Allison Kupsco, PhD

  • Assistant Professor of Environmental Health Sciences

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Overview

Dr. Kupsco is an environmental toxicologist and epidemiologist whose work spans from the wet lab to data analysis. With a background in aquatic toxicology, she went on to complete a postdoc under Dr. Andrea Baccarelli at Columbia University where she acquired training in environmental epidemiology and biomarkers of human population studies. Today, Dr. Kupsco's wet lab centers around the development and optimization of novel omics biomarkers for environmental health studies, including small noncoding RNAs, RNA modifications, mitochondria, and DNA methylation. In collaboration with several birth cohorts, her work seeks to address the role of epigenetic biomarkers in prenatal determinants of children's health. Her data analyses focus primarily on investigating associations between environmental mixtures and childhood cardiometabolic phenotypes, including metals, flame-retardants, and plasticizers. Through the Superfund Research Program, she also actively collaborates with the Strong Heart Study to address the molecular drivers of cardiometabolic diseases in American Indian populations. Dr. Kupsco's ultimate goal is to better understand the molecular basis of environmental health to advance early detection and prevention of environmental disease.

Office Location: 630 West 168th Street, VP&S Room 16-421C

Academic Appointments

  • Assistant Professor of Environmental Health Sciences

Administrative Titles

  • Member, Columbia Center for Environmental Health and Justice in Northern Manhattan

Credentials & Experience

Education & Training

  • BA, 2011 Scripps College
  • PhD, 2016 University of California at Riverside

Research

Research Interests

  • Child and Adolescent Health
  • Environmental Health
  • Epigenetics

Selected Publications

 

Boyer K, Domingo-Relloso A, Jiang E, Haack K, Goessler W, Zhang Y, Umans JG, Belsky DW, Cole S, Navas-Acien A, Kupsco A. Metal Mixtures and DNA Methylation Measures of Biological Aging in American Indian Populations. Environment International. 2023, 178: 108064.

Gaylord A, Cohen AA, Kupsco A, Biomarkers of aging through the life course: A Recent Literature Update. Current opinion in epidemiology and public health. 2023, 2(2): 7-17.

Kupsco A, Bloomquist TR; Hu H; Reddam AR; Tang D; Goldsmith AG; Rundle AG ; Baccarelli AB; Herbstman JB. Mitochondrial DNA copy number dynamics and associations with the prenatal environment from birth through adolescence in a population of Dominican and African American children. Mitochondrion. 2023 Mar;69:140-146. PMCID: PMC10006332

Reddam A, Sjödin A; Cowell W; Jones R; Wang S; Perera FP; Herbstman JB; Kupsco A. Prenatal Exposure to Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers and Birth Outcomes. Environmental Research. 2023 Jan 1;216(Pt 4):114830. PMCID: PMC9729424

Lieberman-Cribbin W, Domingo-Relloso A, Navas-Acien A, Cole S, Haack K, Umans J, Tellez-Plaza M, Colicino E, Baccarelli AA, Gao X, Kupsco A. Epigenetic biomarkers of lead exposure and cardiovascular disease: prospective evidence in the Strong Heart Study. JAHA. 2022 Dec 6;11(23):e026934. PMCID: PMC9851430

Kupsco A; Prada D; Valvi D; Hu L; Skaalum Peterson M; Coull B; Grandjean P; Weihe P; Baccarelli AA. Marine pollutant exposures and human milk extracellular vesicle-microRNAs in a mother-infant cohort from the Faroe Islands. Environ Int. 2022 Jan;158:106986. PMCID: PMC8742869

Kupsco A; Wu H; Calafat AM; Kioumourtzoglou M-A; Cantoral A; Tamayo-Ortiz M; Pantic I; Pizano-Zarate, ML; Oken E; Braun J; Deierlein A; Wright RO; Téllez- Rojo MM; Baccarelli AA; Just AC. Prenatal Maternal Phthalate Exposures and Trajectories of Childhood Adiposity from Four to Twelve Years. Environ Res. Sept 2021 PMID: 34563522

Kupsco A; Prada D; Valvi D; Hu L; Skaalum Peterson M; Coull B; Grandjean P; Weihe P; Baccarelli AA. Breast milk extracellular vesicle miRNAs, pathways, and ontology in a population-based mother-infant cohort from the Faroe Islands. Sci Rep. 2021; 11: 5840. PMCID: PMC7970999

Kupsco A; Wu H; Calafat AM; Kioumourtzoglou M-A; Tolentino M; Oken E; Braun J; Mercado-Garcia A; Wright RO; Téllez- Rojo MM; Baccarelli AA; Just AC. Prenatal Maternal Phthalate Exposures and Child Lipid and Adipokine Levels at Age 6: A Study from the PROGRESS Cohort of Mexico City. Environ Res. 2021 Jan;192:110341. PMCID: PMC7736226.

Kupsco A; Gonzalez G; Baker BH; Knox JM; Zheng Y; Wang S; Chang D; Schwartz J; Hou L; Wang Y; Baccarelli AA. Associations of Smoking and Air Pollution with Peripheral Blood RNA N6-methyladenosine in the Beijing Truck Driver Air Pollution Study. Environ. Int. 2020 Nov;144:106021. PMCID: PMC7572654