Environment School Scientist Receives NIH Award to Study Relationship Between Ozone and Disease
A Yale environment school professor is one of eight scientists to receive an Outstanding New Environmental Scientist (ONES) award from the National Institutes of Health.
Michelle Bell, assistant professor of environmental health at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, will receive $500,000 to study the relationship between outdoor concentrations of ozone, a reactive form of oxygen that is a primary component of urban smog, and the incidence of respiratory disease and death in exposed populations.
Bell is one of two Yale University professors to receive a ONES award. Sven-Eric Jordt, assistant professor of pharmacology in the School of Medicine, will study the way in which certain airborne pollutants interact with sensory nerve cells in order to produce eye, nose and throat irritation.
The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), part of the National Institutes of Health, awarded grants totalling $3.6 million, which will support the scientists, who are all pursuing careers in environmental health research, over five years.
“The ONES Program is designed to provide a strong foundation for outstanding scientists who are in the early, formative stages of their careers,” said David Schwartz, director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. “These grants will assist the scientists in launching innovative research programs that focus on human disease and the influence of the environment.”
NIH officials explained in their own announcement that the program is a key element of the NIEHS 2006 Strategic Plan, a five-year blueprint for identifying and funding new research initiatives that will address the diseases and environmental exposures that are likely to have the greatest impact on human health. One of the primary goals of the plan is the recruitment and training of promising young scientists who are prepared to make long-term commitments to environmental health research.
Research supported by the ONES grants will cover a broad range of environmental exposures along with the biological responses they elicit. Each of the awardees will focus on a specific human disease or condition as it relates to a specific environmental exposure. The ultimate goal of the research is to link the effects of these exposures to the cause, moderation or prevention of environmentally-related diseases.
Besides Bell and Jordt, the other 2006 ONES Program awardees are:
For more information about the NIEHS Strategic Plan, please visit: http://www.niehs.nih.gov/external/plan2006/home.htm
Michelle Bell, assistant professor of environmental health at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, will receive $500,000 to study the relationship between outdoor concentrations of ozone, a reactive form of oxygen that is a primary component of urban smog, and the incidence of respiratory disease and death in exposed populations.
Bell is one of two Yale University professors to receive a ONES award. Sven-Eric Jordt, assistant professor of pharmacology in the School of Medicine, will study the way in which certain airborne pollutants interact with sensory nerve cells in order to produce eye, nose and throat irritation.
The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), part of the National Institutes of Health, awarded grants totalling $3.6 million, which will support the scientists, who are all pursuing careers in environmental health research, over five years.
“The ONES Program is designed to provide a strong foundation for outstanding scientists who are in the early, formative stages of their careers,” said David Schwartz, director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. “These grants will assist the scientists in launching innovative research programs that focus on human disease and the influence of the environment.”
NIH officials explained in their own announcement that the program is a key element of the NIEHS 2006 Strategic Plan, a five-year blueprint for identifying and funding new research initiatives that will address the diseases and environmental exposures that are likely to have the greatest impact on human health. One of the primary goals of the plan is the recruitment and training of promising young scientists who are prepared to make long-term commitments to environmental health research.
Research supported by the ONES grants will cover a broad range of environmental exposures along with the biological responses they elicit. Each of the awardees will focus on a specific human disease or condition as it relates to a specific environmental exposure. The ultimate goal of the research is to link the effects of these exposures to the cause, moderation or prevention of environmentally-related diseases.
Besides Bell and Jordt, the other 2006 ONES Program awardees are:
- Donna D. Zhang, Ph.D., University of Arizona, will study the mechanism by which cells protect themselves from the toxic effects of arsenic, a highly poisonous metal that can cause DNA damage and lead to an increased risk for certain cancers.
- Patricia Lynn Opresko, Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh, will explore the effects of environmental agents on telomeres, small segments of DNA located at the ends of chromosomes that help control aging and death of cells.
- Thomas J. Begley, Ph.D., State University of New York at Albany, will examine the way in which damage to DNA from environmental exposures can trigger the production of certain proteins that help protect the cell from toxic insults.
- Michael Borchers, Ph.D., University of Cincinnati, will examine the relationship between exposure to airborne chemicals from vehicle exhaust and industrial sources, and increased susceptibility to respiratory illnesses such as emphysema and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
- Michelle L. Bell, Ph.D., Yale University, will study the relationship between outdoor concentrations of ozone, a reactive form of oxygen that is a primary component of urban smog, and the incidence of respiratory disease and death in exposed populations.
- Stephania A. Cormier, Ph.D., Louisiana State University, will conduct research on fine particle air pollution – microscopic particles of dust and soot less than 2.5 microns in diameter – to determine whether exposure to these tiny particles can produce changes in immune system function that could result in an increased risk for developing asthma.
- Gokhan M. Mutlu, M.D., Northwestern University, will study the effects of fine particle exposure on blood flow and heart disease risk.
For more information about the NIEHS Strategic Plan, please visit: http://www.niehs.nih.gov/external/plan2006/home.htm
Michelle L. Bell, Assistant Professor at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies (Photo: Harold Shapiro)
