UNC School of Public Health to help UAE assess environmental health risks

UNC researchers will partner with United Arab Emirates University’s Department of Community Medicine and with the RAND Corporation, a global public policy research institution. This group will work with the Environment Agency Abu-Dhabi and its national partners, the Health Authority – Abu Dhabi, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Environment and Water, Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority and Health Authority – Dubai.

UNC School of Public Health Dean Barbara K. Rimer signed a two-year contract today (June 9), agreeing to provide the environmental and health assessment. The contract is for $7.8 million, about $5 million of which will be earmarked for UNC School of Public Health.

The United Arab Emirates is a Middle Eastern federation of seven states, situated on the Arabian Gulf, bordering Saudi Arabia and Oman. The country, with a population of about 4.3 million, has significant oil and natural gas reserves, and has a highly industrialized economy. The gross domestic product per capita is currently fifth in the world and third in the Middle East (after Qatar and Kuwait).

“The U.A.E. is developing at an unprecedented pace and scale,” said principal investigator Jacqueline MacDonald, PhD, UNC assistant professor of environmental sciences and engineering. “In the past 40 years, it has gone from a small, mostly nomadic and seafaring economy to a major industrial nation. While all the developments have brought some vast improvements in public health, it’s also brought some concerns about risks due to environmental hazards that come with an industrialized economy.”

MacDonald will lead a research team of international specialists in environmental sciences and public health from UNC, RAND Corporation, and United Arab Emirates University. The team will conduct technical analyses to assess and prioritize environmental health risks. The analyses will involve developing computer-based models to estimate environmental exposures, and the burden of disease caused by the most important environmental risk factors, including both indoor and outdoor air pollution (especially emissions stemming from oil and gas production), water pollution (both coastal and groundwater), and exposures to hazardous substances in the workplace. At the same time, the epidemiologic study will be conducted to provide a nationwide assessment of possible links between environment and health of the people living there.

“The government leaders in the U.A.E. are being proactive and forward-thinking by analyzing the environment now, before serious health impacts emerge,” MacDonald said. “We’re hoping to find ways to help them minimize damage to the health of people in the U.A.E. and protect the environment.”

H.E. Majid Al Mansouri, EAD Secretary General, said that developing a strategy for environmental health is an essential tool to support policy-making, allowing priorities to be set on the basis of evidence, enhancing access to information and facilitating communication with the public.

“To carry out this project, the EAD and its national partners and WHO (World Health Organization) selected a team of specialists in environmental sciences and public health led by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which houses the top-ranked public school of public health in the United States.”

The research team will work with key organizations and citizens to collect data about the nation’s current environmental health risks. Based on scientific assessments that will determine the distribution of environmental hazards, the team will help United Arab Emirates leaders set priorities and develop policies for mitigating the health risks to people in the country.

The close integration of environmental science and engineering with public health disciplines, such as epidemiology and health policy at UNC School of Public Health and UNC’s interdisciplinary approach to research and practice are hallmarks of the School’s success. Recent advances in modeling the effects of air pollution on respiratory health, and examining health effects of exposure to contaminants in potable water provide excellent examples of the types of collaborations typical of the School that were cited in the School’s proposal to the United Arab Emirates.

“Our close interactions with researchers at the UAE University in Al Ain were crucial for the success of this highly integrated and collaborative proposal,” said co-principal investigator Ivan Rusyn, MD, PhD, UNC associate professor of environmental sciences and engineering. “Collegiality and integration of local scientific expertise are necessary for achieving the goals of this major research effort and we are delighted with the opportunity for mutually beneficial and rewarding relations.”

The work proposal is broken into five tasks. MacDonald will lead the team conducting the situational analysis and rapid risk assessment along with Henry Willis, PhD, from the RAND Corporation. MacDonald and Jason West, PhD, UNC assistant professor of environmental sciences and engineering, will lead the team conducting the predictive modeling of environmental burden of disease task. MacDonald also will lead the team developing a strategic plan and action plan, along with John Graham, PhD, of the RAND Corporation. Ivan Rusyn will lead the team assessing the health effects of environmental agents. Andrew Olshan, PhD, chair of the epidemiology department at the UNC School of Public Health, will lead the pilot epidemiological study, along with Tar-Ching Aw, chair of the department of community medicine at the UAE University in Al-Ain, Abu Dhabi Emirate.

Other UNC faculty members working on the project include: Michael Aitken, PhD, chair, UNC School of Public Health’s department of environmental sciences and engineering; Gregory Characklis, PhD, associate professor of environmental sciences and engineering; Adel Hanna, PhD, research professor at the UNC Institute for the Environment; David Leith, UNC professor of environmental sciences and engineering; Marc Serre, PhD, assistant professor of environmental sciences and engineering; Uma Shankar, research associate at the UNC Institute for the Environment; William Vizuete, PhD, assistant professor of environmental sciences and engineering; Leena Nylander-French, PhD, associate professor of environmental sciences and engineering; and Carl Ernst, PhD, director of the Carolina Center for the Study of the Middle East and Muslim Civilizations.

Note: MacDonald may be reached at (919) 966-7892 or jackie.macdonald@unc.edu.

School of Public Health contact: Ramona DuBose, director of communications, (919) 966-7467 or ramona_dubose@unc.edu.