Sep 24, 2021: Health Impacts of the Built Environment and Air Quality Through the Lenses of Epigenetics and Electronic Health Records

Headshot of Cavin Ward-Caviness, PhD, in front of a white background

Cavin Ward-Caviness, PhD

Computational Biologist (Principal Investigator)

Public Health and Integrated Toxicology Division, US Environmental Protection Agency

He / Him / His

Website

Environmental epidemiology is being rapidly transformed by the wealth of data now available. Electronic health records are empowering studies of vulnerable patient populations with sample sizes and depths of clinical phenotyping previously unavailable. Meanwhile molecular data, like genome-wide DNA methylation assays, allow researchers to investigate the molecular effects of pollutants in human populations – thereby generating novel hypotheses for future mechanistic studies. In this talk we will explore how electronic health records are being used to make new insights into health effects of poor air quality for heart failure patients as well as how epigenetic biomarkers constructed from genome-wide DNA methylation assays are enabling new studies of the health effects of the built environment.

About the Speaker: Dr. Cavin Ward-Caviness is a Principal Investigator in the Public Health and Integrated Toxicology Division of the US Environmental Protection Agency. With a background in computational biology and environmental epidemiology, Dr. Ward-Caviness seeks to understand the environmental factors which influence health in vulnerable populations and the molecular mechanisms that influence environmental health risks. The Ward-Caviness lab uses a variety of “big data” approaches, and Dr. Ward-Caviness is the PI of the EPA CARES research resource, which allows researchers to study environmental health effects in vulnerable patient populations, e.g. individuals with heart failure, using large electronic health record databases. Dr. Ward-Caviness is also interested in how epigenetics and metabolomics can serve as an early indicator of adverse health effects from chemical and social environmental exposures and in particular how molecular biomarkers can give us insight into how the environment may accelerate the aging process and thus contribute to chronic disease. By integrating molecular and clinical data, Dr. Ward-Caviness seeks to understand environmental health as a way to advance personalized medicine and reduce health disparities.


Friday, September 24, 12:00-1:15 pm Eastern

*VIRTUAL ONLY*

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