Division of Environmental Health

The Division of Environmental Health is the academic home for multiple investigators who study the health impact of environmental chemicals on reproductive, respiratory, and neurological health as well as children’s development. Our ultimate goal is the protection of the public’s health by understanding, elucidating, and preventing diseases that arise from environmental exposures.

The Division has a diverse research portfolio. We currently conduct research studies on child development and assess the risks from exposure to a broad range of chemicals such as pesticides, environmental endocrine disrupting chemicals, metals, and air pollution. This work involves studies that take place in the United States (New York City, Boston, Rochester, Seattle, Minnesota, and Oklahoma), as well as internationally (Italy, Sweden, Mexico, and Bangladesh). Our division studies neurodevelopment, respiratory health, reproductive health, puberty, and obesity.

Senator Frank R. Lautenberg Environmental Health Sciences Laboratory

At the Senator Frank R. Lautenberg Environmental Health Sciences Laboratory, a state-of-the-art facility, investigators conduct research to discover the environmental causes of diseases in children while developing new methods to measure and assess chemical exposure. The laboratory is equipped with innovative technologies to achieve quicker results, develop groundbreaking techniques to measure the timing of past chemical exposure, and advance new research studies.

Center on Health and Environment Across the LifeSpan (HEALS)

Center on Health and Environment Across the LifeSpan (HEALS) aims to understand how environmental exposures in early life influence health, development, and risk of disease and dysfunction across the life span. Our transdisciplinary research combines clinical, population-based, and biological research with leading-edge genetics, epigenetics, and bioinformatics to determine evidence-based approaches for disease prevention and treatment.

Human Health Environmental Assessment Resource Program

The Human Health Environmental Assessment Resource Program (HHEAR) is a National Institute of Health-funded program created to develop new methodologies and provide state-of-the-art tools for researchers to assess a full array of environmental exposures which affect children’s health through the field of exposomics.

Children’s Environmental Health Center

The Children’s Environmental Health Center (CEHC), a Center of Excellence at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, conducts groundbreaking transdisciplinary research to identify the environmental causes of childhood diseases. Our research is used to educate communities, parents, and caregivers on the environmental risks factors (chemicals, nutrition and social factors) so that children can reach their full potential physically, mentally, and socially.

Outreach and Community Education

The Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit (PEHSU) is a Center of Excellence at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and provides clinical consultation and education to families, health care professionals, public health officials, and community organizations who have concerns regarding children's environmental health. The PEHSU also sponsors research and trains students and health care providers on environmental health exposures.

Our team of faculty and specialists in community outreach and education develop educational activities for students of all levels, establishes collaborations with community-based organizations, provides technical expertise for workers and policy makers, and assesses issues of environmental justice in minority communities.

Education

The NIH T32 Pediatric Environmental Health Research Fellowship is a three-year, interdisciplinary research program. We provide post-residency/post-doctoral fellowship training in environmental pediatrics to a select cadre of clinically trained pediatricians and doctorally trained research scientists. In order to expand the scientific workforce in environmental medicine, we prepare you, through this program, to become environmental scientists and future academic leaders in the emerging field of environmental pediatrics.

Faculty

Manish Arora, BDS, MPH, PhD
Director, Division of Environmental Health
Vice Chairman, Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health

Chitra Amarasiriwardena, PhD

Syam S. Andra, PhD

Christine Austin, PhD

Jia Chen, ScD

Priyanthi Dassanayake, PhD

Sarah Evans, PhD

Leon Hsu, ScD

Itai Kloog, PhD

Roberto Lucchini, MD

Lauren Petrick, PhD

Douglas I. Walker, PhD

Mary Wolff, PhD