Harvard Chan NIEHS Center for Environmental Health

‘It breaks my heart.’ Trump cuts to Harvard leave Boston’s vulnerable sweltering without AC. - The Boston Globe As part of its far-reaching assault on the university, the Trump administration rescinded the money for the project.

"‘It breaks my heart.’ Trump cuts to Harvard leave Boston’s vulnerable sweltering without AC." Read the Boston Globe story featuring Dr. Adamkiewicz and Dr. Rice discussing impacts to their research aimed at helping Boston communities cope with heat and pollution.
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/07/30/m...

Manhattan Project Waste Linked to Higher Risk of Cancer People who spent their childhood in the 1940s, ’50s or ’60s living near Coldwater Creek in St. Louis County faced a heightened risk of cancer, new research suggests.

Center Director Marc Weisskopf and team's new paper, published in JAMA Network Open, shows an increased risk of cancer for people who grew up near Coldwater Creek (St. Louis, MO). The area was contaminated by radioactive byproducts from the Manhattan Project. Read more below! @hsph.harvard.edu

I covered the L.A. fires in the Palisades. So I had my blood tested for lead The Los Angeles County wildfires unleashed all kinds of contaminants once locked away in paints, plastics and elsewhere. Among the most concerning is lead, so, like hundreds of Angelenos, a reporter…

New Research from Dr. Kari Nadeau and @lafirehealth.bsky.social has shown that urban wildfires increase lead exposures for first responders. An @LATimes.com reporter decided to test his blood to see what type of impact the fires posed to residents.

Learn more about research conducted by the LA Fire HEALTH Study, headed by Center members Dr. Kari Nadeau and Dr. Joe Allen!

Photo of Raanan Raz and lecture title: The seasonal factor in studies of temperature and pregnancy outcomes.

Join us this Wednesday, June 11, for a @hsphniehsctr.bsky.social and @harvardenvhealth.bsky.social seminar with Dr. Raanan Raz of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In-person and virtual! Visit hsph.me/niehs-seminar for more info and Zoom registration.

How big of a threat to public health are the recent federal funding cuts? Dr. Marc Weisskopf, who conducts research on ALS in veterans explains on @cnn.com how the recent grant terminations are a big set back for public health.

Watch: app.frame.io/presentation...

Ben Weitz, recent MS graduate and community engagement core student worker, looks at a bag of cayenne pepper with Mary Ann Nelson, president of the Mission Hill Health Movement.

The May newsletter is out! We're celebrating the graduation of our student community engagement employee and sharing new pilot research on why flight attendants face higher risk for certain cancers. Also, scholarships for Community Exposures and Health Training! Read more: hsph.me/NIEHSnews

Graduation 2025: Award winners | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Each year, awards are presented to graduating students, faculty, and staff.

Each year, awards are presented to graduating students, as well as faculty and staff, at Harvard Chan School. Today, we celebrated the many achievements of this year's award winners at a ceremony in the Kresge building.

View the full list of awards and winners:

YouTube video by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Harvard’s public health research, in 7 words or less

Harvard Chan School is home to a wide variety of research initiatives, with faculty, researchers, and students all working together to improve health, prevent disease, and support well-being.

We asked some of them if they could explain their research in 7 words.

Harvard Chan scientists participate in a rigorous application process for federal grants to conduct their vital health research. The government has now terminated nearly every single one of those grants.

With nearly all of Harvard Chan School’s direct federal grants terminated, we are relying on philanthropy to power our research and support our educational programs. Every gift, regardless of size, advances our vision of health, dignity, and justice for every human. Support our work: hsph.me/whygive

Community exposures and health training logo.

Registration is open for our virtual Community Exposures and Health Training August 12-13! @cupublichealth.bsky.social, @uwsph.bsky.social and @hsph.harvard.edu team with experts to teach concepts for conducting environmental health research. Scholarships & early-bird rates: hsph.me/NIEHS-CEH

Health effects of air pollution in the Danish Nurse Cohort and Danish Nationwide Administrative Cohort: An overview with Zorana Jovanovic Andersen, PhD, of the University of Copenhagen.

Join us Wednesday, May 14, for a @hsphniehsctr.bsky.social and @harvardenvhealth.bsky.social seminar with Dr. Zorana Jovanovic Anderson of the University of Copenhagen. In-person and virtual! Visit hsph.me/niehs-seminar for more info and Zoom registration.

See how Harvard Chan researchers are making a difference: hsph.harvard.edu/research-imp...

NIOSH cuts threaten worker health and safety, say experts | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Cuts at NIOSH, a federal agency focused on workplace health and safety, could make workers across the U.S. less safe, slow research about how to prevent worker illness and injury, and shrink the pipel...

hsph.harvard.edu/news/niosh-c...
#SaveNIOSH

A young participant plants lettuce seeds in lead-free potting soil at the Family Fun and Disability Awareness Fair.

Read about Center events and updates in our April newsletter! We supported cutting-edge research and community engagement by promoting lead exposure awareness and hosting seminars on topics from brain organoids to extreme weather's impact on mental health. Read more: hsph.me/NIEHSnews

PEPH Newsletter - April 2025

Read more about Center Member Dr. Kathryn Tomsho's virtual provider training on the health risks of phthalate exposure during pregnancy, featured in the April NIEHS PEPH newsletter! @hsphniehsctr.bsky.social is proud to have supported the research through its Pilot Project Program. bit.ly/4iawnHw

Center Member Research Presentation with Sonia Hernandez-Diaz and Amruta Nori-Sarma. Wednesday, April 23, 1-2 pm, HSPH Bldg. 1, 1302 or Zoom. Topics: Environmental exposures and health care claims and Extreme weather impacts on mental health.

