Research Collaboration Yields Opportunities for FMUSP Students and HSPH Labs

Thanks to an ongoing research collaboration between John Godleski, Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental Health at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), and Paulo Saldiva, Professor of Pulmonary Pathology and Chair of the Department of Pathology at the Universidade de São Paulo Medical School (FMUSP), FMUSP students have the unique opportunity to conduct laboratory research on the cardiopulmonary effects of air pollution and to learn through a combination of didactic activities and lab work in the Harvard Medical Area. Professors Godleski and Saldiva have built on the foundation of past experiences co-authoring papers such as “Acute Pulomonary Inflammation Induced by Concentrated Ambient Air Particles is Related to Particle Composition” and “Composition of Inhaled Urban Air Particles Determines Acute Pulmonary Responses" to make this opportunity possible.

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About the Collaborating Professors

John Godleski is Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental Health at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and Senior Pulmonary Pathologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. Dr. Godleski’s research focuses on the pulmonary and systemic responses to inhaled ambient air particles. His studies use cardiac and pulmonary mechanical measurements as well as cell and molecular biologic approaches with inhalation exposure to concentrated ambient air particles. The overall hypothesis being tested in his laboratory is: Ambient urban air particles are complex mixtures with intrinsic toxicity; particulate exposure results in stimulation of lung receptors, release of reactive oxygen species, and induction of pro-inflammatory mediators that lead to local and systemic effects especially on the cardiovascular system, which ultimately account for epidemiologic associations between adverse health effects and particulate air pollution.

Richard  Verrier is an Associate Professor of Medicine, at the Harvard Medical School (HMS) and at Cardiovascular Division, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. His research is focused on neural, behavioral, and environmental triggers of sudden cardiac death and arrhythmias. The laboratory specializes in computerized analysis of electrocardiographic markers, especially T-wave alternans, a beat-to-beat fluctuation in the area and form of the T-wave of the ECG. We demonstrated that T-wave alternans provides an index of vulnerability to life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias as well as a means to identify individuals at risk and to measure the efficacy of pharmacologic therapy. Current investigations include neural triggers of sudden death during ischemia, anger, REM sleep, and exposure to environmental air particles. Our research has led to a novel technique for selective delivery of angiogenic and myogenic factors to the heart via the pericardial sac. This technology provides a natural interface between molecular and integrative biology.

Paulo Saldiva is Professor of Pulmonary Pathology and Chair of the Department of Pathology at the Universidade de São Paulo Medical School (FMUSP). He is Chair of the Laboratory of Experimental Air Pollution and of the Research Commission at FMUSP and a Member of the Science Advisory Committee, Harvard/EPA PM Center at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH). Saldiva’s research interests include pulmonary pathology and air pollution related diseases. The main objective of Saldiva’s work in air pollution and human health at the USP is to demonstrate the evidence that relates air pollution to human health, considering two main types of pollutants: particulate matter and ozone. All the inhabitants of large urban centers inhale particles of pollutants present in the atmosphere. Several groups from different countries have found associations between particulate matter contents and hospital admissions, mainly from events related to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, and also it has been found that the chronic exposure has a role in the reduction of life expectancy. Saldiva’s group of the FMUSP in São Paulo has been dedicated to this kind of study, accumulating experience in demonstrating adverse health effects due to environmental exposure to particulate matter. His scientific production includes approximately 250 papers, over 40 of which were completed in the past three years. Professor Saldiva earned his PhD in Pathology (1983) and his MD (1977) from the Universidade de São Paulo (USP).