Prasadi Adhihetty

Prasadi Adhihetty is pursuing her PhD under the supervision of Prof. M. Nantz at the Department of Chemistry, University of Louisville. She is a part of the University of Louisville Superfund Research Center's Project 3 which is focused on development of gas sensor array technology for measurement of target Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) in air. Long term and short term exposure to VOCs can cause several deleterious effects on human health. So far, not a single method available to analyze trace concentrations of these VOC in air. So, their goal is to develop novel technologies for quantitative analysis of VOCs to improve both lab and on-site measurements of toxic VOCs. Since this interdisciplinary project demands knowledge of various fields like Chemistry, Nanotechnology and Chemical analysis, this project provides her the perfect opportunity to develop her research skills. Her experience in Synthesis and chemical analysis aligns with the goal of UofL Superfund Research Center.

Oluwanifemi Bolatimi

Oluwanifemi Esther Bolatimi is a graduate student in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University of Louisville. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon. Her research interests focus on metabolic dysfunction and disease particularly in the context of liver disease. Esther is currently conducting her graduate work under the mentorship of Dr. Banrida Wahlang and is investigating environmental toxicant exposures in inducing and/or exacerbating steatotic liver disease (SLD), while factoring the role of biological sex in disease susceptibility, progression, and outcome.

Jhao-Hong Chen

Jhao-Hong Chen is a PhD candidate in the Department of Energy, Environmental and Chemical Engineering (EECE) and a graduate student researcher of the Center for Aerosol Science and Engineering (CASE), both at Washington University in St. Louis. His research interests include aerosol science, atmospheric chemistry, air quality management and public health, as well as instrument development. In the Superfund Research Program, he works on the modification and deployment of the Multichannel Organics In-situ enviRonmental Analyzer (MOIRA), a portable gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) instrument with high time resolution, for sampling and analysis of indoor and outdoor VOCs in Louisville, Kentucky. Outside this program, he is currently developing source profiles of indoor and outdoor particles and gases through laboratory studies and also working on chemical characterization of particles and gases in Chicago, Illinois.

Jin Y. Chen

Jin Y. Chen earned her PhD in Environmental Toxicology from the University of California-Riverside in 2021. Her graduate research explored climate and health effects of air pollutants by using analytical and computational approaches. Here at the University of Louisville, Jin is a T32 postdoctoral trainee under the mentorship of Drs. Aruni Bhatnagar, Sanjay Srivastava, and Pawel Lorkiewicz. Currently she conducts research on developing untargeted LC-MS workflows to profile biomarkers of exposure to environmental pollutants from sources such as cigarette smoke, automobile exhaust, and biogenic volatile organic compounds. Jin’s career goal is to study the relationship between human health and environmental exposures.

Marc Dwenger

Dr. Marc Dwenger received his PhD from the University of Louisville School of Medicine’s Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology in 2021. His dissertation was focused on elucidating the mechanisms underlying the regulation of coronary blood flow by oxygen-sensitive Kv channels. This work identified a novel signaling pathway in the coronary vasculature that regulated coronary blood flow in the context of metabolic demand. Following graduation, he joined the U of L Superfund Research Center as a NIEHS T32 postdoctoral trainee initially under the mentorship of Dr. Tamer Mohamed. In his second year as T32 trainee, he is now under the mentorship of Dr. Matthew Nystoriak. Dr. Marc Dwenger’s current research focuses on how the regulation of coronary blood flow by oxygen-sensitive Kv channels becomes maladaptive during aging and how environmental stressors, especially e-cig aerosols, can contribute to this deteriorative process. His future goals are to become an independent academic investigator and to make impactful contributions to biomedical research.

