Grantee Research Project Results
2017 Progress Report: Center for Native American Environmental Health Equity Research
EPA Grant Number: R836157Center: Center for Native American Environmental Health Equity Research
Center Director: Lewis, Johnnye Lynn
Title: Center for Native American Environmental Health Equity Research
Investigators: Lewis, Johnnye Lynn , MacKenzie, Debra Ann , Cerrato Corrales, Jose Manuel , Hudson, Laurie , Gonzales, Melissa
Current Investigators: Lewis, Johnnye Lynn , Gonzales, Melissa , Hudson, Laurie , Cerrato Corrales, Jose Manuel , MacKenzie, Debra Ann
Institution: University of New Mexico
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, 2016 through June 30,2017
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:
Aim 1: Integration of research in three partnering tribal communities
Aim 2: Developing research capacity within tribes
Aim 3: Develop capacity for academic-tribal partnerships through annual workshops of researchers, tribal elders, students, center members
Aim 4: identify and recommend cost-effective, readily implemented, and sustainable strategies to mitigate risk, reduce environmental health disparities, and inform regulatory decision-making
Progress Summary:
Aim 1: Integration of research in three partnering tribal communities
- In support of our integrated approaches to data collection, management and analysis, the Environmental Monitoring and Interpretation Core (EC) (our Center’s Facilities Core), Research Projects 1 and 2 developed quality assurance project plans (QAPP) in consultation with the Center Quality Manager, Dr. Gonzales. An integrated Quality Management Plan for the Center was developed by Dr. Gonzales and submitted to EPA/NCER. The work continues with annual reviews of QAPP (by Dr. Gonzales) with Projects and Cores. This plan addresses harmonization of sample collection and prep for both environmental and biological samples, as well as standardizing the analytical methodology for all.
- Our Environmental Core has worked to develop analytical methods appropriate for all environmental samples and has finished the QA for that plan. Work on the methodology for analysis of biological samples is in progress and anticipated to be completed by the end of the year
- A sampling trip on Cheyenne River occurred in June and involved most mentees, members of all tribes involved in the center, and research scientists as well as the CEC and EC. The recognition of tribes-helping-tribes that spontaneously was developed during the trip led to a colleague filming a video of interviews with the team for her NCAI-funded project REDTalks, an effort to develop a web-based platform parallel to TEDTalks that gives voice to and becomes a platform for increased awareness and novel strategies to address issues facing Native American Tribes. The video was shared at the 2nd Tribal Environmental Health Conference in Flagstaff, AZ in July 2016, and also selected for inclusion in the NIEHS PEPH Film Fest at the 50th Anniversary FEST in Durham, NC in December.
- Database development for the integrated data set is complete, and the plan for data flow and analysis in place
- Research projects have already identified commonalities in immunologic endpoints and in bench studies, mechanisms that could support those findings. This work continues and awaits analysis of biomonitoring and completion of the biospecimen collection for Crow
Aim 2: Developing research capacity within tribes
The center has worked with tribal partners and members of the P50 Center at U of A to build research interest and strengthen pipelines for tribal students in the following ways:
- developing a pipeline to increase options for graduate research training on Navajo Nation,
- mentoring students in laboratory research projects at MSU,
- working with Crow partners to expand the graduate focus of a Crow masters student to integrate his work on microbiologic contaminants of water sources and the implications for mobility and toxicity of metals through an NIEHS Diversity Supplement,
- attending a Sioux high school workshop this spring where co-Director Gonzales and Dr. Begay will work with Cheyenne River partner Marcia O’Leary to stimulate interest in science in a group of high school students.
