Funded Ongoing
Funded (Pg. 1/2)
The Development of the Gulf Coast Center for Precision Environmental Health (GC-CPEH).
Govt. Funding: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)
Grant Type: NIH/NIEHS Center Grants (P50)
Submitted: April 2018
Expected Role (Effort): Translational Navigator (2.5%); PI: Walker C (BCM), Symanski E (UTHealth), Elferink CJ (UTMB)
Expected Period: 04/01/2019 to 03/31/2024
[modal_window title="CENTER FOR PRECISION ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH" invoke_title="PROJECT BRIEF" id="center-precision-environmental" show_on_load=""]The Houston-Galveston area is home to over a dozen Superfund sites and a hub for the petrochemical industry. It is also home to the Texas Medical Center, the largest medical center in the world. Thus, both the need and opportunity for the Gulf Coast Center for Precision Environmental Health (GC-CPEH) to be a focal point and catalyst for impactful EHS research, multi-directional communication with local communities, and the engine driving translation of precision environmental health research advances to improve human health, is exceptional.The GC-CPEH includes the "Integrated Health Sciences Facility Core" (IHSFC). Translational Navigators will connect GC-CPEH Members to IHSFC expertise and services and promote translational environmental health research of the Thematic Focus Areas of the Center.[/modal_window]
The Houston “Breathe Easy” Healthy Homes-Based Model for Multifamily Rental Communities
Govt. funding: Housing and Urban Development (US HUD)
Role (Effort): Co-I (5%); PI: Hamilton W (BCM)
Period: 10/01/2018 to 09/30/2021
[modal_window title="BREATHE EASY STUDY" invoke_title="PROJECT BRIEF" id="breathe-easy-modal" show_on_load=""]This project will use data on environmental exposures and health from two previous studies, supplemented with innovative biomarker analyses, to strengthen our understanding of home environmental exposures and their relationships to health, and then use that knowledge—with input from our community advisory board—to refine, implement, and evaluate a Healthy Homes-based intervention for low-income, multifamily housing residents. The randomized pragmatic clinical trial will examine whether the intervention improves measures of exposure and health in residents of Houston’s Historic Oaks of Allen Parkway Village, a 500-unit public housing community.[/modal_window]
Workplace Violence in Outpatient Physician Clinics.
Govt. funding: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
Role (Effort): Co-I (10%); PI: Pompeii L (BCM)
Period: 09/01/2018 to 08/31/2021
[modal_window title="OUTPATIENT CLINICS VIOLENCE" invoke_title="PROJECT BRIEF" id="work-violence-modal" show_on_load=""]The purpose of your study is to examine the prevalence and risk factors of workplace violence in outpatient physician clinics which, to date, has been an understudied sector of the healthcare industry. Given the independent nature of these clinics, that are located in various neighborhoods in Houston, Texas, it is important to examine geographical and locational factors surrounding these clinics that may increase workers’ risk for experiencing violence while at work, including population demographics, employment and crime activity both around the clinics and in workers commuting to the clinic.[/modal_window]
Environmental Exposures, Health and Resilience before and after Hurricane Harvey in a Houston-Area Cohort of African-American Adults with Poorly Controlled Asthma.
Govt. funding: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)
Role (Effort): Co-PI (10%); Co-PI: Hamilton W (BCM)
Period: 02/01/2018 to 01/31/2020
[modal_window title="PRE/POST HARVEY & ASTHMA" invoke_title="PROJECT BRIEF" id="harvey-asthma-modal" show_on_load=""]Enroll African-American adults with asthma who exited from an earlier study, the “Houston Home-Based Integrated Intervention Targeting Better Asthma Control (HIITBAC) for African Americans,” within 12 months of Hurricane Harvey. The proposed study will revisit these high-risk asthmatics in their homes, collecting data on environmental hazards (e.g., visible mold and dampness, particle counts, and mold spore counts), health outcomes (e.g., asthma control, mental health, and global health), resilience (e.g., emotional and instrumental support), and post-traumatic stress, as well as various biomarkers (blood, exhaled nitric oxide). The proposed project hopes to add valuable new information to the disaster discourse by utilizing this unique pre-post Harvey cohort, of whom preliminary assessments indicate that approximately 44% experienced flooding in their home—nearly four times the overall flooding percentage in Harris County.[/modal_window]
Funded (Pg. 2/2)
Hurricane Harvey Disaster Response Study: Individual Chemical Exposure Assessments.
