The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded two prestigious grants to researchers within Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai’s Department of Environmental Medicine
The Maximizing Opportunities for Scientific and Academic Independent Careers (MOSAIC) Postdoctoral Career Transition Award to Promote Diversity (K99/R00) awards are designed to support promising postdoctoral researchers from diverse backgrounds as they transition to independent, tenure-track faculty positions.
“This award is life-changing,” says Alcala. “It will provide access to resources and support as I transition from a postdoctoral fellow to a faculty position. I will also be able to conduct research that excites me and is focused on environmental exposures and implementation science. This award will make it a little easier to achieve my goals. And to get it on the first try, to be a MOSAIC K99/R00 scholar, it means the world.”
Cecilia S. Alcala, PhD, MPH, an instructor and former postdoctoral fellow, and Jamil M. Lane, PhD, MPH, an instructor and former postdoctoral fellow, will use their awards to gain skills, mentorship, and conduct innovative research utilizing the Department’s ongoing Programming Research in Obesity, Growth, Environment, and Social Stressors (PROGRESS) cohort in Mexico City.
Alcala plans to lead research on prenatal urban pesticide exposure and childhood lung function and asthma, including the creation of focus groups with adult and teen cohort members. Alcala expects to leverage the data to formulate effective prevention strategies to offer community members tools to reduce pesticide exposure.
“We have not assessed chemical literacy within the cohort, and I haven’t seen published papers that evaluate the perceptions of chemical exposures within the population,” Alcala says. “I’m excited that I’m able to do research I’m passionate about and that will hopefully influence policy.”
Born in Brooklyn with a congenital heart defect, Tetralogy of Fallot, Alcala received ongoing treatment at Mount Sinai Hospital as a child. She didn’t know anyone in her family who had the rare condition, and she remembers asking her cardiologist about the etiology of the condition.
“He would always teach me about the importance and roles of genetics and the environment and their associations to adverse health outcomes in children; it was my introduction to public and environmental health,” she says. “I am living my childhood dream working here. I forever grateful for the support and guidance of my phenomenal mentors and colleagues.”
Lane seeks to understand whether exposure to a mixture of phthalates in utero weakens the neurobehavioral systems in childhood, thereby leading to overeating and contributing to obesity in adolescence.
“What makes this study unique is that we’re hypothesizing that that relationship is mediated by inhibitory control and/or reward processing,” Lane says. “There are two sets of literature: research linking phthalates with BMI and then there is research that links phthalates with neurodevelopment. But there’s no study that has linked the obesogenic properties of phthalates with their neurotoxicity, with childhood BMI growth trajectories. We want to determine if this can form an integrated causal pathway.”
Lane will assess phthalate levels collected in urine samples during the prenatal and early postnatal period with neurobehavioral assessments at 4 – 6 years of age and BMI data collected from ages 6 to 17.
“My research can allow us to push the needle forward on environmental justice issues, to inform policy and intervention,” he says. “As a man of faith, I thank my Heavenly Father for this blessing and ordering my steps because the award means the world to me at this stage of my career. Since my master’s program, I’ve wanted to be an independent scientist.”
“We are so proud that our program has received not just 1, but 2 of these prestigious awards. The achievements of Dr. Alcala and Dr. Lane exemplify the profound impact of the MOSAIC K99/R00 award program on career development,” said Robert O. Wright, MD, MPH, Ethel H. Wise Chair of the Department of Environmental Medicine. “Their dedication to advancing environmental health research through innovative studies reflects the very essence of what this program is designed to support. By empowering talented researchers from diverse backgrounds, MOSAIC not only fosters groundbreaking scientific work but also strengthens our commitment to building a more inclusive and representative academic community. Drs. Alcala’s and Lane’s careers will have long lasting positive impacts on public health and environmental justice, making a meaningful difference in the lives of those most vulnerable to environmental stressors. This award is the first of many that will recognize their talents.”
Dr. Alcala is supported by grant # K99ES035894, and Dr. Lane is supported by grant # K99ES036277, both from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.