- continued support of Navajo Ph.D. candidate Cherie DeVore as part of our Environmental Core
- analytical support and inclusion in the center for University of Montana Navajo Ph.D. candidate Ranalda Tsosie in her dissertation research on uranium remediation
- engagement of multiple Native students in the UNM CURE and Undergraduate Pipeline programs (described in CEC, AC, and Research Projects) leading to one Native undergraduate being hired as a laboratory scientist for Exact Sciences, and a Native high school student returning for a second year to work with the Center this year
- working with Cheyenne River to hire tribal college students to work with the Center on sampling and continue work with the tribe through the summer
Aim 3: Develop capacity for academic-tribal partnerships through annual workshops of researchers, tribal elders, students, center members
- Our first Native EH Equity Annual Meeting was staged to include EAC, all Center members from all tribes as well as students, CDIs, and staff from each tribe. The meeting took place on the Navajo Nation in two communities we are partnering with: 1) Red Water Pond Road, where a community of ~60 lives in close proximity to the waste from the largest underground uranium mine in the US and has undergone 3 relocations for emergency removals while the primary waste piles remain; and 2) Tachee/Blue Gap where families live in the shadow of a 250 ft wall of mine waste that has contaminated water sources and air for decades. Due to the work of our team, the Tachee site has only recently been added to a priority clean-up list. The Tachee community hosted all to a traditional sheep roast, and presentations on the center’s work were interspersed with intensive discussions among the tribal members on the importance of the work, the impacts to culture from contamination, and how best to communicate research to communities. This effort is described in CEC and AC from different perspectives as well.
- On the academic side, we are pleased that our UNM-CTSA acknowledged the relevance of art as an effective form of translation and followed recommendations of our communities and EAC to fund the first Native EH Equity Artist in Residence program, awarded to Zuni artist Mallery Quetawki and discussed (and illustrated) in more detail in the AC
Aim 4: identify and recommend cost-effective, readily implemented, and sustainable strategies to mitigate risk, reduce environmental health disparities, and inform regulatory decision-making
- Provided a full-day briefing on the center and specific projects of interest, as well as tour of research laboratories for the Navajo Trustee and her committee overseeing the tribe’s settlement with Tronox (discussed in AC)
- Provided overviews on the Center to a combined meeting of USEPA Region 9 and Navajo EPA, Department of Justice, and Department of Health followed by invited briefings to Navajo executive branch and Navajo EPA Director.
- Provided an invited presentation to USEPA Region 6 Regional Tribal Operations Committee giving an overview on the Center with substantial discussion among tribal leaders present on the need for similar work on their issues, and questions on how to begin these partnerships
- At the request of our Sioux partners, planning to do similar briefing for USEPA Region 6 RTOC at Standing Rock this summer, pending completion of the agenda by the tribes involved.
- Began discussions to develop collaboration with MSU Biofilm Center Director Dr. Matthew Fields on collaborative opportunities to develop biofilm remediation projects on Navajo and Crow. Currently hoping to integrate with student Emery Three Irons Diversity supplement work on Crow to develop pilot data. Dr. Fields has conducted a successful bioremediation strategy at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Dr. Cerrato, director of the EC, who has also worked on bioremediation projects at DOE cites, will be leading the Center’s efforts to develop this collaboration along with Dr. Lewis.
Future Activities:
- Organize and carry-out our second annual meeting on Cheyenne River and Standing Rock
- Plan our third annual meeting to occur on Crow. The model for the meeting shifts as appropriate for each community, so that effort will begin as soon as our upcoming Sioux/Standing Rock meeting is complete.
- Begin our first phase of Center pilot projects, identifying strategic gaps they might address
- Continue efforts to integrate historical trauma support into the Center
- Identify a second “artist-in-residence” and the process for their selection
- Begin our sample collection on Crow to complete our population data sets as the foundation for our integrated analyses
- Finalize the Center wide methodology for biospecimen analysis
Journal Articles: 13 Displayed | Download in RIS Format
Other center views: | All 89 publications | 13 publications in selected types | All 13 journal articles |
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Type | Citation | ||
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Dasher-Titus EJ, Hoover J, Luo L, Lee J-H, Du R, Liu KJ, Traber MG, Ho E, Lewis J, Hudson LG. Metal exposure and oxidative stress markers in pregnant Navajo Birth Cohort Study participants. Free Radical Biology and Medicine 2018;124:484-492. |
