Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, FIU

Departmental Goals

We have goals in two inter-related areas: Translational Research and Teaching.

1. Translational Research
Since 2005, a major theme of the department has been Environmental Molecular Epidemiology, which combines a range of investigative approaches. These include: the study of genome-environment interactions, and molecular toxicology approaches to investigating and preventing e

nvironmental and occupational human diseases. Originated by Faculty in our Department, this fundamental paradigm shift is of paramount importance for solving environmental public health challenges ranging in scale from molecular to global. We have the following research goals:

• Identify and understand fundamental common biological and environmental pathways contributing to a broad range of diseases, in order to develop broadly applicable prevention and intervention strategies.

• Understand individual susceptibility, across the life span, to diseases resulting from environmental factors, to facilitate prevention and decrease the public health burden.

• Transform exposure science by enabling consideration of the totality of human exposures (a.k.a. the Exposome) and links to biological pathways to create a blueprint to better incorporate exposure science into human health studies. Through our programs, students have the chance to undertake groundbreaking research in state-of-the-art laboratories, with internationally renowned scientists.