Co-Immunity Project

The Co-Immunity Project was a large scientific research study led by the Christina Lee Brown Envirome Institute, the Center for Predictive Medicine and the University of Louisville along with several other partners. We studied COVID-19 infection and immunity among healthcare workers and our broader Louisville Metro-Jefferson County community and track movement of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in Louisville’s wastewater. 

Center for Healthy Air Water & Soil

• City on Science: City on Science is a way to learn about the scientific discoveries that are happening here in Louisville. We will invite researchers from UofL to discuss their work and explain their findings. Through direct contact between scientists and community members, we hope to bring the University and the Louisville community closer. 
• Ambassadors for Health in All Policies: Ambassadors for Health in All Policies at the University of Louisville create a health in all policies movement and build a well-grounded, long-term culture of health in Louisville. Ambassadors promote their own work and take inspiration from their fellow Ambassadors in their quest to support new ideas that will make Louisville a healthier place. UofL recognizes Health Ambassadors by highlighting their achievements, sharing their success stories and lessons learned, and celebrating the good work happening in Louisville that exemplifies the philosophy of the Circle of Health and Harmony. 
• Sustain Magazine: Sustain Magazine is an environmentally focused publication from the University of Louisville’s Christina Lee Brown Envirome Institute that features discussion and research about sustainability issues and solutions. It is intended as a resource for faculty, staff, students, and research partners designed to contribute to greater understanding and appreciation of sustainability research and dialog for the University community, public and private decision-makers in Louisville, and partners across the United States. Sustain has been published bi-annually since 2001.
• UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network: The UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) has been operating since 2012 under the auspices of the UN Secretary-General. SDSN mobilizes global scientific and technological expertise to promote practical solutions for sustainable development, including the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Climate Agreement. The network aims to accelerate joint learning and promote integrated approaches that address the interconnected economic, social, and environmental challenges confronting the world. SDSN works closely with United Nations agencies, multilateral financing institutions, the private sector, and civil society.

Superfund Basic Research Program

• Project 1 evaluates the influence of pollutants on disease. The hypothesis is that exposure to Superfund pollution (trichloroethylene, xylene, benzene, and acrolein) exacerbates/induces insulin resistance and low-grade inflammation, leading to a cascade of events that accelerates disease development and exacerbate risk. To test this hypothesis, Project 1 will enroll participants with different levels of pollution exposure to determine if exposure is associated with increased insulin resistance or disease risk and examine the influence of pollution exposure on disease prevalence and progression.  Biomarkers of exposures, subclinical cardiovascular injury, and disease risk will be measured over time. Project 1 will evaluate how pollution, residential proximity to Superfund sites, and industrial emissions affect the progression of various injury and risk and how these effects differ from background pollution exposure in urban residential locations.
• Project 2: Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes leading to heart and fatty liver disease are rapidly growing global health crises. The underlying cause of obesity and type 2 diabetes is the diminution of the insulin sensitivity of tissues, but the mechanisms are unclear. Project 2 will examine if pollution induces/exacerbates disease and delineate the underlying molecular mechanisms. Project 2 will examine how dose, duration, and sex affect endothelial function, insulin resistance, and disease in adult mice exposed to pollution.
• Project 3 will develop low-cost silicon micropreconcentrator and microsensor array chip technologies for quantitative analysis of trace (ppbv to pptv) VOCs in air. The approach is to investigate chemoselective micropreconcentrators for capture of target VOCs by chemical reactions and physical micropreconcentrators for preconcentration of weakly polar and non-polar VOCs, and to develop gas sensor arrays for measuring the concentrations of target VOCs in air. This project will provide tools and methods for quantitative analysis of VOCs and will strengthen Projects 1 and 2 to investigate the effects of these contaminants on CMD. The outcome of this research is directly linked to high-priority national homeland security, air quality monitoring and healthcare issues.
• Project 4 examines the spatiotemporal variability of pollution in urban residential neighborhoods, superfund sites, and industrial areas. Mobile monitoring using a newly designed portable gas chromatograph will be employed to collect air quality data and land use regression and air quality dispersion modeling will be used to assess spatiotemporal variability in three neighborhoods. Project 4 will also examine spatial relationships between greenness (vegetation density) and the concentration of pollution using the land use regression models adjusted for local emissions.

Diabetes and Obesity Research Center

• Green Heart Louisville
• Flow Cytometry: analysis of specific cell populations using surface antigens, measurements of cell metabolism, signaling, proliferation and differentiation as well as facilities for cell sorting.
• Pathology and Bioanalytics: comprehensive assessments of animal adiposity, glucose, insulin and pyruvate tolerance, physical activity, body temperature, food and water intake, oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide production.
• Models and Phenotyping: comprehensive pathological analysis of diabetic specimens. The Core is equipped with advanced pathology and analytical biochemistry equipment, and Core personnel have expertise in cardiovascular physiology, pathology, analytical biochemistry, histology, chromatography and mass spectometry.
• Imaging and Physiology: assessment of cardiac function, and the performance of surgery in mice. Our Core Director brings to the Core approximately ten years of experience in confocal/fluorescent microscopic imaging and mitochondrial function assessment.

