{"id":58,"date":"2009-02-09T17:10:00","date_gmt":"2009-02-09T22:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/med.sites.unc.edu\/cemalb\/about-the-center\/"},"modified":"2026-03-25T22:08:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T02:08:15","slug":"about-the-center","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/cemalb\/about-the-center\/","title":{"rendered":"About the Center"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>CEMALB Mission<\/h3>\n<p>Improving health for all through translational innovations in lung biology, convergence science, and environmental medicine.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>CEMALB Vision<\/h3>\n<p>Advancing human respiratory health through environmental research<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>CEMALB History<\/h3>\n<p>The Center for Environmental Medicine and Lung Biology of the School of Medicine was established in 1979 under the leadership of Dr. Phillip Bromberg and is broadly concerned with environmental impacts on human health and on respiratory health in particular. Under the leadership of Dr. David Peden, the name was changed in 2002 to the Center for Environmental Medicine, Asthma, and Lung Biology to reflect an increasing disease-specific focus of the research conducted by Center investigators. In May of 2020, Dr. Ilona Jaspers was named director of the Center, where she served until December of 2024. During that time, she initiated Convergence Science in Environmental Health (COSINE), a programmatic theme in CEMALB. Since January 2025, the Center has been led by Dr. Neil Alexis, who is further broadening the Center\u2019s emphasis on training, integration of data, and translating research to affect relevant interest holders.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>CEMALB Research Focus<\/h3>\n<p>Multidisciplinary approaches and a variety of experimental models are used by CEMALB investigators to study the effects of inhaled contaminants on diseased and healthy human subjects to identify biological mechanisms, establish dose-response patterns, and screen toxicants and potential interventions. These include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Controlled exposures of human volunteers to model pollutants<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Organotypic cell culture models and cell lines studied <i>in vitro<\/i><\/li>\n<li>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Animals studied <i>in vivo<\/i><\/li>\n<li>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Non-invasive sampling of human cohorts to establish biomarkers of environmental exposures in larger population studies<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 In silico\/computational integration of environmental exposure data with human cohort data and electronic medical records<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The Center uses sophisticated <i>in vitro <\/i>exposure systems to assess the effects of toxicants on cells.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>CEMALB Partners<\/h3>\n<p>We have collaborated with a number of researchers across the UNC system. Investigators from a variety of departments in the Schools of Medicine, Public Health, Nursing, Pharmacy, and the College of Arts and Sciences have been involved in CEMALB activities. This includes our long-time collaborations with investigators from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/marsicolunginstitute\/\">Marsico Lung Institute<\/a> focused on a variety of topics, including COPD, military burn pit exposures, and research related to other lung diseases. A more recent partner in the CEMALB\u2019s research efforts, particularly related to the effects of inhaled toxicants on pediatric lung diseases, is the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/marsicolunginstitute\/\">Children\u2019s Research Institute<\/a>. In the Gillings School of Public Health, we have partnered with the <a href=\"https:\/\/sph.unc.edu\/cehs\/center-for-environmental-health-and-susceptibility\/\">Center for Environmental Health and Susceptibility<\/a>, the <a href=\"https:\/\/sph.unc.edu\/superfund-pages\/srp\/\">UNC Superfund Research Program<\/a>, and the <a href=\"https:\/\/sph.unc.edu\/iehs\/institute-for-environmental-health-solutions\/\">Institute for Environmental Health Solutions<\/a>. Finally, we work regularly with the<a href=\"https:\/\/ie.unc.edu\/\"> Institute for the Environment<\/a> to communicate our research to the general public, lawmakers, and other community interest holders. Collectively, these partnerships emphasize the integrated and trans-disciplinary approach to recognize environmental health effects, identify susceptible populations, develop potential solutions, and communicate this knowledge with relevant interest holders.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>CEMALB Training Opportunities<\/h3>\n<p>CEMALB takes pride in training the next generation of scientists and medical professionals who will continue investigating the effects of the environment on human health. Our trainees successfully gain skills in clinical, <i>in vitro<\/i>, and <i>in silico<\/i> studies, regulatory processes, data analysis, presentation of research to broad audiences in a variety of forums, and general professional development. These skills translate to successful admission to professional schools and jobs in all sectors from academia to government to industry.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to applied and basic research programs, CEMALB offers educational and research training opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students as well as postdoctoral and clinical fellows. In 2011, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/toxicology\/\">Curriculum in Toxicology and Environmental Medicine<\/a> (CiTEM), a graduate training program, became housed in CEMALB under the direction of Dr. Ilona Jaspers, where she served as director until December 2024. Since 2025, the program has been led by Dr. Rebuli.\u00a0This pan-campus graduate training program is funded by a long-standing NIEHS\/NIH T32 Training grant. In addition, the Center has provided training opportunities for students from the Departments of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Microbiology and Immunology, Biomedical Engineering, and Biostatistics, as well as clinical trainees in Allergy\/Immunology, Pulmonology, and Surgery.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>CEMALB Funding and Sponsorship<\/h3>\n<p>CEMALB administers grants from various federal and non-federal sponsors including the NIH, DoD, FDA, CDC, and NSF, as well as foundation and industry-sponsored partnerships. CEMALB participates in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/marsicolunginstitute\/event\/visiting-pulmonary-scholar-seminar-speaker-stephanie-shore-phd\/\">Visiting Pulmonary Scholar Program,<\/a> Research Conferences, and Seminars related to basic science and clinical studies in environmental health sciences.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>CEMALB Locations<\/h3>\n<p>The Center has administrative offices and laboratories located at Carolina Crossing C (2234 Nelson Hwy, Chapel Hill, NC 27517), as well as the UNC Children&#8217;s Research Institute at Mary Ellen Jones (116 Manning Drive).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>CEMALB Mission Improving health for all through translational innovations in lung biology, convergence science, and environmental medicine. CEMALB Vision Advancing human respiratory health through environmental research CEMALB History The Center for Environmental Medicine and Lung Biology of the School of Medicine was established in 1979 under the leadership of Dr. Phillip Bromberg and is broadly &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/cemalb\/about-the-center\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about About the Center\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":104895,"featured_media":2094,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-58","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","odd"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>About the Center | Center for Environmental Medicine, Asthma and Lung Biology<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/cemalb\/about-the-center\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"About the Center | Center for Environmental Medicine, Asthma and Lung Biology\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"CEMALB Mission Improving health for all through translational innovations in lung biology, convergence science, and environmental medicine. 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