First of Its Kind in New York State and First to Integrate the Field of Exposomics
The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai has received a prestigious $4.5 million, five-year K12 award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to establish a pioneering program that will train the next generation of leaders in women’s health research.
The program, called the Mount Sinai Life-course Exposomics Analytic Program (LEAP) in Women’s Health, is led by Rosalind J. Wright, MD, MPH, Dean for Public Health and Chair of the Department of Public Health at the Icahn School of Medicine. LEAP is part of the NIH’s Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women’s Health initiative. LEAP is currently the initiative’s only active and funded program in New York State and the first nationally to integrate exposomics in women’s health research training.
LEAP will focus on the emerging field of exposomics—the study of how health is affected by the totality of environmental exposures across a person’s life, from conception onward. The program will provide support for three junior faculty scholars each year, giving them advanced training, mentorship, and resources to build independent research careers in women’s health.
“Advancing personalized medicine requires a deeper understanding of women’s health across the lifespan,” Dr. Wright said. “This includes conditions unique to women, such as reproductive outcomes, endometriosis, menopause, and gynecologic cancers, as well as disorders that affect women differently than men, including heart disease, lung disease, metabolic disorders, and mental health conditions. LEAP will allow us to accelerate training for early-career scientists and prepare them to lead innovative research that improves health outcomes for women everywhere.”
The program will provide scholars with a strong foundation in life-course theory, exposure science, epidemiology, and data science—essential tools for studying how environmental, social, nutritional, and chemical exposures influence women’s health across the lifespan. LEAP scholars will work closely with experts across disciplines including environmental medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, geriatrics, psychiatry, oncology, genomics, artificial intelligence, biomedical engineering, public health, and others.
“This new initiative builds upon Mount Sinai’s long-standing commitment to women’s health and environmental health research,” said Eric J. Nestler, MD, PhD, Interim Dean, Nash Family Professor of Neuroscience at the Icahn School of Medicine, and Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer of the Mount Sinai Health System. “Our institution has pioneered studies in how environmental exposures shape disease risk, and we are now uniquely positioned to integrate that expertise with women’s health research. LEAP will create a powerful training environment that not only prepares future leaders, but also generates discoveries with the potential to transform care for women across their lives.”
This article appeared originally in the Mount Sinai Health System Newsroom, October 15, 2025.