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Andrea Baccarelli

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Andrea Baccarelli
10th Dean of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 1, 2024
Preceded byJane Kim (interim)
Personal details
BornItaly
CitizenshipAmerican, Italian (Dual citizenship)
EducationPhD, University of Milan

MPH, University of Turin

MD, University of Perugia

Andrea Baccarelli is an Italian American epigeneticist and clinical endocrinologist, best known for his academic contributions in the field of epigenetics, mitochondriomics, and computational epigenomics, with a research focus on investigating the impact of environmental exposures on human health.[1] He currently serves as the 10th dean of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.[2]

Education and career

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Baccarelli graduated cum laude with a medical degree from the University of Perugia, Italy in 1995, obtained his Master of Science in Epidemiology from the University of Turin, Italy, and his Ph.D. in Occupational Health and Industrial Hygiene from the Universita' degli Studi di Milano, Italy, in 2003.[3]

He completed his residency in endocrinology at the University of Milan and his postdoctoral fellowship at the National Cancer Institute's Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics (2000–2004).[4]

Baccarelli has served as the Dean of the Faculty at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health since January 2024. He previously taught at the Harvard Chan School as the Mark and Catherine Winkler Associate Professor of Environmental Epigenetics from 2010 to 2016.[5]

He also served as Professor and Chair of the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health from 2016 to 2023.[6][7] While at Columbia, he led the NIEHS Center for Environmental Health and Justice in Northern Manhattan, which brought together scientists, advocates, community organizations and the public to understand health concerns caused by environmental exposures and to address inequities.[8]

Baccarelli's research has pioneered the field of public health epigenetics, which explores how environmental factors can modify gene expression without changing the DNA sequence.[9] His studies have demonstrated that air pollution can alter the epigenome, leading to changes in gene regulation that may contribute to the development of diseases such as cardiovascular disorders and neurodegenerative conditions.[10][11]

Baccarelli conducted research showing that short-term exposure to air pollution, including levels considered "acceptable," can impair cognitive ability in the elderly.[12][13][14] Baccarelli also found that the use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as aspirin partially protected against the negative cognitive effects of pollution.[15] He also conducted research showing that ambient air pollution is associated with an increased risk of osteoporosis and bone fractures in older individuals.[16][17]

Awards and recognition

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In 2020, Baccarelli was elected to the National Academy of Medicine.[18] He has also been an active member of the International Society of Environmental Epidemiology, serving as the society's president from 2022 to 2023.[19]

Baccarelli was recognized as the “Person of the Year” by the City of Perugia, Italy.[20][21]

In 2024, he was honored as the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Hans L. Falk Memorial Lecture Award recipient, recognizing his contributions to environmental health sciences.[22]

