Yoshira Ornelas Van Horne

  • Assistant Professor of Environmental Health Sciences
Profile Headshot

Overview

Dr. Yoshira “Yoshi” Ornelas Van Horne is an exposure scientist and environmental justice scholar. She is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. She is the assistant director of Agents of Change in Environmental Justice Fellowship, which trains early career scientists in science communications. She is currently a JPB Environmental Health Fellow through Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Together with dedicated collaborators she is engaging youth in the South Bronx and Northern Plains to tackle exposure inequalities.

Her research focuses on addressing unequal exposures to harmful contaminants that affect structurally marginalized communities. She is committed to building health equity through community-driven research and is passionate about research translation and communication. To this end, her work not only characterizes inequities in cumulative exposures but also supports community-driven solutions and training efforts. Dr. Ornelas Van Horne is an HSI alumna of the Environmental Health Sciences program at the University of Arizona and serves as the co-chair of the General Scientific Meetings Committee for the International Society of Exposure Science.

Office Location: 722 West 168th Street, ARB 1207

Academic Appointments

  • Assistant Professor of Environmental Health Sciences

Administrative Titles

  • Assistant Director, Agents of Change in Environmental Justice
  • Deputy Director, The EARTH Program

Credentials & Experience

Education & Training

  • BS, 2012 University of Arizona
  • MS, 2014 University of Arizona
  • PhD, 2019 University of Arizona

Editorial Boards

Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology

Research

Research Interests

  • Child and Adolescent Health
  • Chronic disease
  • Climate Justice
  • Community Health
  • Environmental Health
  • Environmental Justice
  • Global Health
  • Public Health
  • Urban Health

Selected Publications

Van Horne YO, Alcala CS, Peltier RE, Quintana PJ, Seto E, Gonzales M, Johnston JE, Montoya LD, Quirós-Alcalá L, Beamer PI. An applied environmental justice framework for exposure science. Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology. 2022 Mar 8:1-1.

Van Horne YO, Farzan SF, Razafy M, Johnston JE. Respiratory and allergic health effects in children living near agriculture: A review. Science of The Total Environment. 2022 Apr 4:155009.

Van Horne YO, Farzan SF, Johnston JE. Metal-mixtures in toenails of children living near an active industrial facility in Los Angeles County, California. Journal of exposure science & environmental epidemiology. 2021 May;31(3):427-41.

Van Horne YO, Chief K, Charley PH, Begay MG, Lothrop N, Bell ML, Canales RA, Teufel-Shone NI, Beamer PI. Impacts to diné activities with the san juan river after the gold king mine spill. Journal of exposure science & environmental epidemiology. 2021 Sep;31(5):852-66.

Carr TF, Beamer PI, Rothers J, Stern DA, Gerald LB, Rosales CB, Van Horne YO, Pivniouk ON, Vercelli D, Halonen M, Gameros M. Prevalence of asthma in school children on the Arizona-Sonora border. The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice. 2017 Jan 1;5(1):114-20.