 Daniel Gomes

Daniel Gomes is a graduate student in the Pharmacology & Toxicology Department at the University of Louisville. He joined Dr. O’Toole’s laboratory as a research technician and was involved in the NEAT clinical trials before joining the program. He is interested in studying the accelerated biological aging that has been shown to occur upon exposure to various components of air pollution such as PM2.5 and PM10. He is currently measuring several different indices of aging which include telomere lengths, cellular senescence, and histone methylation patterns in bone marrow cells and peripheral blood mononuclear cells in PM2.5 exposed mice to investigate if this kind of accelerated aging can lead to adverse health outcomes like multi-organ injury that can lead to tissue dysfunction, increased vulnerability to cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disorders or neurodegenerative diseases.  

Mariam Habil

Mariam Habil received her PhD from University of Louisville, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology under mentorship of Dr. David Hein in 2022. As a graduate student, she studied the role of N-acetyltransferases (NATs) in the metabolism and genotoxicity of aromatic amines and alkylanilines. Dr. Mariam Habil is now a postdoctoral fellow under the mentorship of Dr. David Hein in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Louisville. She is working on two projects to investigate the role of NATs in the genotoxicity induced by azo-based dyes and nitro-polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons or nitro-PAHs.

Hibah Husain

Hibah Husain is a PhD candidate.  In Dr. Sanjay Srivastava’s lab she is working on the effect of thermal stress on endothelial cell functions with regards to heat shock proteins and their linkage to various disorders. The exposure to labs at the University of Louisville grants her the ability to expand her horizon in learning new techniques and improve upon her skills in research as student who aspires to work in the field of Pharmacology.

Junseok Lee

Junseok Lee is  graduate student in Chemical and Environmental Engineering department at Yale University under the guidance of Prof. John Fortner.  His research interests in PFAS treatment in water using highly sorptive and reactive materials.  He is also working on development and demonstration of hyperthermic metal oxide nanoparticles under microwave irradiation for advanced water treatment processes.

Seung Soo "Steve" Lee

Seung Soo Lee (Steve) is an associated research scientist in the Fortner group and he has joined the lab in Yale University since August, 2021. His research area is synthesis of metal/metal oxide nanocrystals (including scale-up process), characterization, and environmental application of the preformed nanocrystals. He is mainly working on new materials development for PFAS sorption/separation/decomposition applications.

Samantha McFall

Samantha McFall is a graduate student in the Pharmacology & Toxicology Department at the University of Louisville. Prior to this program, she was a research technician in Dr. Srivastava’s laboratory. She is currently involved in the University of Louisville Superfund Research Center Projects 1 and 2, looking at cardiometabolic injury due to Volatile Organic Compounds and the cellular and molecular mechanisms of the toxicity of VOC’s. Working on these two projects allows her to improve upon her current skill set and learn new lab techniques.

Sean Raph

Sean Raph earned both his MS and PhD in Pharmacology and Toxicology from the University of Louisville in 2022. His dissertation work investigated the influence of exercise on altered coronary flow mediated via the redox sensing voltage-gated potassium channel beta subunit Kcnab2. Dr. Raph is currently a T32 postdoctoral trainee under the mentorship of Dr. Alex Carll. Sean is currently investigating the impact of environmental exposures, such as extreme heat, in disrupting autonomic regulation of the heart that results in sensitizing and eliciting arrhythmias. Dr. Raph’s goals are to investigate the mechanisms underlying disrupted cardiovascular function after environmental exposures.

Saurin Sutaria

Saurin Sutaria received his PhD from the University of Louisville’s Department of Chemistry in 2022. His graduate research involved synthesis of reagents and isotopically labeled standards, as well as preconcentration, microextraction and analysis of carbonyls from complex mixtures. His combined graduate work was towards the goal of identifying exhaled breath biomarkers that are indicative of disease. As a NIEHS T32 postdoctoral trainee in the UofL Superfund Research Center, he is under the mentorship of Dr. Sanjay Srivastava and Dr. David Hein. Dr. Sutaria’s postdoctoral research is investigating the effects of exposure to BVOCs on cardiovascular health.

