Environmental Lung Disease Research Core

Director: R. William Field, Ph.D.
Occupational & Environmental Health

Co-Director: James A. Merchant, M.D.
Occupational & Environmental Health

The primary goal of the Environmental Lung Disease Research Core (ELDRC) is to enhance epidemiologic, etiologic, and clinical research related to the detection, ascertainment, intervention, surveillance, and etiology of environmental and agricultural airway diseases. A second goal is to link ELDRC scholars to other EHSRC investigators in synergistic collaborations.

Specific Aims

The following ELDRC Aims will be pursued in the next five years:

Aim 1: Understand how specific agricultural and environmental exposures contribute to airway diseases in humans
Aim 2: Provide research experiences and mentoring to graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, junior faculty, and other health professionals
Aim 3: Serve as a regional and national resource on environmental lung disease for investigators interested in environmental exposures with a focus on agricultural and rural exposure