Interdisciplinary Research Approach Leads to Better Understanding of Connections between Air Quality and Heart Health
With more than two million North Carolina adults diagnosed with heart disease, asthma and other cardiopulmonary diseases, researchers in the Center for Environmental Health and Susceptibility are committed to a research approach that calls on researchers from varied disciplines to understand genetic and environmental influences underlying these conditions in an effort to reduce the incidence of disease in the adult population.
When asked about the research he is conducting to understand the effects of ambient (outdoor) air quality on cardiovascular health, Dr. Eric Whitsel, MD/MPH, research associate professor in the UNC Department of Epidemiology, adjunct associate professor in the Department of Medicine, and a member of the CEHS cardiopulmonary health research team, praises the diverse team of faculty, post-/pre-doctoral fellows, and analysts with whom he works and their collective expertise in genetic and environmental epidemiology, geography, electrocardiography, bioinformatics, and computational chemistry.
Currently, Dr. Whitsel’s team is conducting a genome-wide, trans-ethnic search for genetic variants that increase susceptibility to the effects of ambient particulate matter (PM) air pollution on stroke, heart attack and sudden cardiac death. Multiple investigators are contributing to this search including the following: Rahul Gondalia, MPH (a National Research Service Award-supported pre-doctoral fellow in cardiovascular disease epidemiology), Melanie Napier, MPH (a Royster pre-doctoral fellow in environmental epidemiology), and Raul Mendez, PhD (an American Heart Association-supported post-doctoral fellow), all of whom are co-mentored by Dr. Christy Avery, PhD (assistant professor, UNC Department of Epidemiology).
According to Dr. Whitsel, “Gondalia, Napier and Mendez are helping us understand biological pathways underlying genetic susceptibility to PM-mediated cardiovascular disease, identify at-risk populations, and evaluate current U.S. Environmental Protection Agency National Ambient Air Quality Standards for particulate matter air pollution. Their innovative research may ultimately help patients, health professionals, and the broader public health of communities they serve by informing federal regulators and policies influencing air quality in North Carolina and throughout the nation.”