UCLA experts partner for environmental health research

One researcher spent years studying the effects of poor air quality. Another focused her efforts on understanding neurodegenerative diseases. Now, the two researchers — UCLA’s Dr. Beate Ritz and Dr. Kimberly Paul — have combined their expertise to address questions at the intersection of environmental health and brain science.

Ritz, a professor of epidemiology and environmental health sciences at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, primarily studies the impact of air pollution and other environmental exposures on neurodevelopment. The vice chair of the epidemiology department also examines how these exposures can be tied to adverse birth outcomes and chronic diseases, among other areas of study.

Paul, a fellow epidemiologist and neurology professor, researches Parkinson's disease and which environmental components might play a role in the development of chronic conditions. Much of her lab work aims to identify the biological systems that may be vulnerable to exposure in Parkinson's patients, so they can be targeted in experimental models.

“People are my main source of motivation,” Paul said in an interview with UCLA Health.  “I think most of us have a personal connection to neurologic disorders, whether ourselves, our family members, friends or coworkers. I'm motivated to help find paths to prevent as much disease as possible or delay onset as long as possible.”

Their latest combined work has led to a surprising discovery about the effects of pesticide exposure before and during pregnancy. While pesticides are known to be a serious threat to public health, previous research did not examine how prenatal exposure to these chemical compounds affected the health outcomes of infants.

In their work, the UCLA researchers found that exposure to certain classes of pesticides before and during preconception and pregnancy is associated with lower Apgar scores, a commonly used metric for assessing newborn health at one and five minutes after birth.

“These findings suggest that interventions aimed at mitigating maternal agricultural pesticide exposures may improve newborn health,” said Ritz.

In the future, the researchers plan to analyze Medicaid records to determine if this association is consistent with long-term neurodevelopmental health outcomes through childhood. Funded by the National Institutes of Health, the study uncovered key information about the relationship between environmental exposures to specific active ingredients in agricultural pesticides. Work like this contributes to a better understanding of how environmental factors may shape neurodevelopmental conditions, enabling initiatives to improve public health for all.