Understanding the impact of the environment on health
Dr. Adar's research focuses on the human health effects of air pollution, with a growing interest in identifying intervention strategies to reduce exposures and improve health. She has served as an expert panelist for the Environmental Protection Agency and World Health Organization, including participation in the critical review of the science to support the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for particulate matter and sulfur oxides.
Dr. Adar's current initiatives include:
- Cardiovascular, pulmonary, and cognitive health effects of air pollution
- Cardiovascular and cognitive health effects of noise
- Roadway exposures to traffic-related pollution and health
- Interventions to reduce public health burdens of environmental exposures
- Population burdens of environmental exposures
- Spatial prediction models for air pollution and noise in communities
Credentials
- B.S., Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1996
- M.S., Health Science, Environmental Health Science & Engineering, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, 1998
- Sc.D., Environmental health, Harvard School of Public Health, 2005
Honors & Awards
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- Best Environmental Epidemiology Paper of the Year, International Society of Environmental Epidemiology, 2017
- A paper of the year, National Institute of Environmental & Health Sciences (NIEHS), 2016
- Elected Executive Board Member, International Society for Environmental Epidemiology, 2016
- Excellence in Teaching Award, University of Michigan School of Public Health, 2014
- Research papers selected as “Editor’s Picks”, PLoS Medicine, 2010, 2013
- John G Searle Assistant Professorship, University of Michigan, 2011-2017
- Sandra Daugherty Award for Excellence in Cardiovascular Epidemiology, American Heart Association, 2011
- Wang M, Barr RG, Hoffman EA, Madrigano J, Aaron CP, Sampson PD, Sheppard L, Adar SD, Vedal S, Kaufman JD. Long-term exposure to air pollution, change in quantitatively assessed emphysema on computed tomography, and lung function decline in the MESA Air and Lung Studies. JAMA. 2019;322(6):546–556. doi:10.1001/jama.2019.10255
- Adar SD, Chen YH*, D’Souza J, O’Neill MS, Szpiro AA, Auchincloss AH, Park SK, Daviglus ML, Diez-Roux AV, Kaufman JD. Longitudinal analysis of long-term air pollution exposures and blood pressure: A cautionary tale from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis. Environ Health Perspect. Vol 126(10): 107003-1-11. doi.org/10.1289/EHP2966 .
- Morishita M, Adar SD, D’Souza J, Spino C, Bard RL, Ziemba RA, Brook R. Effect of portable air filtration systems on personal exposure to fine particulate matter and blood pressure among residents in a low-income senior facility: A randomized clinical trial . JAMA Intern Med. 2018. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2018.3308
- D’Souza J, Kawut S, Elkayam LR*, Sheppard L, Barr RG, Thorne P, Jacobs DR, Bluemke DA, Lima J, Kaufman JD, Larson TV, Adar SD. Long-term exposures to ambient coarse particulate matter and right ventricular mass and function: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis. Env Health Persp. 2017. 125(7):077019-1-077019-8. doi:10.1289/EHP658
- Pedde M*, Szpiro AA, Hallenbeck M, Adar SD. Mortality and local fluctuations in traffic congestion: A case-crossover study . Am J Epidemiol. 2017. 186(5):564-572 doi: 10.1093/aje/kwx130
- Kaufman JD, Spalt EW, Curl CL, Hajat A, Jones MR, Kim SY, Vedal S, Szpiro A, Sheppard L, Daviglus ML, Adar SD. Advances in Understanding Air Pollution and Cardiovascular Diseases: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis and Air Pollution (MESA Air) . Global Heart. 2016. 11(3):343-352. doi.org/10.1016/j.gheart.2016.07.004
- Adar SD, Huffnagle G, Curtis J. Is the respiratory microbiome an underappreciated player in the human response to inhaled pollutants? Ann Epidemiol. 2016. 26(5):355-359. doi: 10.1016/j.annepidem.2016.03.010.
- Kaufman JD, Adar SD, Barr RG, Budoff M, Burke GL, Curl CL, Daviglus ML, Diez Roux AV, Gassett AJ, Jacobs DR Jr, Kronmal R, Larson TV, Navas-Acien A, Olives C, Sampson PD, Sheppard L, Siscovick D, Stein JH, Szpiro AA, Watson K. Association between air pollution and coronary artery calcium within six metropolitan areas in the USA (the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis and Air Pollution): a longitudinal cohort study (2016). Lancet. epub ahead of print.
- Adar SD, D’Souza J, Sheppard L, Jahnke J, Halstrand T, Kaufman JD, Davey ME, Sullivan JR, Koenig J, Lewtas J, Liu LJS. (2015). Changes in Air Pollution Exposures and Pulmonary Health in Children with the Adoption of Clean Fuels and Technologies on School Buses: A Semi-Experimental Intervention Study. Am J Resp Crit Care Med. 191(12):1413-21. doi: 10.1164/rccm.201410-1924OC.
- Adar SD, Kaufman JD, Diez-Roux AV, Hoffman EA, D’Souza J, Hinckley Stukovsky KD, Rich SS, Rotter JI, Guo X, Raffel LJ, Sampson P, Oron AP, Raghunathan T, Barr RG. (2015) Air pollution and percent emphysema identified by computed tomography in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis. Environ Health Persp. 123(2). 144-151.
- Adar SD, Filigrana-Villegas PA*, Clements NS, Peel J. (2014). Ambient coarse particulate matter and human health: A systematic review and meta-analysis Curr Environ Health Reports.
- Adar SD, Sheppard EL, Vedal S, Polak JF, Sampson PD, Roux AD, Budoff M, Jacobs D, Barr RG, Watson K, Kaufman JD (2013). Fine particulate air pollution and the progression of carotid intima-medial thickness in a prospective cohort study: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis and Air Pollution PLoS Medicine.
- Adar SD, Klein R, Klein BE, Szpiro AA, Cotch MF, Wong TY, ONeill MS, Shrager S, Barr RG, Siscovick DS, Daviglus ML, Sampson PD, Kaufman JD (2010). Air pollution and the microvasculature: A cross-sectional assessment of in vivo retinal images in the population-based Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) PLoS Medicine.
- Allen RW, Davies H, Cohen MA, Mallach G, Kaufman J, Adar SD (2009). The relationship between traffic-generated air pollution and noise in 2 US Cities Environmental Research 334-342. Elsevier
- Van Hee VC, Adar SD, Szpiro A, Sheppard L, Roux AD, Barr RG, Bluemke DA, Gill EA, Kaufman J. (2009). Air pollution exposure and left ventricular mass and function: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine 827-834.
- Adar SD, Davey ME, Sullivan JR, Compher M, and Liu LJS (2008). Predicting airborne particulate levels aboard Washington school buses Inhalation Toxicology 7590-7599.
- Adar SD and Kaufman J (2007). Cardiovascular disease and air pollutants: Evaluating and improving epidemiological data implicating traffic exposure Inhalation Toxicology 135-149.
- Adar SD, Suh H, Schwartz J, Coull BA, Stone P, and Gold DR (2007). Focused exposures to airborne particulates from traffic and heart rate variability in the elderly Epidemiology 95-103. Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins
- Dubowsky SD, Suh H, Schwartz J, Coull BA, Gold DR. (2006). Diabetes, Obesity, and Hypertension May Enhance Associations between Air Pollution and Markers of Systemic Inflammation Environmental Health Perspectives 992-998.