Pilot Projects

Please join us in congratulating our Pilot Project Awardees!

 

Unless otherwise noted, awardees are recipients of the Environmental Health Research Pilot Award, administered annually through the UCSF Resource Allocation Program (RAP).

 

2024

Dimitri Abrahamsson, PhD, Assistant Professor, UCSF, Ob/Gyn and Reproductive Sciences *Career Development Award

Chemical Leaching and Metabolic Transformation of Micro- and Nanoplastics: Environmental Simulations and Implications for Human Health (Core: DTSC Environmental Chemical Laboratory)

 

Ayca Erkin-Cakmak, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor, UCSF, Pediatrics

The Association Between Urinary Oxidative Stress Markers and Puberty in Adolescent Girls in the GRowth and LifeStyle (GRLS) Cohort (Core: TRSC)

 

Meghana Gadgil, MD, Associate Professor, Associate Professor, UCSF, Medicine

Building Resilience to Extreme Heat in California’s Most Vulnerable Communities (Core: TRSC)

 

Matthew Gribble, PhD, Associate Professor, Associate Professor, UCSF, Medicine

Pilot Study on Potential Joint Toxicity of Hexavalent Chromium and Vanadium in Water (Core: HTCS)

 

Yi Li, MD, Assistant Professor, UCSF, Urology

Development of Testis Xenografts for Testing Mammalian Reproductive Toxicity (Core: HTCS)

 

Jeremiah Mock, PhD, MSc, Professor, UCSF, Institute for Health & Aging

Pilot Study to Document Emerging Environmental Health Risks to Toddlers From the Commercialization of Iqos Heated Tobacco Products and Oral Nicotine Pouches in California (Core: Community Engagement Core)

 

Dara Torgerson, PhD, MSc, Associate Professor, UCSF, Epidemiology & Biostatistics

Environmental Toxins and Immunological Response to Viral Respiratory Infections in American Indian Children with Asthma (Core: DTSC Environmental Chemical Laboratory)

 

2023

Stephanie Gaw, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, UCSF, Ob/Gyn and Reproductive Sciences

Application of laser capture microdissection and mass spectrometry to identify placental biomarkers of wildfire smoke exposure (Core: Proteomics)

 

Hannah Shapiro, MD, UCSF, Pediatrics

Association Between Wildfire Smoke Exposure and Emergency Department Visits for Headache in Children and Adolescents (Core: TRSC)

 

Carly Hyland, PhD, MS, Assistant Professor, UC Berkeley

Mitigating Pesticide Exposure Risks among Pregnant Farmworkers: Enhancing Medical Providers' Knowledge and Support (Core: TRSC)

 

2022

Laura Koth, MD, MA, Professor, UCSF, Medicine

Effects of Air Pollution Constituents on Human Immune Cell Function in an Immune-Mediated Disease called Sarcoidosis (Core: TRSC)

Lay Summary

A goal of this project is to understand how air pollution measurements effect the expression of genes and proteins on human T-cells from patients with an immune-mediated lung disease called sarcoidosis. The results will add to the growing evidence showing that the current U.S. EPA National Ambient Air Quality Standards for ozone and PM2.5 are not sufficiently protective of human health, especially among people with lung disease.

 

Vivek Rudrapatna, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, UCSF, Medicine

Seema Ghandi, MD (co-PI), Professor, UCSF, Anesthesia

A Comparative Environmental Impact Analysis of Methods for Colorectal Cancer Screening

Lay Summary

Climate change is the single greatest threat to global health in the 21st century, with the healthcare sector thought responsible for up to 10% of greenhouse gas emissions. We will conduct a comprehensive environmental audit of different methods for performing colon cancer screening. We hope to uncover evidence that will help patients, physicians, and policy makers choose more wisely amongst recommended screening tests, and support the population health of current and future generations.

