neighborhood contextual variables. We also standardized EHR data across sites. Results from this pilot work were incorporated in multiple grants submitted in the last year including:
taken by Google within a 250m distance threshold for the years 2007-2018. For each location, we downloaded four images representing four orientations of a 360° panorama (0°, 90°, 180°, 270°) to estimate all directions within view. For locations and years where images were available, we used an implementation of PSPNet in TensorFlow using pre-trained network weights for segmentation on the ADE20k dataset to derive measures of 150 pre-defined classes within each image. The classes include natural environmental metrics (e.g., trees, grass, and plants) as well as physical environment metrics (e.g., vehicles, and sidewalks). For each image, the algorithm estimates percentages of each output class (e.g., 50% trees in view). We then averaged across the four orientations to estimate percentages of each class within view for a given location. Using these percentages at each location computed using street level images, we created a raster file for each year with a 250m x 250m spatial resolution where each pixel contains data corresponding to the closest street level images. The resulting raster file for each year has 152 bands, where each band holds the percentage of pixels associated with the 150 output classes from the ADE20k dataset. For example, Band 5 will have a value between 0 and 1, which will correspond to percentage of pixels classified as 'Tree' [Class 5] from the four street-level images associated with the grid point. Bands 151 and 152 represent the longitude and latitude of the actual GSV image location so that researchers can conduct sensitivity analyses limiting to GSV images that are closer to the centroid of a given pixel. The final datasets are 12 rasters with 152 bands each, corresponding to the GSV data for 2007-2018.
• NIH P50 Environmental Health Disparities Center renewal “Disparities in Exposure and Health Effects of Multiple Environmental Stressors Across the Life Course”
• NIH R01 “Social, material hardship and environmental factors and early childhood obesity the combined impact on weight trajectories”
• NIH R01 “Inequities in material hardship, environmental factors, and COVID-19: combined impacts on child health”
CRESSH Built Environment Deep Learning Algorithms for Massachusetts (CRESSH-BEDLAM) Study (Awardee: Dr. Peter James, ScD): For this project, georeferenced images available from Google Street View (GSV) captured from 2007-2018 were downloaded to develop novel measures of the built environment representing an on the ground perspective. A 250m grid for the entire Commonwealth of Massachusetts (MA) was created using MA Census Tracts 2010 shape file from MassGIS Bureau of Geographic Information. For each of the grid points, we used GSV API to get the unique “panorama IDs” of the nearest Street View images
Future Activities:
In the next year, Administrative Core will: 1) continue to provide administrative infrastructure to coordinate activities across research projects, 2) monitor productivity and resources of the Center and its subcomponents, 3) provide mentoring and career development for Center CDIs and other early-stage investigators, 4) provide coordination and communication with funding agencies, 5) connect Center activities with related efforts at both universities and other EHD Centers as needed, and 6) provide the platform for disseminating research findings.
Project 1 will: 1) finalize and submit papers as described above, 2) continue working on analysis in CHW, specifically focusing on social stressors, air pollution, temperature, extreme heat, heat susceptibility windows during pregnancy and birth weight, 3) incorporate the infiltration index developed in MAP-EHD as an exposure modifier and predictor of mortality.
Project 2 will: 1) complete coordination/facilitation of the Dorchester report back and virtual results meetings, 2) finalize cleaning and QA/QC of all Dorchester data and 3) continue analyses and manuscript development across the projects.
Project 3 will: 1) finish and submit the various epidemiology, disparities and health risk manuscripts and 2) continue data sharing and outreach activities.
The CEC will: 1) complete the HOME Study Report Back, which will involve three virtual report-back meetings to 78 participants for the opportunity to learn more about their indoor air pollution and ask questions about their results and 2) complete the report back compilation tool and publish a manuscript on the tool and how it has been used in this and other studies.
The Pilot Program will continue to monitor progress from Year 4 awarded pilot projects.
