Environmental Health Sciences

Message From the Chair

Ana Navas Acien headshot in Central Park

Our department––consisting of a dynamic and committed group of faculty, trainees and staff––focuses on ongoing and emerging environmental health challenges that impact our society today, both locally and globally. As awareness increases regarding the link between the environment, climate change, their impact on health, and environmental justice, our work has never been more important. As a cornerstone of Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, the need for rigorous, inclusive, and impactful environmental health science research and training continues to grow, requiring constant innovation and dedicated efforts.

In our department, we are committed to basic and applied science, education, and public health service. One of the department’s highest priorities is to engage, teach, and mentor diverse groups of talented individuals in the MPH, MS, PhD, or DrPH degree programs. Through interdisciplinary expertise, outstanding courses and programs, and mentored research, we prepare our students to identify and tackle the environmental challenges of today. The department is a recognized leader in the areas of Climate and Health and Environmental Health Data Science, offering the first-ever degree-granting programs in these fields at any school of public health. Our MPH educational offerings span five different Certificate programs. Our 12-month MS degree with concentrations in Toxicology and Environmental Health Data Science can be completed either as either a full- or part-time student.

Our interdisciplinary and inclusive approach––from laboratory-based research to population-based epidemiology and participatory science––enables us to work in partnership with other departments across the Columbia Mailman School, the medical campus, and the university, as well as with local, national, and global organizations. Our goal is to conduct rigorous innovative science and move scientific evidence to real-world impact. Some of our priorities include:

  1. Environmental inequalities and structural-level factors: Addressing disproportionate exposures to environmental hazards and higher disease burdens affecting population sub-groups, with an objective to advance environmental justice in partnership with communities.
  2. Enduring and emerging challenges: Tackling issues related to air and water quality, chemicals, food systems, natural disasters, the built environment, climate change and more. These challenges are often linked to infrastructure, production (including energy), and policy decisions that may not always consider their environmental and health consequences.
  3. Data and analytical structures: Improving the quality of data and analytical tools to study these issues, along with enhancing our research methods and tools, from the exposome to big data and monitoring systems.
  4. Mechanistic pathways and biological processes: Conducting cutting-edge laboratory research to discover and inform innovative interventions and solutions.
  5. Action-oriented research and practice: Integrating the growing knowledge of the environment's key role in health and disease to translate scientific discovery into actionable impact, implementation, and public health practice.

These priorities are integrated across multiple areas of interest and organizational hubs within our department. We are dedicated to fostering a community that is proactive in addressing these critical issues.  We are also home to four centers largely funded by the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences [NIEHS]: the Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health, the Center for Environmental Health Science and Justice in Northern Manhattan, the Center for Innovative Exposomics, and the Columbia University Northern Plains Superfund Research Program. All four centers support cutting-edge cross-disciplinary research, training, and community outreach.

We invite you to get to know our department, our exceptional students, faculty and staff, and our mission to improve public health through environmental health sciences research. We hope you find inspiration and opportunities within our department, and we look forward to having our paths join. Together, we can make a significant impact on the health and well-being of our communities, ushering in a brighter future for our planet.

 

Warm Regards,

Ana Navas-Acien, MD, PhD, MPH
Leon Hess Professor and Chair
Department of Environmental Health Sciences