Breandon Taylor

Breandon Taylor is a PhD student in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University of Louisville. He is interested in cardiovascular health implications arising from environmental exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOCs). His involvement in the Superfund Research Center includes Project-1 (Volatile Organic Compounds and Cardiometabolic Injury) and Project-2 (Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms of Cardiometabolic Toxicity of Volatile Organic Compounds). Breandon has worked closely with the Green Heart Project to investigate various biomarkers associated with cardiovascular injury and repair.

Samuel Vielee

Sam Vielee is a Ph.D. candidate in the NeuroWise Laboratory of Environmental Neurotoxicology and is working under the co-mentorship of Dr. John Wise, Jr. and Dr. Lu Cai. Sam earned his B.S. in biology from the University of Alabama in 2021 and his M.S. in pharmacology and toxicology from the University of Louisville in 2023. Sam's project focuses on the intersections of toxicology and aging, assessing how low concentrations of hexavalent chromium (Cr[VI]) in drinking water induce distinct neurotoxic outcomes across age demographics and how Cr(VI) may accelerate brain aging. He hopes to earn his Ph.D. and become an independent researcher in chemical-induced neurotoxicology.

Zhenzhen Xie

Zhenzhen Xie obtained her master’s degree in chemical engineering at the University of Louisville in 2013 focusing on MOF-based catalytic performance and membrane for gas separation. Then she joined Dr. Xiaoan Fu’s group at the University of Louisville where she obtained her PhD degree in Chemical Engineering. She conducted research on gas sensors and microreactors to analyze trace volatile organic compounds in both environmental air and human breath. She is currently a postdoctoral research associate at University of Louisville. Her research focuses on to develop gas sensor array technology for measurement of target volatile organic compounds and investigate microreactors for analyze trace toxic aldehydes in air. 

Previous Trainees

Audrey Dang

Audrey Dang is a graduate student in Energy, Environmental, and Chemical Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis. Her research interests in the Atmospheric Chemistry and Technology Laboratory include instrument development for chemically characterizing organic gases and particles. She is developing a portable, multichannel gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GCMS) instrument for high time resolution, mobile measurements of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The instrument will be deployed to Louisville to understand the spatial variability of VOC Superfund Chemicals throughout neighborhoods.

Anuradha Kalani

Anuradha Kalani received her PhD in Biochemistry from the Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow, India and performed her post-doctoral studies in diabetes, cardiovascular and exosome biology from the Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, India as well as the University of Louisville. In her current project, Project 2, entitled “Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms of Cardiometabolic Toxicity of VOCs” Anuradha integrates her previous experience in the field by performing state-of-the-art research aimed at elucidating the regulatory roles of cellular and molecular pathways triggered by exposure to VOCs and their impact on cardiometabolic injury. The long-term goal of her career is to explore novel regulatory pathways and establish excellent therapeutic interventions against diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.  She is currently a Senior Research Associate at the University of Kansas Medical Center.

Siddhesh Kulkarni

Siddhesh Kulkarni earned his PhD in the Department of Bioinformatics and Biostatistics at the University of Louisville. He received a BS in Statistics in 2012, a Master’s of Science in Statistics in 2014 from University of Pune, India. Further he earned Master of Science in Statistics in 2018, from the University of Connecticut. He conducted bioinoformatics and statistical analysis of clinical trials data aiming to find biomarkers of cardiovascular disease in Dr. Andrew Defilippis’ Lab. Additionally, he conducted research in the field of stochastic processes, statistical genetics, high dimensional data, longitudinal analysis with applications to solve various problems in biology.  He currently is a graduate assistant at the Delphi Center for Teaching and Learning.

Sujoy Halder

Sujoy Halder was a graduate student in Chemical Engineering at the University of Louisville. He received a bachelor degree in Chemical Engineering from Shahjalal University of Science & Technology in Bangladesh. He received his PhD degree under the supervision of Dr. Sean Fu.  His research focused on fabricating microreactors and gas sensors for the environmental applications of Project 3 of the SRP center at the University of Louisville. These MEMS devices are used to capture and analyze toxic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the air.  The detection of VOCs at trace level has become an important researcharea for environmental monitoring and biomedical research.  Dr. Halder is now a manufacturing engineer for First Solar.

