Pamela Lein, PhD is a neurotoxicologist and developmental neurobiologist who studies the interaction between genes and environment that can lead to a variety of complex disorders from asthma to autism and Alzheimer’s.
Dr. Lein’s work focuses on the way environmental stressors like pesticides and near-roadway exposures—which include car exhaust and particles from tire wear and tear—can both change the structure of nerve cells and disrupt how they communicate with each other and with other tissues throughout the body.
The 2019-2020 Environmental Health Sciences Scholar knows fate plays best when it’s in your own hands
By Jennifer Biddle
From all outward appearances, some might describe Hong Ji’s career in epigenetics as pre-destiny. Her life seemed to follow a prescription: Brilliant microbiology student matriculating from top universities to pursue an ever-promising research career, all with the hope of illuminating the dark mysteries of some impossible-to-cure disease.
Kent Pinkerton, PhD is a Professor of Pediatrics in the School of Medicine and Anatomy, Physiology and Cell Biology in the School of Veterinary Medicine. An expert on air pollution, Dr. Pinkerton researches how vapors, gases, particles and fibers change the way respiratory, cardiovascular and neurological cells develop and function.
Find out about different types of air pollution, what pollution is linked to, how it affects your health and how to avoid it in your home and outdoors.
Asthma is an inflammatory disease of the lung. This inflammatory process can occur along the entire airway from the nose to the lung. Once the airway becomes swollen and inflamed, it becomes narrower, and less air gets through to the lung tissue. This causes symptoms like wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, and trouble breathing.
During an asthma attack, the muscles around the airways tighten up and the asthma symptoms become even worse than usual.
