The Mount Sinai Achievement Ceremony was held on May 10th where CEC Co-Director Dr. Maida Galvez, Dr. Juan Wisnivesky, and Dr. Susan Teitelbaum were inducted to the Beta Omicron Chapter of Delta Omega Society. Congratulations to all of you!

On April 17, 2017, COEC Co-Director Dr. Carol Horowitz was interviewed by Genome Web about patient diversity in cancer research following her attendance at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research in Washington, DC. In the “Patient Diversity in Cancer Research Essential to Addressing Health Disparities, Scientists Say” article, Dr. Horowitz emphasizes the importance of addressing the lack of diversity in many large genomic datasets. Dr. Horowitz suggests that one way to ameliorate the problem is for researchers to come out of their silos. Researchers must recognize the problems faced by their target patient populations, and must work with as many stakeholders as possible to not only recruit a diverse set of people into studies, but to also clearly communicate how these studies could possibly help the participants themselves, or help their communities. To read the full article from Genome Web click here.

On March 22, 2017, P30 Center Member Perry Sheffield was featured in The Journal of the American Medical Association’s (JAMA) article “Medical Community Gathers Steam to Tackle Climate’s Health Effects.” The article recommends for health professionals to combat climate-related health dangers.

Dr. Sheffield’s week-long course on global health for first-year medical students at The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai was highlighted. In the course, Dr. Sheffield covers climate change and each year, 1 or 2 Mount Sinai students also conduct research on climate change and health. In one project, Dr. Sheffield said, a student examined how New York City’s extreme heat preparedness activities meet the needs of its elderly populations. Dr. Sheffield also is working on a climate change curriculum project with medical educators who represent about 9 medical schools. They’re addressing the call for increased medical education on the topic, a subject that Mount Sinai’s medical education department supports. To read the full article click here. 

Allan Just, PhD

Rosalind Wright, MD

Robert Wright, MD, MPH

In March 2017, P30 Center Member’s paper “Identifying sensitive windows for prenatal particulate air pollution exposure and mitochondrial DNA content in cord blood” was featured in NIEH’S Environmental Factor Papers of the Month. The study involved participants in the NIH-funded Programming Research in Obesity, Growth, Environment, and Social Stressors cohort in Mexico City. The researchers measured the mitochondrial DNA content of white blood cells in umbilical cord blood collected from mothers at delivery.

Dr. Christine Austin was awarded a K99/R00 grant which proposed the development of an index of breast milk and infant formula intake using biomarkers of diet in naturally shed children’s teeth. The index will then be applied to study the association of infant diet and neurodevelopment. The study will be conducted within Dr. Wright’s, P30 Center Director, ELEMENT cohort and will provide training for Dr. Austin in neurodevelopment, advanced statistics and nutrition from mentors Dr. Robert Wright, Dr. Manish Arora, Dr. Chris Gennings, and Dr. Emily Oken.

P30 Center Trainee, Dr. Alison P. Sanders, was awarded the “Celebrating Women In Toxicology Award” from the Society of Toxicology for scientific merit and outstanding demonstration of leadership and service to the scientific/toxicology community. This award was inspired by the generosity of Ms. Anne Wolven Garrett, one of the early leaders in the field of toxicology. As a tribute to Ms. Wolven Garrett and all past and future female leaders of SOT, the Celebrating Women in Toxicology Award will recognize and encourage women who are in the early stages of developing their careers in the field of toxicology. The award will be presented at the SOT annual meeting on Wednesday March 15 5:00-7:00PM in Baltimore MD.

Dr. Wright and Dr. Allan Just’s new published paper on lead and growth in Mexico was highlighted as an extramural paper of the month by The National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences. The new study involved participants in the NIH-funded Programming Research in Obesity, Growth, Environment and Social Stressors (PROGRESS) cohort in Mexico City. To determine how lead exposure during pregnancy is associated with children’s growth, the researchers collected blood lead levels in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy, as well as at delivery. They also assessed the bone lead levels of the mothers as a long-term exposure marker. The researchers measured the height, weight, body mass index, and percentage body fat of the participants’ children 4 to 6 years after the prenatal lead exposure. To read the full article click here.

P30 Center Member, Dr. Maida Galvez, shares her insight in a January Huffington Post article about “Why You Should Avoid Antibacterial Soap.” Dr. Galvez recommends avoiding soap products labeled “antibacterial” and washing your hands with plain soap and water for at least 20 seconds. To read the full article click here.

P30 Center Member, Dr. Scott Sicherer, weighs in on the new peanut-allergy guidelines for infants from the National Institutes of Health. The guidelines state that most babies should start eating peanut-containing foods well before their first birthday to protect them from developing the dangerous food allergy. Dr. Scott Sicherer, who represented the American Academy of Pediatrics on the guidelines panel, states “Just because your uncle, aunt and sibling have an allergy, that’s even more reason to give your baby the food now” — even if they’re already older than 6 months. To read the full article click here.