February 2026 Notes from the Director

In memory of Lonnie Sears

We are saddened by the passing of our colleague Dr. Lonnie Sears. He played a key role in the project investigating the linkages between childhood behavior disorders and exposure to heavy metals in coal ash in children living in the vicinity of the Cane Run power plant. His obituary describes his lifelong contributions.

P30 grant update
The good news is that the P30 application was scored. The summary statement arrived on January 30 but the conversation with the program official will not occur until February 6. In the meantime, CIEHS has enough resources on hand to continue offering our intellectual support services. We will schedule a retreat soon to discuss the way forward.

EHSCC 2025 Annual Meeting
The EHSCC 2025 Annual Meeting was held October 27-30 and hosted by the University of Kentucky P30 (UK-CARES). CIEHS played a large role in the success of the meeting as follows.

Amanda LeBlanc co-chaired Plenary 2: Pilot Projects: Moving Through the Translational Research Framework

In which Becky Antle presented Environmental Health Disparities in Louisville Refugee and Immigrant Communities: A Participatory Action Research Needs Assessment.

Colleen Quinter presented "Program Management and Tracking Best Practices – Pilot Projects" during the Business Administration section. 

Posters:
Lauren Anderson
The Health Impact Evaluation Tool: Empowering Communities and Clinicians with Environmental Health Data

Natalie DuPre
Urinary Metabolites of Volatile Organic Compounds and Colorectal Cancer Incidence: A Clinical Case-Control Study

Frederick Adams Ekuban
Environmental Forever Chemical Exposures Modify the Severity of Alcohol-Associated Liver Disease

David Hein
Public Health Effects Related to Hyperscale Data Centers: A Community Event in Oldham County Kentucky

Jiapeng Huang
Effects of Chronic Cadmium Exposure in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension

Alexandra Nail
DNA damage response inhibition is an early event in cadmium-induced breast carcinogenesis