Louis Block Distinguished Service Professor
Dean, Population and Precision Health
Director, Institute for Population and Precision Health
Director, Chicago Center for Health and Environment
Associate Director of Population Research, Comprehensive Cancer Center
I am Dean for Population and Precision Health and Director of the Institute for Population and Precision Health. Trained in medicine, epidemiology, environmental health and genomics, my research expertise encompasses large-scale population-based studies assessing environmental disease risks and their modifying factors including social, biological and other disparity-related factors. My research interests focus on studying the inter-relationships between environmental and genomic factors in cancer and other diseases and exploiting information on these relationships at a population level in developing and evaluating prevention interventions in humans. Specifically, my research integrates the environmental, nutritional and life-style factors with measures of host factors and modern molecular genomics (involving DNA, RNA and protein variations) to understand the etiology, pathogenesis, prognosis and prevention of cancer and other disorders of national and international public health significance. In addition to applied and translational studies, my research directly addresses environmental health disparity and their prevention avenues. Findings from many of my environmental health studies have had EHS policy implications nationally and internationally. Currently, I lead the only NIEHS-funded Environmental Health Core Center in Chicago. I am leading a large team of scientists to establish a prospective multiethnic cohort in Chicago involving extensive environmental data and a biobank to address health disparity related research questions. As part of these responsibilities, I have built multidisciplinary multi-institutional teams, promoted collaborations, mentored junior and mid-level faculties, and managed large staff and budgets. I serve on numerous national and international panels including a current 4-year term on the NIEHS Advisory Board and a 3-year term on an NAS panel evaluating EPA policy on arsenic.
Columbia University
New York
Postdoc - Epidemiology
1995
University of Western Australia
Australia
MMedSc - Epidemiology
1992
University of Western Australia
Australia
PGDip - Public Health
1990
Institute for Postgraduate Medicine & Research, Dhaka University
Bangladesh
MBBS(MD) - Medicine
1988
Lung Cancer Risk Prediction Models for Asian Ever-Smokers.
Lung Cancer Risk Prediction Models for Asian Ever-Smokers. J Thorac Oncol. 2023 Nov 07.
PMID: 37944700
The Role of Health Insurance Type and Clinic Visit on Hypertension Status Among Multiethnic Chicago Residents.
The Role of Health Insurance Type and Clinic Visit on Hypertension Status Among Multiethnic Chicago Residents. Am J Health Promot. 2023 Oct 25; 8901171231209674.
PMID: 37879000
Returning personal genetic information on susceptibility to arsenic toxicity to research participants in Bangladesh.
Returning personal genetic information on susceptibility to arsenic toxicity to research participants in Bangladesh. Environ Res. 2023 Oct 24; 240(Pt 2):117482.
PMID: 37879393
Duration-sensitive association between air pollution exposure and changes in cardiometabolic biomarkers: Evidence from a predominantly African American cohort.
Duration-sensitive association between air pollution exposure and changes in cardiometabolic biomarkers: Evidence from a predominantly African American cohort. Environ Res. 2023 Oct 24; 117496.
PMID: 37884074
Reproductive Factors and Endometrial Cancer Risk Among Women.
Reproductive Factors and Endometrial Cancer Risk Among Women. JAMA Netw Open. 2023 09 05; 6(9):e2332296.
PMID: 37669051
Reduction of household air pollution through clean fuel intervention and recovery of cellular immune balance.
Reduction of household air pollution through clean fuel intervention and recovery of cellular immune balance. Environ Int. 2023 09; 179:108137.
PMID: 37579572
Somatic loss of the Y chromosome is associated with arsenic exposure among Bangladeshi men.
Somatic loss of the Y chromosome is associated with arsenic exposure among Bangladeshi men. Int J Epidemiol. 2023 08 02; 52(4):1035-1046.
PMID: 36130227
Long-term exposure to ambient air pollution and measures of central hemodynamics and arterial stiffness among multiethnic Chicago residents.
Long-term exposure to ambient air pollution and measures of central hemodynamics and arterial stiffness among multiethnic Chicago residents. Res Sq. 2023 Jul 21.
PMID: 37503099
Pathways Related to Colon Inflammation Are Associated with Colorectal Carcinoma: A Transcriptome- and Methylome-Wide Study.
Pathways Related to Colon Inflammation Are Associated with Colorectal Carcinoma: A Transcriptome- and Methylome-Wide Study. Cancers (Basel). 2023 May 26; 15(11).
PMID: 37296884
The impact of neighborhood disadvantage on colorectal cancer screening among African Americans in Chicago.
The impact of neighborhood disadvantage on colorectal cancer screening among African Americans in Chicago. Prev Med Rep. 2023 Aug; 34:102235.
PMID: 37252073
Member
ASCO Annual Meeting Planning Committee
2015 - 2017
Member
NAEHSC-National Advisory Environmental Health Sciences Council (NIEHS Council)
2015 - 2019
Member
NAS Scientific Panel on Toxicological Assessment of Arsenic
2012 - 2016
Associate Editor
Genetic Epidemiology
2006 - 2011