Research
Learn more about the community-engaged research we're doing at the Center for Healthy Air, Water and Soil.
Sidebar
CHAWS conducts community-facing projects that connect residents to research, revealing the place-based environmental determinants of health (air, water and land use) that influence wellness and chronic conditions like asthma, COPD, diabetes and heart disease. Through our work, we advocate for policies that improve the environmental factors that affect health. By investing in neighborhoods, we can enhance Louisville’s communities and make it possible for everyone to achieve good health. We believe that improving the places where people live, work and play through evidence-based public health interventions is key to promoting good health and reducing inequities.
Healthy Air
Current air research includes the Rubbertown Air Toxics and Health Assessment (RATHA), an EPA-funded partnership with Louisville Metro Government’s Air Pollution Control District (APCD), to investigate how current and historic industrial air pollution impacts health in the neighborhoods around Rubbertown. CHAWS supports the Green Heart Louisville project and has developed a method to investigate air pollution exposure through wastewater-based epidemiology.
Healthy Water
CHAWS has developed Louisville's wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) system that enables our team to track dozens of diseases and exposure to air pollution in real time across Jefferson County. This work began in 2019 through the Green Heart project and expanded in 2020 when we began tracking SARS-CoV-2 virus. Today, this work includes participation in the CDC’s National Wastewater Surveillance System (NWSS) and the Kentucky Wastewater Surveillance System (KWSS), investigations into pollution exposure (volatile organic compounds and heavy metals) in multiple locations around the city, emergency response, and screenings for diseases of special interest such as measles, bird flu and Hepatitis C. Since this work began, we have collected and analyzed more than 2,000 wastewater samples.
Healthy Soil
Soil is the foundation of our cities and represents the places we call home. Our neighborhood environments shape the choices we make and how we live, making the environmental factors that influence health an essential part of a healthy community. CHAWS investigates place-based environmental determinants of health — the physical and social factors in our surroundings that can influence our health and well-being. From the Universal Basic Neighborhood project to assessments of environmental vulnerabilities, we are working to understand how we can adjust the neighborhoods we’ve built to make them supportive of health.
Participatory Science
Participatory science offers an exciting opportunity for individuals to get involved in scientific research and make meaningful contributions to understanding the connections between our environment and health. By participating in projects like community monitoring, data collection or volunteer research, anyone can help advance scientific knowledge. You can contribute to the Center for Healthy Air, Water and Soil (CHAWS)’s research efforts, whether it's reporting odors through the Smell MyCity app or joining cleanup efforts along the Ohio River. Together, we can help protect our environment and improve public health.
Published Research
Discover how our studies are shaping public health policy and advancing scientific understanding.