2024 Human and Planetary Health Early-Career Awards explore and create solutions at the intersection of trash and disease

Litter, once dismissed as an eyesore or nuisance, is more of a health concern than ever. 

Whether microplastics make their way into our bodies or discarded containers provide a breeding ground for disease-carrying mosquitoes, the impact is clear: trash hurts humans and the environment.

Collaborating with scholars across campus, Stanford University researchers will develop new methods to measure nano- and microplastics in human tissue and better understand the role of trash in spreading infectious disease during floods. The two projects are funded by Human and Planetary Health Early-Career Research Awards. These seed grants provide up to $200,000 for research efforts led by early-career Stanford faculty or instructors focused on solutions to complex health challenges involving climate, pollution, a changing ecology, and food and the environment.

“We are at this critical point where the planetary health consequences of pollution and climate change are accelerating, but so too are our technological capacities,” said 2024 grant awardee Joelle Rosser, an assistant professor of infectious diseases at the Stanford School of Medicine. “With the support of this grant, my lab is excited to have the opportunity to experiment with novel methods using high-resolution drone imaging and AI to study how trash and flooding affect infectious disease risk.” 

Stanford's Human and Planetary Health Initiative – a multi-disciplinary effort by the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment in close partnership with the Stanford School of Medicine’s Center for Innovation in Global Health – builds on a vibrant community of engaged faculty, staff, and students. The Initiative provides solutions-oriented research funding, events, and educational opportunities in four key focal areas: climate and health; pollution and health; disease ecology in a changing world; and food systems, health, and the environment.

“We’ve been thrilled to see the explosion of energy and deep engagement with human and planetary health research at Stanford,” said Allison Phillips, Managing Director of the Human and Planetary Health Initiative at the Woods Institute. “These grants are a core part of our effort to enable bold and interdisciplinary research that supports nature and sustains healthy communities.”

Related: Inaugural conference on pollution and health highlights the need for interdisciplinary effort

The Human and Planetary Health Early-Career Research Awards are part of the Environmental Venture Projects program at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment. Since its inception in 2004, the program has funded ambitious, interdisciplinary environmental research with the potential to generate transformative solutions.

“This project exemplifies the unique collaborative opportunities at Stanford and how they can extend to teams beyond our university,” said 2024 grant awardee Kara Meister, an assistant professor of pediatric otolaryngology at the Stanford School of Medicine. “We are excited to see these partnerships develop and anticipate that our findings will not only influence personal behaviors but also contribute to public policy.”

2024 Projects

Impact of flooding and trash on climate-sensitive infectious diseases

Principal Investigator: Joelle Rosser

Extreme weather events like flooding are becoming more frequent and severe with climate change. Trash in the environment can amplify infectious disease transmission during floods. Inadequate tools for mapping human exposure to floods and trash limits our understanding of how flood and trash dynamics confer disease risk. Additionally, researchers currently lack reproducible methods to quantify a change in trash abundance to test the impact of trash reduction interventions. This study aims to pilot a novel approach to high-resolution mapping and quantification of flooding and trash using robotic drones. This study will also test the hypothesis that higher flood and trash exposure at the household level increases the risk of climate-sensitive infectious diseases.

Measuring Nano/Microplastics in Human Immune Tissue

Principal Investigator: Kara Meister

Over 430 million tons of plastic are produced yearly, with a projected growth of about 5% annually. Measuring plastics is complex, akin to assessing the dirt in your yard; you could measure it by weight, area, or its capacity to support your favorite succulent. Similarly, dirt can be defined as sand, soil, clay, etc. This complexity mirrors the challenge of quantifying nano- and microplastics in human tissues, which can consist of various “forever chemicals” conjugated to different dyes, compounds, and other materials. This project unites multiple labs and research groups across Stanford’s campus to advance the ability to detect and measure nano- and microplastics in human tissue. Accurately measuring nano- and microplastics in human tissue is a critical step toward evaluating the potential effects of plastics on human systems, monitoring impacts across the population, and ultimately informing policy and personal choices regarding exposure to plastics.

For more information or to get involved, reach out to the Human and Planetary Health Managing Director, Allison Phillips: ap10@stanford.edu

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