Journal Articles: 27 Displayed | Download in RIS Format
| Other center views: | All 92 publications | 27 publications in selected types | All 27 journal articles |
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Antonelli J, Han B, Cefalu M. A synthetic estimator for the efficacy of clinical trials with all-or-nothing compliance. Statistics in Medicine 2017;36(29):4604-4615. |
R836156 (2018) R836156 (2020) |
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Antonelli J, Papadogeorgou G, Dominici F. Causal inference in high dimensions:A marriage between Bayesian modeling and good frequentist properties. BIOMETRICS 2022;78(1):100-114. |
R836156 (Final) R835872 (2020) |
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Chen F, Chen J, Hart J, Coull B, Scammell M, Chu M, Adamkiewica G. Disparities in joint exposure to environmental and social stressors in urban households in Greater Boston. ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2023;238(1):11710. |
R836156 (Final) |
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Chu M, Gillooly S, Levy J, Vallarino J, Reyna L, Laurent J, Coull B, Adamkiewicz G. Real-time indoor PM2.5 monitoring in an urban cohort:Implications for exposure disparities and source control. ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2021;193(110561). |
R836156 (Final) R835872 (2020) |
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Fong KC, Hart JE, James P. A review of epidemiologic studies on greenness and health:updated literature through 2017. Current Environmental Health Reports 2018;5(1):77-87. |
R836156 (2018) R836156 (2019) R836156 (2020) R835872C003 (Final) |
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Jhun I, Mata DA, Nordio F, Lee M, Schwartz J, Zanobetti A. Ambient temperature and sudden infant death syndrome in the United States. Epidemiology 2017;28(5):728-734. |
R836156 (2017) R836156 (2018) R836156 (2020) |
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Levy JI, Quiros-Alcala L, Fabian MP, Basra K, Hansel NN. Established and emerging environmental contributors to disparities in asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Current Epidemiology Reports 2018;5(2):114-124. |
R836156 (2018) R836156 (2019) R836156 (2020) R836150 (2019) R836150 (2020) R836152 (2018) R836152 (2019) R836152 (2020) |
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Nethery R, Dominici F. Factors affecting lead Dust in construction workers' homes in the Greater Boston Area. ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2021;195(110510). |
R836156 (Final) |
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Rosofsky A, Levy JI, Zanobetti A, Janulewicz P, Fabian MP. Temporal trends in air pollution exposure inequality in Massachusetts. Environmental Research 2018;161:76-86. |
R836156 (2018) R836156 (2020) |
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Rosofsky A, Levy JI, Breen MS, Zanobetti A, Fabian MP. The impact of air exchange rate on ambient air pollution exposure and inequalities across all residential parcels in Massachusetts. Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology 2019;29(4):520-530. |
R836156 (2019) R836156 (2020) |
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Tomosho K, Polka E, Chacker S, Queeley D, Alvarez M, Scammell M, Emmons K, Rudd R, Adamkiewicz G. A process for creating data report-back tools to improve equity in environmental health. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH 2022;21(1). |
R836156 (Final) |
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Wang Y, Shi L, Lee M, Liu P, Di Q, Zanobetti A, Schwartz JD. Long-term exposure to PM2.5 and mortality among older adults in the Southeastern US. Epidemiology 2017;28(2):207-214. |
R836156 (2017) R836156 (2020) R835872 (2016) R835872 (2017) R835872C003 (Final) |
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Wei Y, Wang Y, Wu X, Di Q, Shi L, Koutrakis P, Zanobetti A, Dominici F, Schwartz J. Causal Effects of Air Pollution on Mortality Rate in Massachusetts. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY 2020;189(11):1316-1323. |
R836156 (Final) R835872 (2020) R835872C003 (Final) |
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Wei Y, Coull B, Koutrakis P, Yang J, Li L, Zanobetti A, Schowatz J. Assessing additive effects of air pollutants on mortality rate in Massachusetts. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH 2021;20(1):19. |
R836156 (Final) R835872 (2020) R835872C002 (Final) R835872C003 (Final) |
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Zigler CM, Choirat C, Dominici F. Impact of National Ambient Air Quality Standards nonattainment designations on particulate pollution and health. Epidemiology 2018;29(2):165-174. |
R836156 (2018) R836156 (2020) R835872 (2016) R835872C004 (Final) |