R836157 (2018) R836157 (2019) |
Exit Exit Exit |
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Doyle JT, Kindness L, Realbird J, Eggers MJ, Camper AK. Challenges and opportunities for tribal waters:addressing disparities in safe public drinking water on the Crow Reservation in Montana, USA. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 2018;15(4):567. |
R836157 (2018) R836157 (2019) R835594 (2018) R835594 (Final) |
Exit |
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Eggers MJ, Doyle JT, Lefthand MJ, Young SL, Moore-Nall AL, Kindness L, Other Medicine R, Ford TE, Dietrich E, Parker AE, Hoover JH, Camper AK. Community engaged cumulative risk assessment of exposure to inorganic well water contaminants, Crow Reservation, Montana. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 2018;15(1):76. |
R836157 (2019) R835594 (2017) R835594 (2018) R835594 (Final) |
Exit |
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Eggers MJ, Doyle JT, Lefthand MJ, Young SL, Moore-Nall AL, Kindness L, Other Medicine R, Ford TE, Dietrich E, Parker AE, Hoover JH, Camper AK. Community engaged cumulative risk assessment of exposure to inorganic well water contaminants, Crow Reservation, Montana. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 2018;15(1):76 (34 pp.). |
R836157 (2018) |
Exit Exit Exit |
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Girlamo C, Lin Y, Hoover J, Beene D, Woldeyohannes T, Liu Z, Campen M, MacKenzie D, Lewis J. Meteorological data source comparison-a case study in geospatial modeling of potential environmental exposure to abandoned uranium mine sites in the Navajo Nation. ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT 2023;195(7):834 |
R836157 (2020) |
Exit |
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Gonzales M, King E, Bobelu J, Ghahate DM, Madrid T, Lesansee S, Shah V. Perspectives on biological monitoring in environmental health research: a focus group study in a Native American community. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 2018;15(6):1129 (8 pp.). |
R836157 (2018) R836157 (2019) |
Exit Exit Exit |
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Harmon ME, Lewis J, Miller C, Hoover J, Ali AS, Shuey C, Cajero M, Lucas S, Zychowski K, Pacheco B, Erdei E, Ramone S, Nez T, Gonzales M, Campen MJ. Residential proximity to abandoned uranium mines and serum inflammatory potential in chronically exposed Navajo communities. Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology 2017;27(4):365-371. |
R836157 (2018) R836157 (2019) |
Exit Exit |
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Hoover JH, Coker E, Barney Y, Shuey C, Lewis J. Spatial clustering of metal and metalloid mixtures in unregulated water sources on the Navajo Nation – Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah, USA. Science of The Total Environment 2018;633:1667-1678. |
R836157 (2018) R836157 (2019) |
Exit Exit Exit |
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Hoover J, Gonzales M, Shuey C, Barney Y, Lewis J. Elevated arsenic and uranium concentrations in unregulated water sources on the Navajo Nation, USA. Exposure and Health 2017;9(2):113-124. |
R836157 (2016) R836157 (2017) R836157 (2019) |
Exit Exit Exit |
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Hoover J, Coker E, Erdei E, Luo L, MacKenzie D, Lewis J. Preterm Birth and Metal Mixture Exposure among Pregnant Women from the Navajo Birth Cohort Study. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVES 2023;131(12). |
R836157 (Final) |
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Lewis J, Hoover J, MacKenzie D. Mining and environmental health disparities in Native American communities. Current Environmental Health Reports 2017;4(2):130-141. |
R836157 (2017) R836157 (2019) |
Exit Exit Exit |
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Rodriguez-Freire L, Avasarala S, Ali AS, Agnew D, Hoover JH, Artyushkova K, Latta DE, Peterson EJ, Lewis J, Crossey LJ, Brearley AJ, Cerrato JM. Post Gold King Mine spill investigation of metal stability in water and sediments of the Animas River watershed. Environmental Science & Technology 2016;50(21):11539-11548. |
R836157 (2016) R836157 (2017) R836157 (2019) |
Exit Exit Exit |
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Saup CM, Williams KH, Rodríguez-Freire L, Cerrato JM, Johnston MD, Wilkins MJ. Anoxia stimulates microbially catalyzed metal release from Animas River sediments. Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts 2017;19(4):578-585. |
R836157 (2017) R836157 (2019) |
Exit 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).
R836157C001 Metals and metal mixtures in DNA damage and repair
R836157C002 Development of biomarkers of autoimmunity in 3 tribal communities exposed to mixed metal contaminants
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
- 2020 Progress Report
- 2019 Progress Report
- 2018 Progress Report
- 2016 Progress Report
- Original Abstract
13 journal articles for this center