Tyler Gripshover

Tyler Gripshover graduated from Eastern Kentucky University in 2018 with a Bachelors of Science in Chemistry and concentration in Biochemistry. He was in trhe PhD Pharmacology and Toxicology graduate program at U of L under the guidance of Dr. Matthew Cave.  His undergraduate research encompassed two separate research projects. The first related to examining epigenetic changes to the genome from chronic, low dose Inorganic Arsenic exposure and how it produces an EMT phenotype in vitro. His second undergraduate research experience was looking into how a high fat diet may exacerbate PCB-induced cardiometabolic diseases in vivo. Currently he is interested in investigating the interaction of certain PFAS compounds with alcohol to induce fatty liver disease and steatosis with associated metabolic syndrome. PFAS are ubiquitous and their exact mechanism is misunderstood.  His long term goal is to investigate these chemicals and how they may impact the liver and cause metabolic distress.  He is now a post-doctoral associate at the University of Louisville.

Qi Li

Qi Li earned his PhD in Chemical Engineering of University of Louisville. He mainly focused on breath analysis and microfabrication for micro-devices and different chromatography instruments. His PhD project was entitled “Preconcentration and Analysis of Trace Volatile Carbonyl Compounds in breath”, a project that is involved in developing a microdevice for breath analysis to find potential biomarkers of lung cancer for early detection as well as and using mass chromatography to detect volatile organic compounds. He has demonstrated the quantitative analysis of carbonyl volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and identification of lung cancer VOC markers in exhaled breath using unique silicon microreactor technology. This research has given him extensive experience in microfabrication and analysis utilizing different instruments. Within the UofL Superfund Research Center, his expertise helped provide measurements of Superfund VOCs in the air to assist the biomedical research projects. His work on Project 3 “Development of Novel Ultrasensitive Devices for the Measurement of VOCs” assisted in the innovation of gas sensor array technology for measurement of target VOCs.

Jordan Lynch

Jordan Lynch received her PhD from the University of Louisville’s Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology in 2020.  As a graduate student, she studied the impact of tobacco products and tobacco product-derived aldehydes on endothelial health and the implications for the development of cardiovascular disease.  Her previous graduate research focused on environmental exposures to air pollution in a healthy, young adult cohort and on long-term environmental lead exposure in an adult population.  As a postdoctoral associate in the Community Engagement Core, Jordan assists Dr. Lauren Heberle in organizing, evaluating, and disseminating information regarding the Lee’s Lane Landfill Superfund site to community members and government officials.  By effectively communicating the findings of the UofL Superfund Research Center to the general public, Jordan works to contribute to the larger relationship between scientists and the public in order to ensure that relevant information regarding environmental exposures and related health impacts is shared with those who may be most directly impacted.

Stacey Konkle

Stacey Konkle was a doctoral candidate in Epidemiology at the University of Louisville. Stacey earned her MPH in 2014 from the University of Louisville School of Public Health and Information Sciences in Applied Biostatistics and Epidemiology, where her research involved assessing healthcare-acquired infection outbreaks. Her present research interests lie in the study of environmental pollutant exposures as a link to increased cardiovascular and metabolic risk. Her project uniquely focused on investigating associations of urinary volatile organic compound (VOC) metabolites with measures of increased cardiovascular and metabolic risk among large complex survey study population such as NHANES. Her work is being used as a benchmark of national VOC exposures and outcomes, which complements the University of Louisville VOC Superfund projects to break the link between chemical exposure and disease.  Dr. Konkle is now a Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Marina Malovichko

