Federal Grant Award Summary

The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) awarded The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York a $818,402 Project Grant on July 2, 2026, under the Environmental Health program (CFDA 93.113) to investigate the association between polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) exposure during reproductive windows of susceptibility and chronic disease risk biomarkers in midlife women. The research will leverage the existing Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health Mothers and Newborns Cohort, a prospective longitudinal study of 543 urban women followed since pregnancy who are now entering perimenopause. The study aims to examine whether PAH exposure—common pollutants found in air pollution, tobacco smoke, and certain foods—during critical reproductive periods such as pregnancy and perimenopause is associated with biomarkers indicative of cardiovascular disease and cancer risk in women at midlife.

The project addresses a critical gap in understanding sex-specific risk factors and life course exposures contributing to chronic disease in women, who experience disproportionate burdens of breast cancer and cardiovascular disease. Building on prior findings that PAH exposure during pregnancy was associated with altered breast tissue composition measured 15 years later, this research will extend longitudinal follow-up and employ validated biomarker assessments to establish mechanistic links between reproductive window exposures and long-term disease outcomes. The award period extends through June 30, 2031, supporting research conducted in New York, NY.