Selected publications

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  • Baccarelli A, Bollati V. Epigenetics and environmental chemicals. Curr Opin Pediatr. 2009 Apr;21(2):243-51.[23]
  • Marioni, R.E., Shah, S., McRae, A.F. et al. DNA methylation age of blood predicts all-cause mortality in later life. Genome Biol 16, 25 (2015).[24]
  • Baccarelli, Andrea; Wright, Robert O.; Bollati, Valentina. et al. "Rapid DNA Methylation Changes after Exposure to Traffic Particles".[25]
  • Bollati, Valentina, et al. "Changes in DNA methylation patterns in subjects exposed to low-dose benzene." Cancer research 67.3 (2007): 876–880.[26]
  • Levine, Morgan E., et al. "An epigenetic biomarker of aging for lifespan and healthspan." Aging (Albany NY) 10.4 (2018): 573.[27]
  • Kupsco, Allison, et al. Prenatal Metal Concentrations and Childhood Cardiometabolic Risk Using Bayesian Kernel Machine Regression to Assess Mixture and Interaction Effects. Epidemiology. 2019;30(2):263-273.[28]
  • Turner, Michelle C, et al. Outdoor air pollution and cancer: An overview of the current evidence and public health recommendations. CA Cancer J Clin. 2020.[29]
  • Bell, Christopher G, et al. DNA methylation aging clocks: challenges and recommendations. Genome Biology. 2019;20(1):249.[30]
  • Wu H, Eckhardt CM, Baccarelli AA. Molecular mechanisms of environmental exposures and human disease. Nature Reviews Genetics. 2023;24(5):332-344.[31]
  • Piscitelli, Prisco, et al. The role of outdoor and indoor air quality in the spread of SARS-CoV-2: Overview and recommendations by the research group on COVID-19 and particulate matter (RESCOP commission). Environ Res. 2022;211:113038.[32]
  • Peters A, Nawrot TS, Baccarelli AA. Hallmarks of environmental insults. Cell. 2021;184(6):1455-1468.[33]
  1. ^ "Andrea A. Baccarelli". scholar.google.com. Retrieved 2021-10-21.
  2. ^ "Harvard names new dean of public health school – NBC Boston". 2024-01-01. Archived from the original on 2024-01-01. Retrieved 2024-01-01.
  3. ^ "Una vita per la ricerca, Il Baiocco d'oro a Baccarelli". Tuttoggi (in Italian). 2018-08-21. Retrieved 2021-10-22.
  4. ^ "Andrea Baccarelli | Columbia Public Health". www.publichealth.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2021-10-21.
  5. ^ gazetteterrymurphy (2023-10-11). "Next dean of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health announced". Harvard Gazette. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
  6. ^ "Air pollution spikes may impair older men's thinking, study finds". the Guardian. 2021-05-03. Retrieved 2021-10-21.
  7. ^ ""C'è una relazione tra inquinamento e capacità cognitive"". la Repubblica (in Italian). 2021-05-21. Retrieved 2021-10-21.
  8. ^ "Andrea Baccarelli - The Data Science Institute at Columbia University". 2023-01-29. Archived from the original on 2023-01-29. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
  9. ^ Kirkpatrick, Bailey (2016-07-28). "3 Pioneering Epigenetic Labs: Exploring the People and Discoveries that Transcend the Lab Walls". What is Epigenetics?. Retrieved 2023-06-22.
  10. ^ Kirkpatrick, Bailey (2017-05-30). "B Vitamins Protect Against Harmful Epigenetic Effects of Air Pollution". What is Epigenetics?. Retrieved 2023-06-22.
  11. ^ "How our environment is making us sick – and what we can do about it". New Scientist. Retrieved 2023-06-22.
  12. ^ Bakalar, Nicholas (2021-05-17). "Air Pollution Takes a Toll on the Brain". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-06-22.
  13. ^ "Short-term exposure to air pollution may impede cognition, Aspirin could help: Study". in.style.yahoo.com. 2021-05-04. Retrieved 2023-06-22.
  14. ^ Sample, Ian (2021-05-03). "Air pollution spikes may impair older men's thinking, study finds". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-06-22.
  15. ^ Sample, Ian (2021-05-03). "Air pollution spikes may impair older men's thinking, study finds". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-06-22.
  16. ^ "Does air pollution affect osteoporosis? Science finds a connection". Fortune Well. Retrieved 2023-06-22.
  17. ^ "Air pollution speeds up bone loss from osteoporosis: Study - ET HealthWorld". ETHealthworld.com. Retrieved 2023-06-22.
  18. ^ "Five Elected to the National Academy of Medicine". Columbia University Irving Medical Center. 2020-10-16. Retrieved 2021-10-21.
  19. ^ "Leadership - International Society for Environmental Epidemiology". www.iseepi.org. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
  20. ^ "Perugia consegna il Baiocco d'oro al professor Andrea Baccarelli: "È uno dei nostri figli migliori"". Umbria24.it (in Italian). 21 August 2018. Retrieved 2021-10-22.
