Vice-Chair of Research in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at Columbia Mailman School of Public Health

Ana Navas-Acien is a Professor and Vice-Chair of Research in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at Columbia Mailman School of Public Health. She is a physician-epidemiologist (MD, University of Granada, Spain ’96) with a specialty in Preventive Medicine and Public Health (Hospital La Paz, Madrid ’01) and a PhD in Epidemiology (Johns Hopkins University ’05). Her research investigates the health effects of environmental exposures (metals, tobacco smoke, e-cigarettes, air pollution), molecular pathways and gene-environment interactions, and effective interventions for reducing involuntary exposures and their health effects.

She is Director of the Columbia Northern Plains Superfund Research Program, Scientific Director of the Multi-Element Trace Analysis Laboratory (METALab), and Faculty Director of the Program to Inspire Minority and Underserved Undergraduates in Environmental Health Sciences Research (PrIMER)  at Columbia University.

She serves as PI of environmental studies in the Strong Heart Study, a study of cardiovascular disease and its risk factors in American Indian communities; the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA), a study of cardiovascular, metabolic and lung disease in urban settings across the US; the Trial to Assess Chelation Therapy 2 (TACT2), a clinical trial about the benefits of metal chelation; the VapeScan Study, a study of young adults from New York City; and India-FOCUS, a study evaluating risk factors for chronic kidney disease of unknown origin as part of the CURE consortium.

She serves in numerous scientific, editorial and community-based committees and boards, including serving as chair of the Kidney, Diabetes and Digestive Disorders NIH study section. Her goals are to contribute to the reduction of environmental health inequalities in disproportionately exposed populations.