Marina Malovichko is involved in Project 1-Cardiometabolic Injury due to Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) and Project 2- Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms of Cardiometabolic Toxicity of VOCs. She obtained her doctoral degree from the University of Louisville, Chemistry Department. As a graduate student she studied the regulation and activation of the blood coagulation enzyme thrombin by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry coupled with Hydrogen-Deuterium Exchange technique as well as Nuclear Magnetic Resonance. She joined Dr. Srivastava’s laboratory at the Institute of Molecular Cardiology as a postdoctoral associate, where she is studying the cardiovascular effects of various tobacco products. She is currently performing measurements of VOCs by Liquid Chromatography and Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry and is in the process of establishing biomarkers of tobacco-related cardiovascular injury by Flow Cytometry. She underwent a two-year A-TRAC (American Heart Association Tobacco Regulatory Center) training program to better understand tobacco regulatory science. Because tobacco regulatory science and environmental science have a lot in common, Marina is now applying her gained knowledge and experience to elucidate the effects of pollution on human health which has a great potential to significantly improve public health through the Superfund Research Program as an Assistant Professor with University of Louisville School of Medicine.

Katlyn McGraw

Katlyn McGraw earned her Ph.D. in Environmental Health Sciences and she was a KC Donnelly Extermship awardee. Her research interests are environmental pollutants in air and how they contribute to cardiovascular disease. Her project used multiple exposure methods to assess volatile organic compound (VOC) exposure in humans. She was analyzing VOC urinary metabolites and their association with cardiovascular disease risk factors and biomarkers in a local cohort.  Dr. McGraw's extensive background in chemistry, hazardous waste, clinical research, and disaster research gained through her experience with the UofL Superfund Research Center has led her to a post doctoral position working with Dr. Navas-Acien at Columbia University.

Jack Pfeiffer

Jack Pfeiffer was a doctoral student in the Department of Epidemiology and Population Health at the University of Louisville's (UofL) School of Public Health and Information Sciences. His research focused on environmental epidemiology, including extensive work on the Coal Ash Exposure and Neurobehavioral Symptoms in Children study. In addition, he examined risk factors associated with electronic nicotine and tobacco product usage with the American Heart Association Tobacco Regulation and Addiction Center and perceptions of health and environment with Green Heart Louisville. With UofL's Superfund Research Center, Jack worked with the research translation core to communicate study findings to appropriate audiences and stakeholders. His previous experience with field work, study design, and statistical analysis enabled him to research translation projects in meaningful and substantial ways

Pradeep Prathibha

Pradeep Prathidbha was a doctoral student working with Professor Jay Turner in the Department of Energy, Environmental, and Chemical Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis. She graduated from Cornell University with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering in 2016. Pradeep's research focused on characterizing the intra-urban spatial variability and residential level outdoor exposures of select VOC Superfund Chemicals using tools including, but not limited to, land use regression (LUR). This top-down approach is novel in its use of mobile monitoring in LUR modeling of VOCs.  After obtaining her Ph.D., Pradeep worked with the EPA investigating wildfires and the quality of indoor air and now she is a Science and Technology Policy Fellow at the Department of Energy's Building Technologies Office in Washington, D.C. She is working to advance the Office's decarbonization goals for U.S. buildings through emerging technologies.

Daniel Riggs

Daniel Riggs obtained his Ph.D. in the department of Bioinformatics and Biostatistics at the University of Louisville. His research interests are centered in environmental epidemiology with the goal of examining the environmental determinants of cardiovascular disease, along with developing novel statistical methods to analyze high-dimensional environmental data. Dan was involved with Project 1 of the UofL Superfund Research Center, with the aim of evaluating the influence of volatile organic compounds (VOC) on cardiometabolic disease. Dan Riggs is now an Assistant Professor at the University of Louisville and the leader of the Data Mangagement and Analysis Core.

