The Pan-PHE Lab conducts research that addresses questions pertaining to how social and environmental factors influence human decisions and how these decisions may interact with the (natural and human) environment to affect human health.  The main goal of our lab is to identify synergistic activities that can simultaneously improve human well-being and the environment.  As such, we are involved in research to reveal underlying causal relationships, tools and strategies for human and/or environmental monitoring and conducting epidemiological research to understand how humans are impacted by environmental factors, such as land use change, natural resource extraction, urbanization and road development, meteorological changes and food environments.

The Pan-PHE lab is also invested in building partnerships.  We recognize that a key component in achieving sustainable development is fostering partnerships with key stakeholders, which include community leaders, local, regional and national governments, global academic and non-government institutions, and industries.

Our group has almost two decades of experience conducting research and building partnerships in Latin America, with a focus on the Amazon.   We study the Amazon because it is the largest contiguous rainforest remaining in the world.  The importance of the Amazon cannot be understated and we direct you to various partners who have elegantly described the importance of the Amazon for issues such as biodiversity, human health and global environmental change. The Amazon extends through 9 countries, but we focus on Andean-Amazon countries, primarily Peru, Ecuador and Colombia, with many additional partnerships in Brazil.  In these countries, we have studied issues of deforestation, reproductive health, migration, malaria, dengue, leishmaniosis, cysticercosis, toxicology and concessions for gas extraction, Brazil nuts and gold mining.  For more information on some of our work, feel free to visit the following links:

Our team’s work in Madre de Dios, Peru has had regional and national impacts. At a regional level, 3,147 people have been assessed for chronic methylmercury exposure with many more being tested for anemia and other health assessments. These tests provide valuable health information to study participants as well as for the regional health directorate. By working with local communities and health centers, our work has helped spread awareness of mercury exposure, mainly through the consumption of contaminated fish and the high prevalence of anemia in the region. Along with returning chronic mercury results, participants also receive an informative flier on the risks of consuming mercury contaminated fish and how to selectively consume fish with less mercury to reduce their overall mercury exposure.

At a national level, our expansive chronic methylmercury assessment was a driving force in the national declaration of emergency in Madre de Dios in May 2016. This declaration fostered a national discussion on artisanal mining, mercury use and the impact of chronic methylmercury exposure in the region. In addition to the national declaration of emergency, our group has been working closely with officials from the Peruvian Ministry of Health to draft national guidelines on mercury exposure and help ensure that policies are established that allow the state to detect chronic methylmercury exposure.

The Pan-PHE Lab also focuses on nutrition, migration and infectious diseases. Our ongoing work to develop an early warning forecast system for malaria in Loreto, Peru could provide a crucial window for Peruvian health officials to prevent malaria outbreaks. The development and implementation of such a model could be developed for other regions or countries where malaria is endemic and could potentially be adapted for other vector borne diseases.

Peru, along with other countries in which our group works such as India, Nepal, Brazil and Bangladesh, all face problems with malnutrition that can have profound impacts on child development. Malnutrition is not only due to lack of food, but can also be caused by enteric infections and other diseases that limit the body’s acquisition of vital nutrients. Understanding the complex dynamic between malnutrition, enteric diseases and other socioeconomic factors across cultures is crucial to develop a framework to improve child nutrition in developing countries.

The work of the PHE lab has profound importance on the scientific community due to its depth and interdisciplinary nature. Whether we are studying mercury, malaria, malnutrition, or environmental change, the PHE Lab draws upon expertise from several collaborators and experts.  Interdisciplinary research is neither an easy nor efficient endeavor – to be fully immersed in multiple research topics requires a strong commitment of the entire team to be able to communicate knowledge clearly (and repeatedly!).