exposure

Studies on emerging environmental toxicants are listed below:

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PFAS, microRNA/Epigenetics: Per- and polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) and microRNA: an epigenome-wide association study in firefighters
- Conducted metabolomics analysis on 22 urine samples from prostate cancer patients who were disgnozed with prostate cancer
- Developed and validated statistical models to compare metabolic profiles across high vs. low PCa risk group
- Co-author for a manuscript published on Environmental Research (Furlong et al., 2025)
PFAS, Bone health: Per- and polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) and bone health in an ageing Hispanic population
- Conducted PFAS-bone association analysis in 250 older Hispanic participants from the Border Health Research Cohort (BHRC, formly known as CCHC)
- Lead author for a manuscript under development
Extreme heat, systematic review: Extreme Heat Exposure During Pregnancy and Birth Outcomes: A Review of Epidemiological Evidence and Policy Implications
- Assisted development of the original draft; review & edits
- Co-author a manuscript currently under peer review with Current Environmental Health Reports (Ramos et al., 2026)
Smoke exposure, Metabolomics: Evaluating Differential Metabolic Profiles by smoke exposure in mouse model and lung cells
- Integrate metabolomics analysis on mouse model and lung cell model to study the smoke effects, in relation to firefighters’ fireground exposure
- Develope a translational framework for the integration of animal model and mouse model
- Co-lead author for a manuscript under development
PFAS-Proteomics: Associations of Per- and Poly-fluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) and Untargeted Proteomic Profiles in AZ HEROES/RECOVER
- Assisted in proteomics analysis for 950+ frontline workers
- Contributed to a manuscript under development (Yang et al., 2026)

References

2026

CEHR

Extreme Heat Exposure During Pregnancy and Birth Outcomes: A Review of Epidemiological Evidence and Policy Implications

Rebecca Ramos, Paulina L. Ramirez, Rietta S. Wagoner, and 7 more authors

Current Environmental Health Reports, peer review, 2026

DOI
EHP

Associations of Per- and Poly-fluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) and Untargeted Proteomic Profiles in AZ HEROES/RECOVER

Audrey R. Yang, James G. Hollister, Tuo Liu, and 14 more authors

Environmental Health Perspective, under development, 2026

DOI

2025

EnvRes

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) and microRNA: an epigenome-wide association study in firefighters

Melissa A Furlong, Tuo Liu, Alesia Jung, and 4 more authors

Environmental Research, 2025

Abs DOI

The occupation of firefighting is classified as a Group 1 carcinogen. Increased cancer risk among firefighters may be partly attributable to increased occupational exposure to a range of chemicals, including per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Some PFAS are known and suspect human carcinogens. Investigating epigenetic response to these PFAS exposures in firefighters may help to identify biological pathways of specific cancers, and previously unidentified health outcomes that are associated with PFAS. We therefore investigated the associations of serum PFAS concentrations with miRNA expression in firefighters. Sera collected from 303 firefighters from 6 sites across the USA were analyzed for 9 PFAS along with miRNA expression. Linear regression was used to estimate associations between log PFAS and miRNA expression, with false discovery rate (FDR) set to 0.05 for significance, and an exploratory cutoff of FDR q<0.20. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was performed using miRTarBase’s miRWalk pathways. Age, race-ethnicity, BMI, fire department, and sex were controlled for in all models. At FDR<0.05, the linear isomer of perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) was inversely associated with hsa-miR-128-15p expression (Beta = -0.146, 95% CI -0.216, -0.076). At a relaxed FDR of 0.20, we observed inverse associations for the sum of branched isomers of PFOS with 5 miRNAs (hsa-let-7d-5p, hsa-let-7a-5p, hsa-miR-423-5p, hsa-let-7b-5p, has-mir-629-5p). Several pathways were enriched for multiple PFAS, including those correlated with certain cancers, blood diseases, thyroid disorders, autoimmune disorders, and neurological outcomes. Some PFAS in firefighters were found to be associated with alteration of miRNA consistent with increased risk for a range of chronic diseases.