The Cardiorespiratory Outcomes Research Program studies short- and long-term effects of ambient air pollutants on lung development, asthma and asthma symptoms, atherosclerosis in children and young adults, major cardiovascular events in adults, and cardiorespiratory mechanisms, including airway inflammation, immunoregulation, and HDL function. Early-life susceptibility, genomics and epigenomics, and integrative systems approaches are also a part of the research agenda. This research program has led to important findings showing that air pollution has chronic cardiorespiratory health effects at current levels and that there are individual factors determining susceptibility to environmental exposures.

Recent Highlights

• Human studies show a role for genomic susceptibility to exposures and epigenetic changes underlying asthma development and asthma control.

• In utero toxic metals exposures have been associated with cardiometabolic complications in children.

• Exposure to an immense plume of ultrafine particles downwind from the Los Angeles International Airport had significant acute systemic inflammatory effects with a response that was distinct from that of traffic-related ultrafine particles.

• Causal analytical approaches are being applied in studies identifying additional respiratory health benefits achievable with alternative scenarios of pollutant reductions.