Tobacco Regulation and Addiction Center

• ATRAC projects are designed to discover the underlying mechanisms of tobacco-induced tissue damage that leads to heart disease, identify biomarkers for detecting cardiovascular injury, and identify effective communication methods for changing perceptions about tobacco use.

Center for Integrative Environmental Health Science

• Cardiometabolic/Renal Disease Research Interest Group: The research interests of the group include the impact of environmental exposures on diseases of the heart, circulatory system, liver and kidney. The group investigates a wide variety of toxicants including heavy metals, volatile organic compounds, polychlorinated biphenyls, and particulates. In addition to direct effects, this group also examines the interaction of environmental toxicants and life style factors such as diet.
• Cancer Research Interest Group: The research interests of the group include environmental carcinogenesis as well as ethical, legal and social implications of technological innovations in collection of personal exposure data.
• Pulmonary Disease Research Interest Group: The research interests of Pulmonary Disease RIG encompass a variety of toxic agents in cancer and non-cancer chronic lung disease. Agents of interest include chlorine, volatile organics, air particulates and metals.
• Neurodeveloment Research Interest Group: The research interests of the group include the impact of environmental exposures and interactions with genetics on neurodevelopmental disorders including attention deficit/hyperactivity disorders, autism spectrum disorders and fetal alcohol syndrome. Investigators focus on early life exposures. 

Center for Environmental and Occupational Health Science

• The National Children’s Study is an important, exciting federal initiative to provide critical new information regarding environmental influences on children’s health and development in a carefully constructed longitudinal study of 100,000 children from before birth to age 21. The NCS aims to measure how children are affected by a broad range of factors including neighborhood safety, chemical exposure, health-care access and bombardment by electronic media. Combining those findings with genetic information could help determine the root cause of many disorders, including diabetes, autism, asthma, schizophrenia, birth defects and learning disorders. The Study will assess how environmental and genetic factors interact.
• Partnership for a Green City was launched in August 2004 to protect the environment and improve overall quality of life in the community. Objectives include environmental education, public health and environmental management.
• Project Waterway Improvements Now (WIN): Clean water is essential for our well-being and continued growth. There is a direct link between clean water and healthy communities.  To address the challenges of improving our water quality, the Metro Louisville Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD) will embark on a comprehensive sewer improvement program that will eliminate major sources of water pollution throughout Louisville Metro. Planned upgrades under Project WIN will allow MSD to comply with Clean Water Act regulations. Project WIN will address problems with combined and sanitary sewer overflows. 

Louisville Center for Environmental Policy and Management

• State of Metropolitan Housing Report: On behalf of the Metropolitan Housing Coalition, the Center for Environmental Policy and Management conducts and compiles research relevant to housing in the metropolitan region. The annual State of Metropolitan Housing Report provides indicators on nine measures of affordable housing and has different focus issues annually.
• Brownfield Community Benefit Assessment Project: Together with partners from the E.P. Systems Group, Inc., Symbiont, the Urban Institute and Lazarus Group LLC, we will develop and pilot test a Brownfield Community Benefit Assessment Toolkit (BCBAT).  This benefits calculation toolkit will be designed to be used by communities to better project and track a wider variety of community benefits associated with brownfields redevelopment than has previously been possible.
• Organics Recovery Toolkit for Universities and Colleges: As colleges and universities strive to reach waste reduction and recycling goals organics recovery has emerged as another method to for waste reduction and diversion. The Compendium includes organics recovery program profiles for 20 schools. These profiles serve as a foundation for a toolkit.
• Germantown/Shelby Park Rail Corridor Area Wide Plan: Louisville Metro Department of Economic Development in partnership with University of Louisville Center for Environmental Policy and Management and an urban planning and environmental consultant team lead by Lord Aeck Sargent worked with community members and stakeholders to create a brownfields area-wide plan and implementation strategy for the Germantown/Shelby Park Rail Corridor. This project was funded through Louisville Metro Department of Economic Development by a grant from the U.S. EPA Brownfields Area-Wide Planning Program.
• Blackleaf Chemical Site: The former Black Leaf Chemical site was identified for Superfund clean-up in 2011 by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The site is located within the study area for the 18th Street Corridor planning process, facilitated by the Center for Environmental Policy and Management at the University of Louisville and the Louisville Metro Department of Economic Growth and Innovation. Both the US EPA and the Kentucky Department of Environmental Protection have been involved at this site.
• Safe Urban Garden Development Program: Gardening in urban areas requires particular attention to issues of soil safety and contamination.  This program provides resources and assistance to communities to help minimize the potential health risks associated with urban gardens, including raised beds and other container gardens.  Assistance is also offered in understanding and making decisions about soil remediation (cleaning or removal). Ultimately the program aims to improve public health overall within Louisville Metro by providing well-researched and easily-accessible information and resources about urban gardening to increase the number of safe urban home and community gardens in the community.