Shudi Pang, a third-year doctoral student in epidemiology at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine and Public Health Sciences, has been awarded an American Heart Association predoctoral fellowship. Mr. Pang’s research interests are in environmental epidemiology, particularly exposure to environmental chemical mixtures. Her proposed research will investigate the association between persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and high blood pressure in obese teens.

The prevalence of cardiovascular disease is expected to rise to more than 40% by 2030, and effective interventions are urgently needed. “One way to prevent heart disease is to address high blood pressure early in life,” Pan says. “One of the new risk factors for high blood pressure is endocrine disrupting chemicals such as POPs.” Pan hopes to better understand the link between high blood pressure and POPs, which also damage the cardiovascular system. . Her research included conducting analyzes in the Teen Longitudinal Assessment of Bariatric Surgery (Teen-LABS) study, one of the largest multicenter prospective studies investigating adolescents who underwent bariatric surgery across the United States. We are proposing.

Bariatric surgery is an increasingly common intervention for people with severe obesity and metabolic disease. “After a patient undergoes bariatric surgery, POPs stored in adipose tissue are released into the bloodstream,” Pan explains. “We are interested in how this rapid increase in plasma POPs concentrations affects the cardiovascular benefits of surgery.”

“Additionally, there are many new statistical methods focused on addressing environmental chemical mixtures associated with health effects. I am interested in applying these mixture methods to adolescent health and child health research. “I’m interested in that,” she says. Professor Pan plans to utilize small molecule metabolomics in the body to provide a snapshot of physiological changes in the body at the molecular level to further understand the biological mechanisms between POP and blood pressure changes after bariatric surgery. is.

Despite decades of efforts to ban their use, POPs remain a global public health challenge. “I feel like there is a lack of understanding of how chemical exposure actually affects our daily lives,” she reports. Her interest in environmental health began during her master’s program at Johns Hopkins University. During her evaluation of the effects of environmental phenol exposure on bone mineral density in her 12-year-old children in the Ohio cohort, she decided to pursue her Ph.D. dedicated to this field. “I chose to come to USC because of the strong environmental health program here. I wanted to work on exposomes and environmental mixtures, and the professors here are already at the cutting edge. I learned that you are working on environmental health research.”

In her second year of the program, Pan took two courses that helped her on her journey. “One was an introduction to causal inference, and she helped me write the first version of this fellowship proposal and outline the research, both on grant writing.” she reveals. Pan recognizes the need for further research that focuses holistically on environmental chemical mixtures. Through this fellowship, she aims to increase our understanding of the health effects of the harmful chemicals we encounter every day. “We want to be aware of potential risks in order to support healthier and longer lives. Additionally, our research provides valuable insight into the complex molecular pathways that cause hypertension in young people. ” she concludes.