Join us this Wednesday, April 23, for a Harvard Chan NIEHS Center Member Research Presentation with Dr. Sonia Hernández-Díaz and Dr. Amruta Nori-Sarma (@anorisarma.bsky.social). In-person and virtual! Visit hsph.me/NIEHS-CRP for more info and Zoom registration. @harvardenvhealth.bsky.social

Luke P Lee seminar on Brain Organoid MAP for Environmental Health

Join us Wednesday, April 9, for a @hsphniehsctr.bsky.social and @harvardenvhealth.bsky.social seminar with Dr. Luke P. Lee of HMS (@harvardmed.bsky.social) and BWH (@mgbresearch.bsky.social). In-person and virtual! Visit hsph.me/niehs-seminar for more info and Zoom registration.

P30 Centers like ours support valuable research and contribute to improvements in human health and the environment. Read more from the @ucsf-earth.bsky.social Center below!

At the Harvard Chan NIEHS Center table, EH students and research assistants demonstrate how to make a natural DIY foot scrub.

Our spring 2025 newsletter is out! Read about how a center pilot led to the passage of health policy resolutions in Bangladesh, a community health and wellness summit in Hyde Park, and our new Complex Mixtures Working Group! Read more at hsph.me/NIEHSnews.

Melissa Furlong, PhD, event graphic for "Integrating big data across state-level health databases to evaluate ambient heat, pesticide exposures, and ADHD."

Join us next Tuesday, March 25, for a @hsphniehsctr.bsky.social and @harvardenvhealth.bsky.social seminar with Dr. Melissa Furlong of the University of Arizona. In-person and virtual! Visit hsph.me/niehs-seminar for more info and Zoom registration.

The LA Fire HEALTH Study released preliminary* air quality data today for the LA area during the Palisades and Eaton wildfires in January 2025. The data shows how outdoor levels of particulate matter (PM) impacted air quality inside of homes during the wildfires. lafirehealth.org/data

Learn more about the LA Fire HEALTH Study, an important consortium-led effort looking into the health and environmental impacts of the LA wildfires - recently highlighted in the NY Times: www.nytimes.com/2025/03/12/w...

Targeting environmental exposure to prevent spina bifida in Bangladesh | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health By pinpointing the link between arsenic exposure, folic acid, and spina bifida, research from Harvard Chan School’s Maitreyi Mazumdar is helping the government of Bangladesh take action to prevent the...

We're excited to share the impact of Dr. Maitreyi Mazumdar's translational research in Bangladesh. Read about how her Harvard Chan NIEHS Center-funded research on spina bifida and arsenic exposure led to policy resolutions and folic-acid fortification of flour: hsph.me/Mazumdar

Check out @scott-delaney.bsky.social's latest publication, supported by a grant from the Harvard Chan NIEHS Center and Biogen.

Center Member Research Presentation with Ronnie Levin, MA, on "Don't undervalue the goods: Monetizing health endpoints" and Maitreyi Mazumdar, MD, MPH, on "Arsenic, spina bifida, and folic acid in Bangladesh: Translation from animal models to humans to public health policy."

Join us on Wednesday, February 26, for a Harvard Chan NIEHS Center Member Research Presentation with Ronnie Levin, MA, and Maitreyi Mazumdar, MD, MPH. In-person and virtual! Visit hsph.me/NIEHS-CRP for more info and Zoom registration. @bostonchildrens.bsky.social @harvardenvhealth.bsky.social

Climate change begins in the OR: Our unsustainable future in healthcare with Kelly N. Wright, MD, FACOG, FACS. Director, Division of Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery and Associate Professor, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Cedars-Sinai. Sponsored by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Department of Environmental Health and the Harvard Chan NIEHS Center for Environmental Health

Tomorrow, February 12! Join us at 1 pm ET for a
@hsphniehsctr.bsky.social
and
@harvardenvhealth.bsky.social
seminar with Dr. Kelly Wright of Cedars-Sinai. In-person and virtual! Visit hsph.me/niehs-seminar for more info and Zoom registration.

Long-term, multi-institutional study on health impacts of Los Angeles wildfires launched | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Researchers from four universities have launched a 10-year study of the Los Angeles fires—an unprecedented collective scientific effort to understand the short- and long-term health impacts of wildfir...

Researchers from Harvard Chan School (@harvardenvhealth.bsky.social), UCLA, UC Davis, and UT Austin have launched the Los Angeles Fire Human Exposure and Long-Term Health Study, a 10-year, unprecedented collective scientific effort to understand the short- and long-term health impacts of #wildfires.

Seminar graphic for Climate change begins in the OR: Our unsustainable future in healthcare with Dr. Kelly Wright of Cedars-Sinai, showing the seminar title, her photograph, and logos of Harvard Chan NIEHS Center for Environmental Health and Department of Environmental Health

Join us next Wednesday, February 12, for a
@hsphniehsctr.bsky.social and
@harvardenvhealth.bsky.social seminar with Dr. Kelly Wright of Cedars-Sinai. In-person and virtual! Visit hsph.me/niehs-seminar for more info and Zoom registration.