Air Pollution, Stress and Asthma Morbidity Risk: Role of Biological and Geospatial Markers - PROJECT SUMMARY / ABSTRACT Candidate: Dr. Marissa Hauptman is an Instructor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School (HMS), a pediatrician and environmental medical toxicologist, and Assistant Director of the Pediatric Environmental Health Center at Boston Children’s Hospital (BCH). At BCH, she completed her pediatrics residency and a joint pediatric environmental medicine and health services research fellowship. Building on her early work, her proposed career development plan focuses on 2 areas of career development—geospatial and biomarker environmental exposure science, clinical biomedical informatics—that will add to her research toolkit, increase the rigor of her work, and enhance her ability to develop, evaluate, and integrate environmental exposure science and epidemiology into clinical medicine. She will gain these skills through coursework, experiential learning, mentorship, and participation in seminars and national and international meetings. Environment: Dr. Hauptman is supported by extensive research, professional, and academic resources at BCH, HMS, and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, including the BCH Institutional Centers for Clinical and Translational Research, Harvard-Chan NIEHS Center on Environmental Health, and the Harvard Catalyst Program. Her committed team of mentors and advisors include national experts in geospatial, air pollution and biomarker environmental exposure science and epidemiology, biostatistics/bioinformatics and clinical prediction methodology. Research: Despite increasing evidence of its adverse effects, air pollution has not been effectively addressed by healthcare providers in clinical medicine. Further knowledge is clearly needed, as elucidating robust environmental air pollutant biomarkers and readily available geospatial data as well as underlying mechanisms may lead to new therapeutic options and strategies for clinicians to better address a patient’s environment at the bedside. Dr. Hauptman proposes to build on prior work to rigorously evaluate and develop—through geospatial and biomarker environmental exposure science, epidemiology, and biomedical informatics—a feasible innovative Asthma Integrated Risk (AIR) Clinical Prediction model that relies on readily available data through patient report, the electronic medical record system, public available data sources and biomarkers that can assist clinicians in predicting high risk pediatric patients with asthma and potentially tailoring environmental and therapeutic interventions. At the end of this project, Dr. Hauptman will be well- positioned to apply for an R01 to further test whether implementation of this clinical decision support intervention improves asthma morbidity by more comprehensively identifying and addressing environmental air pollutants in children with chronic health conditions. The successful completion of this project will position Dr. Hauptman for the next stage of her career as an independent investigator addressing environmental exposures in clinical medicine.