Tirtha Sibakoti

Tirtha Sibakoti was a doctoral cadidate in the University of Louisville Department of Chemistry working on Project 4 under the joint supervision of Dr. Michael Nantz and Dr. Francis Zamborini.  His interest was to develop arrays of gold nanoparticle-based chemiresistors in order to detect select volatile organic compounds (VOCs), such as acrolein, benzene, and vinyl chloride. His first objective was to synthesize novel aminooxy-functionalized aminothiol ligands for incorporation into the surface of gold monolayer protected clusters (Au MPCs) to afford gold mixed monolayer protected cluster (Au MMPCs). With the goal of preparing Au MMPCs that readily can be reacted with carbonyl substrates (aldehydes or ketones) to optimize chemiresistor sensitivity and selectivity, he selected oximation — the selective condensation of aminooxy groups with carbonyls to form oxime ethers — as the means for covalent modification of Au MPC surfaces.  In this way, he aimed to exploit both place exchange and "aminooxy carbonyl oximation" reactions to assemble gold nanoparticle chemiresistors.  Dr. Sibakoti is now employed by PPD, a global contract research organization, where he is a senior scientist.

Sydney Smith

Sydney Smith completed her Bachelors of Science in Chemistry at Texas State University in San Marcos, TX. From there, she began pursuing her PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics at the University of Louisville. Sydney was mentored by Dr. Matthew Cave investigating the hepatic effects of exposure to occupational and industrial grade volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The project is evaluating the potential liver damage that benzene exposure could inflict. Since the metabolic effects of benzene exposure is unknown, this project goal was to investigate this compound further.

Lindsay Tompkins

Lindsay K. Tompkins was doctoral candidate and researcher at the University of Louisville School of Public Health and Information Sciences. Her research utilized community-engaged and epidemiologic methods to investigate environmentally-related health outcomes. As a member of the Research Translation Core, she worked with fellow UofL Superfund researchers as well as community members to translate research findings using methods that are both effective and creative. Working as a member of this core allowd her to expand upon and strengthen her research translation abilities in new and exciting ways.  She now works with the Centers for Disease Control and Preventaion as an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer. 

Haley Metcalf-Wade

Haley Metcalf-Wade was a doctoral candidate in the Applied Sociology Department at the University of Louisville. She was part of the University of Louisville Superfund Research Center's Community Engagement Core, supporting transdisciplinary research incorporating community engagement in capacity building to collaboratively understand and address the impacts of hazardous waste through bidirectional interactions between residents, industry, policymakers, and Superfund Center investigators. Working in this core allowed her to build upon her capacity to apply sociological concepts and theories to address environmental justice issues and expand sociology's disciplinary boundaries for both academic and non-academic audiences.

Banrida Wahlang

Banrida received her PhD from the University of Louisville, Dept. of Pharmacology and Toxicology in 2014 and completed a 2-year postdoctoral training at the University of Kentucky Superfund Research Center. Her research background focuses on studying impacts of environmental exposures in liver and cardiovascular diseases. Her Superfund project included evaluating cardio-metabolic outcomes resulting from exposures to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and investigating sex-differences in environmental health. This project provided insight on gene-environment interactions and help identify at-risk populations. Dr. Wahlang focused on sex-differences in environmental health science research which has allowed her to pursue studies that broadens from women’s health and environmental exposures to transgenerational effects. Having been previously trained at another Superfund Center that emphasized studies of persistent organic pollutants, Dr. Wahlang extended her research expertise towards VOCs and public health.

Kennedy Walls

Kennedy M. Walls received her PhD in 2023 from the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University of Louisville, where she researched environmental toxicology and gene-environment interactions under the guidance of Dr. David Hein. She has accepted a position with the Environmental Protection Agency in the division of Environmental Justice as a life scientist that will begin April 2024.

