Partnerships for Environmental Public Health (PEPH)
The Exposome and Health (Part 2)
August 09, 2023
Interviewee: Melanie Pearson, Ph.D.
In our second episode exploring the exposome, we’ll learn how incorporating community perspectives into the exposome definition could help researchers better understand the totality of lifetime exposures and improve human health.
The Exposome and Health (Part 2)
The exposome is a growing area of research that aims to assess all the environmental factors a person is exposed to throughout their life and how those exposures affect health. Some scientists are calling for an expansion of this definition — which primarily focuses on an individual’s chemical exposures — to include the perspectives of communities facing environmental health challenges.
In the second installment of our two-part series focused on the exposome, Melanie Pearson, Ph.D., discusses how bringing the community voice into the exposome could help researchers better capture the totality of lifetime exposures and improve human health. To learn more about exposome research, check out the first episode in the series.
Interviewee:
Melanie Pearson, Ph.D., leads the Community Engagement Core of the NIEHS-funded HERCULES Exposome Research Center at Emory University. In this role she collaborates with community partners using an exposome approach to seek environmental justice and improve health in the Atlanta metro area. Pearson works to strengthen the capacity of Atlanta communities to address environmental health concerns and ensure that the community’s concerns and ideas are shared with the HERCULES Center scientists.
Resources:
- Learn how NIEHS is supporting exposome research.
- Learn more about the exposome from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
References:
- Lebow-Skelley E, Young L, Noibi Y, Blaginin K, Hooker M, Williamson D, Tomlinson MS, Kegler MC, Pearson MA. 2022. Defining the Exposome Using Popular Education and Concept Mapping With Communities in Atlanta, Georgia. Front Public Health. 10:842539. [Abstract Lebow-Skelley E, Young L, Noibi Y, Blaginin K, Hooker M, Williamson D, Tomlinson MS, Kegler MC, Pearson MA. 2022. Defining the Exposome Using Popular Education and Concept Mapping With Communities in Atlanta, Georgia. Front Public Health. 10:842539.] [Full Text Lebow-Skelley E, Young L, Noibi Y, Blaginin K, Hooker M, Williamson D, Tomlinson MS, Kegler MC, Pearson MA. 2022. Defining the Exposome Using Popular Education and Concept Mapping With Communities in Atlanta, Georgia. Front Public Health. 10:842539.]