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Three new Rosenblith awardees selected for 2020
HEI’s Research Committee has selected three applicants from a field of highly qualified candidates to receive the Institute’s 2020 Walter A. Rosenblith New Investigator Award. The recipients are Heresh Amini, assistant professor in the Department of Public Health at the University of Copenhagen; Joseph Antonelli, assistant professor in the Department of Statistics at the University of Florida; and Raphael Arku, assistant professor in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Amini was awarded funding for his proposal “COUPH: Copenhagen Ultrafine Particles and Health.” This project seeks to provide novel exposure–response functions for the effects of long-term exposure to ultrafine particles on several mortality and morbidity outcomes, while adjusting for exposures to other traffic-related air pollutants, road traffic noise, and socioeconomic status. The study makes use of a new Danish cohort of 650,000 adults.
Antonelli received his award to explore “Robust statistical approaches to understanding the causal effect of air pollution mixtures.” This project seeks to develop statistical methodology that allows for complex relationships between air pollution and health outcomes to be used to estimate causal effects of multivariate exposures. Additionally, the proposed methodology will allow for evaluation of separate subgroups in the population to identify the most vulnerable subgroups.
Arku was awarded funding to study “Urban air pollution in sub-Saharan Africa: A study of prenatal exposures, birth outcomes, and lower-respiratory infections in infants.” This study seeks to examine associations of long-term maternal exposures to PM2.5, NO2, and environmental noise with adverse birth outcomes in Accra, Ghana. The study also seeks to determine the effect of these exposures on the risk of lower respiratory infections in infants.
The Rosenblith Award provides funding for up to three years at a total budget of $500,000. Eligible candidates should be at the assistant professor or equivalent level and within two to seven years of achieving their highest degree. HEI has issued the Request for Applications for the 2021 award (RFA 20-2). To apply, see our Funding page.