James Wise

James Wise received his PhD from the University of Kentucky’s Department of Nutritional Sciences in 2019. As a graduate student, he studied the role of dysregulated cellular energetics in Cr(VI)-transformed human lung cells. James was a postdoctoral fellow under the mentorship of Dr. David Hein in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Louisville. Dr. Wise’s project was investigating the role of N-acetyltransferases in the genotoxicity during co-exposure of Cr(VI) and carcinogenic aromatic amines in a human lung cell model.  Dr. Weiss is now an Assistant Professor at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  

Jamar Wheeler

Jamar Wheeler is second-year doctoral student in the Department of Sociology with an interest in race, urban development, and social policy. He obtained his Master of Arts from UofL in 2006 and worked for several years in the private sector as an analyst. Currently, Jamar is a Graduate Research Assistant at the Center for Environmental Policy and Management and assists Dr. Lauren Heberle in her role as Director of the UofL Superfund Research Center’s Community Engagement Core. His research connects with the Superfund project through the mutual focus on engaging community members in ways that build knowledge for the benefit of both the academic community and the community at large.  Dr. Wheeler is now an principal consultant with Kiaspo, a research provider for non-profit organizations.

Lindsey Wood

Lindsey Wood completed her Master’s of Science degree in Epidemiology at UofL’s School of Public Health and Information Sciences. Her interest centers in Environmental Epidemiology, and her projects have examined links between the environment and human health. Working in Research Translation, she was engaged with the community and examining methods to translate study findings to different audiences.  She now serves as an environmetnal epidemiologist at an environmental consulting firm called Cardno ChemRisk in Chicago, IL.

Jamie Young

Jamie Young was an NIH T32 trainee pursuing a PhD in the department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University of Louisville under the guidance of Dr. Lu Cai. Her dissertation project focused on the interactions between cadmium and high fat diet in the development of liver disease and the use of dietary zinc to stop disease initiation and progression. This project takes into consideration that environmental exposures are typically multi-generational and life-long, and that factors, such as diet, are involved in the development of disease. Her long term research interests involves developing insight into metal-induced diseases, which will improve health and reduce the risk for exposed individuals and to leverage her discoveries and create a platform for unique and targeted diagnostic tools and therapies to advance the field of environmental metal-induced diseases.  Jamie Young defended her Ph.D. and now is an assistant professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicolology at the University of Louisville.  She is still active in the UofL Superfund Research Experienece and Training Coordination Core.

Ray Yeager

Ray Yeager is a health geographer with a background in public health and geographic analysis. He obtained his doctoral degree from the University of Louisville School of Public Health and Information Sciences, where he investigated associations between greenness and cardiovascular health. He is interested in examining influences of the environment on cardiovascular outcomes. He currently works on many projects including the Green Heart Project, designed to examine the effectiveness of a greenness intervention in affecting air pollution and cardiovascular health. His roles include project area demographic analysis, environmental assessment, and project coordination. His expertise enables environmental evaluations in relation to health and coordination of multidisciplinary teams, a necessary component of studies the superfund research center. This project is the first study to stage a greenness-based environmental intervention and may provide evidence of causation in the associations previously found between greenness and health outcomes. Results of this work have a high potential to inform large-scale public health interventions. He plans to continue this work to ensure that environmental associations with public health are well understood, recognized, and utilized to improve population health as an Assistant Professor with the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences at the University of Louisville in the Christina Lee Brown Envirome Institute.

Austin Zachary

Austin Zachary graduated with a Master’s of Science degree in Epidemiology at the University of Louisville School of Public Health and Information Sciences. His prior research has included examining the effects of discrimination and parentification in Mexican American youth and adults and the moderating and mediating effects of discrimination to depression. His interests center in mental health, including how environmental and social variables influence mental well-being. With his project at the UofL Superfund Research Center his goal was to translate the findings of various studies to relevant stakeholders, including community members and individuals and organizations in the larger metropolitan area. Via participation in this core, he had the opportunity to utilize and strengthen his communication skills, especially in terms of translating scientific information, as well as gain new perspectives and research skills.  Mr. Zachary now works at Humana as a Business Intelligence Engineer.