Translating environmental exposures into equitable respiratory health.

Exposures are unevenly distributed. Their effects shouldn't go unnoticed.

Environmental exposures are unevenly distributed, and their health effects often go unnoticed until communities experience respiratory symptoms, inflammation, or disease exacerbations. My work addresses this challenge by integrating exposure science, immunology, microbiology, biomarker discovery, and computational data science to identify when and how biological and non-biological pollutants influence respiratory and immune health.

Through the RIPLRT Institute and collaborative research partnerships, my team studies indoor dust after hurricanes, fungal spores, airway microbiomes/mycobiomes, immune biomarkers, and population-level datasets to forecast short-term risk windows and support prevention. This work is especially focused on Puerto Rico, South Florida, and communities disproportionately affected by environmental and climate-related stressors. Across all projects, mentees are embedded from concept development to dissemination, building a diverse scientific workforce prepared to translate data into equitable health impact.