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Antonelli J, Cefalu M, Palmer N, Agniel D. Doubly robust matching estimators for high dimensional confounding adjustment. Biometrics 2018;74(4):1171-1179. |
R836156 (2019) R836156 (2020) |
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Zanobetti A, O’Neill MS. Longer-term outdoor temperatures and health effects:a review. Current Epidemiology Reports 2018;5(2):125-139. |
R836156 (2019) R836156 (2020) R835872 (2018) |
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Wilson A, Zigler CM, Patel CJ, Dominici F. Model‐averaged confounder adjustment for estimating multivariate exposure effects with linear regression. Biometrics 2018;74(3):1034-1044. |
R836156 (2019) R836156 (2020) R835872 (2017) R835872C004 (Final) |
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Fong K, Kloog I, Coull B, Koutrakis P, Laden F, Schwartz J, James P. Residential greenness and birthweight in the state of Massachusetts, USA. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 2018;15(6):1248. |
R836156 (2019) R836156 (2020) R835872 (2018) R835872C003 (Final) |
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Gillooly SE, Zhou Y, Vallarino J, Chu MT, Michanowicz DR, Levy JI, Adamkiewicz G. Development of an in-home, real-time air pollutant sensor platform and implications for community use. Environmental Pollution 2019;244:440-450. |
R836156 (2019) R836156 (2020) |
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Rhee J, Fabian MP, Ettinger de Cuba S, Coleman S, Sandel M, Lane KJ, Yitshak Sade M, Hart JE, Schwartz J, Kloog I, Laden F. Effects of maternal homelessness, supplemental nutrition programs, and prenatal PM2.5 on birthweight. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 2019;16(21):4154. |
R836156 (2020) R835872 (2019) |
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Nethery RC, Mealli F, Dominici F. Estimating population average causal effects in the presence of non-overlap:the effect of natural gas compressor station exposure on cancer mortality. The Annals of Applied Statistics 2019;13(2):1242-1267. |
R836156 (2019) R836156 (2020) R835872 (2019) R835872C004 (Final) |
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Antonelli J, Parmigiani G, Dominici F. High-dimensional confounding adjustment using continuous spike and slab priors. Bayesian Analysis 2019;14(3):805-828. |
R836156 (2020) R835872 (2019) R835872C004 (Final) |
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Petropoulos Z, Levy J, Scammell M, Fabian MP. Characterizing community-wide housing attributes using georeferenced street-level photography. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 2020;30(2):299-308. |
R836156 (2020) |
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Rosofsky AS, Fabian MP, Ettinger de Cuba S, Sandel M, Coleman S, Levy JI, Coull BA, Hart JE, Zanobetti A. Prenatal Ambient Particulate Matter Exposure and Longitudinal Weight Growth Trajectories in Early Childhood. International journal of environmental research and public health 2020;17(4):1444. |
R836156 (2020) |
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Fong KC, Yitshak-Sade M, Lane KJ, Fabian MP, Kloog I, Schwartz JD, Coull BA, Koutrakis P, Hart JE, Laden F, Zanobetti A. Racial Disparities in Associations between Neighborhood Demographic Polarization and Birth Weight. International journal of environmental research and public health 2020;17(9):3076. |
R836156 (2020) |
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Qiu X, Wei Y, Weisskopf M, Spiro A, Shi L, Castro E, Coull B, Koutrakis P and Schwartz J. Air pollution, climate conditions and risk of hospital admissions for psychotic disorders in U.S. residents. Environ Res 2023; 216(Pt 2):114636. |
R836156 (Final) R835872C003 (Final) |
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Supplemental Keywords:
fine particulate matter; nitrogen dioxide; air pollution; temperature; housing; cumulative risk; birth weight; mortalityRelevant Websites:
Center for Research on Environmental and Social Stressors in Housing Across the Life Course (CRESSH) Exit
Progress and Final Reports:
Original Abstract Subprojects under this Center: (EPA does not fund or establish subprojects; EPA awards and manages the overall grant for this center).
R836156C001 Multi-Exposure Epidemiology across the Life Course
R836156C002 Exposure Disparities Related to Resident Behavior and Housing Characteristics
R836156C003 Cumulative Risk and Geospatial Health Disparities Related to Chemical and Non-Chemical Stressor Exposures
The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.
Project Research Results
- Final Report
- 2019 Progress Report
- 2018 Progress Report
- 2017 Progress Report
- 2016 Progress Report
- Original Abstract
27 journal articles for this center