  21. ^ "Baiocco d'Oro al super professore perugino: "Oggi la città premia uno dei suoi figli migliori"". PerugiaToday (in Italian). Retrieved 2021-10-22.
  22. ^ "Falk lecturer discusses new methods to detect environmental exposures". National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Retrieved 2024-12-19.
  23. ^ Baccarelli, Andrea; Bollati, Valentina (2009). "Epigenetics and environmental chemicals". Current Opinion in Pediatrics. 21 (2): 243–251. doi:10.1097/MOP.0b013e32832925cc. ISSN 1040-8703. PMC 3035853. PMID 19663042.
  24. ^ Marioni, Riccardo E; Shah, Sonia; McRae, Allan F; Chen, Brian H; Colicino, Elena; Harris, Sarah E; Gibson, Jude; Henders, Anjali K; Redmond, Paul; Cox, Simon R; Pattie, Alison (2015). "DNA methylation age of blood predicts all-cause mortality in later life". Genome Biology. 16 (1): 25. doi:10.1186/s13059-015-0584-6. ISSN 1474-760X. PMC 4350614. PMID 25633388.
  25. ^ Baccarelli, Andrea; Wright, Robert O.; Bollati, Valentina; Tarantini, Letizia; Litonjua, Augusto A.; Suh, Helen H.; Zanobetti, Antonella; Sparrow, David; Vokonas, Pantel S.; Schwartz, Joel (2009). "Rapid DNA Methylation Changes after Exposure to Traffic Particles". American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. 179 (7): 572–578. doi:10.1164/rccm.200807-1097OC. ISSN 1073-449X. PMC 2720123. PMID 19136372.
  26. ^ Bollati, Valentina; Baccarelli, Andrea; Hou, Lifang; Bonzini, Matteo; Fustinoni, Silvia; Cavallo, Domenico; Byun, Hyang-Min; Jiang, Jiayi; Marinelli, Barbara; Pesatori, Angela C.; Bertazzi, Pier A. (2007-02-01). "Changes in DNA Methylation Patterns in Subjects Exposed to Low-Dose Benzene". Cancer Research. 67 (3): 876–880. doi:10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-06-2995. hdl:11383/1708214. ISSN 0008-5472. PMID 17283117. S2CID 15163723.
  27. ^ Levine, Morgan E.; Lu, Ake T.; Quach, Austin; Chen, Brian H.; Assimes, Themistocles L.; Bandinelli, Stefania; Hou, Lifang; Baccarelli, Andrea A.; Stewart, James D.; Li, Yun; Whitsel, Eric A. (2018-04-18). "An epigenetic biomarker of aging for lifespan and healthspan". Aging. 10 (4): 573–591. doi:10.18632/aging.101414. ISSN 1945-4589. PMC 5940111. PMID 29676998.
  28. ^ Kupsco, Allison; Kioumourtzoglou, Marianthi-Anna; Just, Allan C; Amarasiriwardena, Chitra; Estrada-Gutierrez, Guadalupe; Cantoral, Alejandra; Sanders, Alison P; Braun, Joseph M; Svensson, Katherine; Brennan, Kasey JM; Oken, Emily; Wright, Robert O; Baccarelli, Andrea A.; Téllez-Rojo, Maria M (March 2019). "Prenatal metal concentrations and childhood cardio-metabolic risk using Bayesian Kernel Machine Regression to assess mixture and interaction effects". Epidemiology. 30 (2): 263–273. doi:10.1097/EDE.0000000000000962. ISSN 1044-3983. PMC 6402346. PMID 30720588.
  29. ^ Turner, Michelle C.; Andersen, Zorana J.; Baccarelli, Andrea; Diver, W. Ryan; Gapstur, Susan M.; Pope, C. Arden; Prada, Diddier; Samet, Jonathan; Thurston, George; Cohen, Aaron (November 2020). "Outdoor air pollution and cancer: An overview of the current evidence and public health recommendations". CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians. 70 (6): 460–479. doi:10.3322/caac.21632. ISSN 0007-9235. PMC 7904962. PMID 32964460.
  30. ^ Bell, Christopher G.; Lowe, Robert; Adams, Peter D.; Baccarelli, Andrea A.; Beck, Stephan; Bell, Jordana T.; Christensen, Brock C.; Gladyshev, Vadim N.; Heijmans, Bastiaan T.; Horvath, Steve; Ideker, Trey; Issa, Jean-Pierre J.; Kelsey, Karl T.; Marioni, Riccardo E.; Reik, Wolf (2019-11-25). "DNA methylation aging clocks: challenges and recommendations". Genome Biology. 20 (1): 249. doi:10.1186/s13059-019-1824-y. ISSN 1474-760X. PMC 6876109. PMID 31767039.
  31. ^ Wu, Haotian; Eckhardt, Christina M.; Baccarelli, Andrea A. (May 2023). "Molecular mechanisms of environmental exposures and human diseases". Nature Reviews Genetics. 24 (5): 332–344. doi:10.1038/s41576-022-00569-3. ISSN 1471-0056. PMC 10562207. PMID 36717624.
  32. ^ Piscitelli, Prisco; Miani, Alessandro; Setti, Leonardo; De Gennaro, Gianluigi; Rodo, Xavier; Artinano, Begona; Vara, Elena; Rancan, Lisa; Arias, Javier; Passarini, Fabrizio; Barbieri, Pierluigi; Pallavicini, Alberto; Parente, Alessandro; D'Oro, Edoardo Cavalieri; De Maio, Claudio (August 2022). "The role of outdoor and indoor air quality in the spread of SARS-CoV-2: Overview and recommendations by the research group on COVID-19 and particulate matter (RESCOP commission)". Environmental Research. 211: 113038. Bibcode:2022ER....211k3038P. doi:10.1016/j.envres.2022.113038. ISSN 0013-9351. PMC 8881809. PMID 35231456.
  33. ^ Peters A, Nawrot TS, Baccarelli AA. Hallmarks of environmental insults. Cell. 2021;184(6):1455-1468.
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