Current Funded Projects
The REACH Center supports two initially funded projects:
- RESEARCH PROJECT 1: Transportation, Health, and Equity: A Community-Centered Study of Road Pricing in Washington, D.C
- RESEARCH PROJECT 2: Landscape fire PM2.5, air conditioning, and mortality among dialysis patients
The primary objective of this project is to quantify health and equity implications associated with road pricing schemes under consideration in the Washington, District of Columbia, area.
The transportation sector is the largest contributor of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the United States. Within this sector, over 80% of GHGs come from motor vehicles. The impacts of vehicle emissions on health are particularly pronounced in cities, where vehicles are a dominant emissions source and a major driver of health inequities. Road pricing (alternatively called congestion pricing) is a climate change mitigation strategy being considered in cities around the world as a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector, reduce congestion and commuting times, shift travel from vehicles to public transit and other active transport modes, reduce traffic-related injuries, and improve transportation equity.
This project, which was co-generated in collaboration with Greater Greater Washington (GGWash), a community group involved in proposals to implement climate action in the Washington, DC, area, focuses on the District as a case study for assessing how road pricing may mitigate traffic-related health outcomes and associated inequities. The primary significance of this project over existing literature is estimating health and equity benefits of proposed road pricing schemes using state-of-the-science transportation, air quality, and health outcomes models at community-relevant scales.
Key Personnel:
Director: Lucas Henneman, PhD
Co-Director: Kelvin Fong, ScD
Investigators: Rachel Clark, JD; Zhengtian Xu, PhD; Jenna Krall, PhD; Daniel Tong, PhD
Other Significant Contributors: Administrative Core and Exposure Assessment Core - Gaige Kerr, PhD; Community Engagement Core - Maria Harris, PhD
RESEARCH PROJECT 2: Landscape fire PM2.5, air conditioning, and mortality among dialysis patients
The primary objective of this project is to examine the association between landscape fire PM2.5 and long-term mortality among end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients receiving dialysis, and to determine whether the prevalence of air conditioning has a relationship with mortality in this patient population.
End-stage renal disease (ESRD) is a disease that results in premature mortality and substantially reduced quality of life. Climate change is anticipated to increase the global burden of kidney disease generally, including ESRD, in large part, due to the expected rise in temperatures.
This project, which was co-generated in collaboration with American Association of Kidney Patients (AAKP), a national independent kidney patient organization in the U.S., focuses on assessing whether repeat events of exposure to landscape fire smoke can impact long-term mortality in ESRD patients and whether air conditioning (AC) could serve as a possible preventive measure for dialysis patients with respect to climate change. The primary significance of this project is to use a large geospatial landscape fire PM2.5 dataset and national level renal data to generate findings that are translatable to ESRD patients, medical care and dialysis providers, and other end-users.
Key Personnel:
Director: Kate Applebaum, ScD
Investigators: Pramita Bagchi, PhD; Dominic Raj, MD;
Other Significant Contributors: Administrative Core - Susan Anenberg, PhD; Exposure Assessment Core - Joseph Wilkins, PhD; Community Engagement Core - Maria Harris, PhD; Kristi Pullen Fedinick, PhD