 

Elliot Stieglitz, MD, Associate Professor, UCSF, Pediatrics

Investigating Environmental Causes of Juvenile Myelomonocytic Leukemia using Metabolomic Profiling of Newborn Blood Spots (Core: DTSC Environmental Chemical Laboratory)

Lay Summary

Juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia (JMML) is a blood cancer of early childhood, caused by a single family of mutations called “Ras”. Using newborn blood spots, we will investigate the origins of JMML and determine if chemical compounds or environmental exposures during pregnancy are causing the Ras mutations that lead to JMML.

 

Ayca Erkin-Cakmak, MD, MPH, Pediatric Advance Research Fellow, UCSF, Pediatric Endocrinology *Environmental Health, Nutrition & Obesity Pilot Awards co-sponsored with the UCSF P30 Nutrition & Obesity Research Center (NORC)

Ana María Mora-Wyrobek, MD, PhD (co-PI), UC Berkeley

Prenatal and mid-childhood exposure to mixtures of persistent organic pollutants and cardiometabolic health in Mexican-American young adults from the CHAMACOS cohort" (Core: TRSC)

 

Joshua Robinson, PhD, Assistant Professor, UCSF, Ob/Gyn & Reproductive Sciences *Environmental Health, Nutrition & Obesity Pilot Awards co-sponsored with the UCSF P30 Nutrition & Obesity Research Center (NORC)

Investigating the role of perfluorinated alkylated substances in diglyceride acyltransferase inhibition and lipid metabolic dysfunction (Core: DTSC Environmental Chemical Laboratory)

 

2021

Paige Bracci, PhD, MPH, MS, Professor, UCSF, Epidemiology & Biostatistics

Exposome Analyses and Glioma Mutational Signatures in Firefighters in the Adult Glioma Study (Cores: TRSC and DTSC Environmental Chemical Laboratory)

 

Neeta Thakur, MD, Assistant Professor, UCSF, Medicine

Deadline Characterizing mobility patterns to assess microenvironment air pollution exposure and associations with respiratory symptoms in adolescents (Core: TRSC)

Lay Summary

Air pollution exposure is concentrated in low-income communities of color and is linked to adverse health outcomes in children, including asthma. However, it is unclear where the bulk of these exposures occur and which areas are most trafficked by community members. This project aims to use GPS-walk path data collected from 70 children and adolescent participants (ages 8 to 16 years) from the Richmond Environment and Asthma Community Health (REACH) Study to characterize mobility patterns. Data will also be linked to the BEACO2N network map to obtain individual exposure measurements of nitrogen oxides, ozone, carbon monoxide, and particulate matter. Together, this data allows us to quantify air pollution exposure for each participant in different microenvironments. Lastly, we will evaluate whether differences in mobility patterns correspond to greater report of asthma symptoms and whether areas identified with having high air pollution burden also lack community resources (i.e. double jeopardy). Understanding where children and adolescents get the bulk of their air pollution exposure will help to identify important intervenable locations, timepoints, and routines that can be targeted to improve the overall health of the community.

 

Max Aung, PhD, MPH, Associate Research Scientist, UCSF, Ob/Gyn and Reproductive Sciences *Cancer and Environmental Health Research Pilot Award co-sponsored with the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center

Multi-pollutant profiles of hormonally mediated cancers and endogenous hormones in men and women

 

2020

Raquel Chamorro-Garcia, PhD, Assistant Professor, UC Santa Cruz, Microbiology and Environmental Toxicology

Proteomic profiling of primordial germ cells upon preconception exposure to environmental factors (Cores: HTCS and Proteomics)

 

Aras Mattis, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, UCSF, Pathology, Joshua Robinson, PhD (co-I)

Environmental Chemical Exposures and Liver Developmental Toxicity (Core: Proteomics)

 

Amy Padula, PhD, Associate Professor, UCSF, Ob/Gyn and Reproductive Sciences, Stephanie Gaw, MD, PhD (co-I), Joshua Robinson, PhD (co-I)

Wildfire smoke in pregnant people in San Francisco Bay Area (Core: TRSC)