Govt. funding: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)
Role (Effort): Co-I (10%); PI: Andersen K (OSU)
Period: 02/01/2018 to 01/31/2020
[modal_window title="HARVEY ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURES" invoke_title="PROJECT BRIEF" id="harvey-env-exposures" show_on_load=""]Generate a time sensitive comprehensive organic chemical exposure profile, with a 1,528 chemical method, for individuals affected by Hurricane Harvey (and incorporate in future follow-up studies). Specific Aim 2: Integrate individual chemical exposure data with demographic/spatial/point source data to test the hypothesis that one or more chemical profiles will exhibit signature(s) that correlate with proximity and extent of home flooding, personal cleanup activities and proximity to point sources. We hypothesis that the individuals with extensive home flooding and close proximity to point sources will have significantly different chemical exposures. Specific Aim 3: Test the effect during Hurricane Harvey recovery versus 1 year later on an individual’s chemical exposure assessed by the wristband samplers. Average sum of organic chemical concentrations will be compared between wristbands worn during the month following the Hurricane and 1 year later.[/modal_window]
Geospatial analysis of high-risk areas for vector-borne transmission utilizing satellite imaging technology.
Foundation funding: ExxonMobil Foundation
Role (Effort): Co-I (10%); PI: Hortez P (BCM) & Nolan M (USC)
Period: 01/01/2018 to 12/31/2019
[modal_window title="GEOSPATIAL PREDICTIVE MODELING" invoke_title="PROJECT BRIEF" id="remote-sensing-mosquito" show_on_load=""]Mosquito-borne disease (such as Malaria, Zika, Dengue, and West Nile virus) is a leading cause of human morbidity and mortality, responsible for over a billion infections and 700,000 deaths each year. This proof-of-concept pilot study aims to develop and validate a geospatial computer model to predict arboviral transmission by integrating data from remote sensing technology, mosquito breeding habitats, and real-time arboviral disease surveillance. The anticipated product of this pilot study will be a robust, reproducible and scalable geospatial computer model that can be used to to identify high-risk areas of arboviral transmission for targeted insecticide spraying and public health intervention in their communities.[/modal_window]
Geospatial Approaches to Cancer Control, Epidemiology and Population Sciences.
Support: Intramural - BCM Dan L. Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center
Role (Effort): BCM Research Support
Period: 07/01/2017 to 6/30/2020
[modal_window title="GIS & BCM CANCER CENTER" invoke_title="PROJECT BRIEF" id="gis-bcm-dldccc" show_on_load=""]The use of spatial analytics can add significant value to the BCM Dan L. Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center (DLDCCC) and assist the Center in providing “exceptional patient care, outstanding education for students, and innovative research” across the cancer care continuum. As part of the current support,we will enhance DLDCCC activities through the use of geospatial analytics of hyper-local data, and consequently strengthen the DLDCCC’s ability to conduct population-based research and implement evidence-based cancer prevention and control interventions.[/modal_window]
Baylor College of Medicine Environmental Health Initiative.
Support: Intramural - BCM Environmental Health Service (EHS)
Role (Effort): BCM Research Support
Period: 07/01/2011 to 12/31/2019
[modal_window title="EHS SETTLEMENT FUNDS" invoke_title="PROJECT BRIEF" id="ehs-chevron-funds" class="hb-aligncenter" show_on_load=""]The major goals of this negotiated industry settlement are (1) to provide clinical care for persons with symptoms or illnesses likely to be caused or exacerbated by environmental exposures, broadly defined and with emphasis on underserved populations and persons living along the Ship Channel in Harris County, Texas; and (2) to design and provide education in the role of environmental exposures in disease for healthcare professionals.[/modal_window]