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TBA
 

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Dr. Balmes' laboratory, the Human Exposure Laboratory (HEL), has been studying the respiratory health effects of various air pollutants for the past 15 years. Recently, the HEL has been focusing on the airway inflammatory effects of ozone and fine particles. The HEL was the first group to demonstrate a) histological evidence of ozone-induced airway injury and inflammation in human subjects, b) that asthmatic subjects have greater inflammatory responses to ozone than normal subjects, and c) that ozone-induced inflammatory responses in normal subjects attenuate with short-term exposures on consecutive days in the lung, but not in the more proximal airways. The lab is currently extending our study of the effects of consecutive-day ozone exposures to asthmatic subjects in order to determine if their enhanced inflammatory responses attenuate as do those of normal subjects. In this project, we are using microarray and multiplex quantitative PCR techniques to characterize patterns of gene expression in our human model of ozone-induced acute airway inflammation.
 
The HEL is also currently investigating the acute effects of inhalational exposure to fine particles with several studies, one involving exposure to metal oxide fumes to assess whether asthmatic subjects have enhanced zinc oxide-induced neutrophil recruitment to the lungs; a second to assess the airway inflammatory effects of exposure to smoke; and a third involving the effects of exposure to particles, with and without ozone, on ex vivo responses of bronchial mucosal tissue from allergic asthmatic subjects.
 
Dr. Balmes is also collaborating with Dr. Ira Tager on two epidemiological projects. The first is designed to compare the lung function of lifetime residents of the Los Angeles Basin to that of lifetime residents of the San Francisco Bay area in order to determine the effects of chronic exposure to ozone on lung structure/function. The acute lung function, inflammatory, and anti-oxidant responses to controlled exposure to ozone will be assessed in subgroups of both these populations. The second project is called the "Fresno Asthmatic Children's Environment Study" (FACES). The overall specific aim of FACES is to determine the relationship between air pollution-induced short-term exacerbations of childhood asthma and the longer-term course of asthma. A cohort of 450 asthmatic children (ages 6-10) will be followed closely over 4.5 years with serial measurements of lung function and asthma severity (symptoms, medication use) as well as serial assessment of both indoor and outdoor exposures.
 

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Pinkerton KE, Balmes JR, Fanucchi MV, Rom WN. Ozone, a malady for all ages. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2007 Jul 15;176(2):107-8. PMID: 17617531 [abstract]
 
Thompson L, Diaz J, Jenny A, Diaz A, Bruce N, Balmes J. Nxwisen, ntzarrin or ntzo'lin? Mapping children's respiratory symptoms among indigenous populations in Guatemala. Soc Sci Med. 2007 Jun 18; [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 17582669 [abstract]
 
Eisner MD, Wang Y, Haight TJ, Balmes J, Hammond SK, Tager IB. Secondhand smoke exposure, pulmonary function, and cardiovascular mortality. Ann Epidemiol. 2007 May;17(5):364-73. Epub 2007 Feb 14. PMID: 17300955 [abstract]
 
Balmes JR. The World Trade Center collapse: a continuing tragedy for lung health? Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2006 Aug 1;174(3):235-6. PMID: 16864714 [abstract]
 
Kyle AD, Balmes JR, Buffler PA, Lee PR. Integrating research, surveillance, and practice in environmental public health tracking. Environ Health Perspect. 2006 Jul;114(7):980-4. PMID: 16835047 [abstract]
 
Eisner MD, Balmes JR, Yelin EH, Katz PP, Hammond SK, Benowitz N, Blanc PD. Directly measured secondhand smoke exposure and COPD health outcomes. BMC Pulm Med. 2006 Jun 6;6(1):12. [abstract]