Recent Publications
A survey on the correlation between PM 2.5 concentration and the incidence of suspected and positive cases of COVID-19 referred to medical centers: A case study of Tehran. Chemosphere. 2022 Aug;301:134650. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.134650
An observational study investigating the role of PM2.5 and its relationship with the incidence of suspected cases (SC) and positive cases (PC) of COVID-19 at different levels of the air quality index (AQI) in Tehran, the capital of Iran, in the period from Feb 20th, 2020 to Feb 22nd, 2021.
Obesity II: Establishing causal links between chemical exposures and obesity. Biochem Pharmacol. 2022 May;199:115015. doi: 10.1016/j.bcp.2022.115015
Obesogens can determine how much food is needed to maintain homeostasis and thereby increase the susceptibility to obesity. The most sensitive time for obesogen action is in utero and early childhood, in part via epigenetic programming that can be transmitted to future generations. This review explores the evidence supporting the obesogen hypothesis and highlights knowledge gaps that have prevented widespread acceptance as a contributor to the obesity pandemic. Critically, the obesogen hypothesis changes the narrative from curing obesity to preventing obesity.
Prenatal exposure to air pollution is associated with altered brain structure, function, and metabolism in childhood. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2022 Feb 14. doi: 10.1111/jcpp.13578
Prenatal exposure to air pollution disrupts cognitive, emotional, and behavioral development. This study examined the impact of air pollution on brain structure, function and metabolism in children. PM2.5 and PAH disrupt brain development through one or more common molecular pathways.
Using Text Messaging to Improve Access to Prenatal Health Information in Urban African American and Afro-Caribbean Immigrant Pregnant Women: Mixed Methods Analysis of Text4baby Usage. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2020 Feb 13;8(2):e14737.
The Text4baby (T4B) mobile health (mHealth) program is acclaimed to provide pregnant women with greater access to prenatal health care, resources, and information. However this study indicates a number of systematic, political, and other microsystem-level factors that perpetuate health inequities in our study population.
Prepregnancy obesity is associated with cognitive outcomes in boys in a low-income, multiethnic birth cohort. BMC Pediatr. 2019 Dec 20;19(1):507. doi: 10.1186/s12887-019-1853-4
Maternal obesity and high gestational weight gain disproportionally affect low-income populations and may be associated with child neurodevelopment in a sex-specific manner. We examined sex-specific associations between prepregnancy BMI, GWG, and child neurodevelopment at age 7. Prepregnancy overweight and obesity were associated with lower IQ among boys, but not girls, at 7 years. These findings are important considering overweight and obesity prevalence and the long-term implications of early cognitive development.
Prepregnancy obesity is associated with lower psychomotor development scores in boys at age 3 in a low-income, minority birth cohort. J Dev Orig Health Dis. 2020 Feb;11(1):49-57. doi: 10.1017/S2040174419000412. Epub 2019 Sep 5.
This study examined the impact of prepregnancy Body Mass Index and Gestational Weight Gain on early childhood neurodevelopment in the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health Mothers and Newborns study. We found that prepregnancy obesity was associated with lower Psychomotor Development Index scores at 3 years in boys, but not girls.
Maturation of Brain Microstructure and Metabolism Associates with Increased Capacity for Self-Regulation during the Transition from Childhood to Adolescence. J Neurosci. 2019 Oct 16;39(42):8362-8375. doi: 10.1523/ JNEUROSCI.2422-18.2019. Epub 2019 Aug 23.
This study followed 234 healthy, inner-city males and females between the ages 9-12 at the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health. It found that increased age and maturation of key regions within cortico-striatal-thalamo-cortical circuits subserve the emergence of improved self-regulatory capacities during the transition from childhood to adolescence.
Prenatal exposure to airborne polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and childhood growth trajectories from age 5-14 years. Environ Res. 2019 Oct;177:108595. doi: 10.1016/ j.envres.2019.108595. Epub 2019 Jul 19.
This research demonstrates how prenatal exposures to airborne PAH were associated with higher Body Mass Index Z-scores in children and accordingly shows that highly exposed children spend a greater proportion of their childhood with higher BMI Z-scores.
Bisphenol a: A narrative review of prenatal exposure effects on adipogenesis and childhood obesity via peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma. Environ Res. 2019 Jun;173:54-68. doi: 10.1016/ j.envres.2019.03.012. Epub 2019 Mar 6. Review.
This review concerns the effects of prenatal BPA exposure on childhood obesity and provides a roadmap of existing research and suggestions for future directions for analyzing this relationship.