Research Summary

My research program focuses primarily on the epidemiology and toxicology of the pulmonary system, with additional research work on injury epidemiology (including poisoning and drug overdose) and on the history of occupational health. My research program has been composed of two principal components: (1) examining the etiologic burden and outcomes of lung disease, with an emphasis on interactions between workplace exposures and disease severity; and (2) epidemiologic and controlled human exposure studies of toxin and drug exposure effects. Outcomes in adult asthma, COPD, and interstitial disease comprise the principal thrust of these research efforts.

Research Funding

  • July 1, 2020 - June 30, 2025 - Northern California Educational Resource Center –Occupational Safety and Health Education Residency Training 7/1/2020 - 6/30/2025 , PI . Sponsor: NIOSH/CDC, Sponsor Award ID: T-42-OH008429-16 CDC/NIOSH
  • May 1, 2018 - April 30, 2023 - Preventive Medicine Residencies , PI . Sponsor: HRSA, Sponsor Award ID: D33HP31668
  • September 1, 2020 - June 30, 2022 - Rheumatoid Arthritis in Hard Rock Underground Miners , PI . Sponsor: Alpha Foundation, Sponsor Award ID: AFCTG20-98
  • January 1, 2019 - June 30, 2022 - Alpha Foundation Coal Mining Employment as a Risk Factor for Rheumatoid Arthritis 01/01/19 - 12/31/21 NCE to 6/30/22 , PI . Sponsor: Alpha Foundation, Sponsor Award ID: AFC618SP-88
  • January 1, 2018 - December 31, 2021 - Military Service, Occupational Exposure, and Rheumatoid Arthritis Risk in Veterans , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: I01CX001548
  • January 1, 2018 - December 31, 2021 - Military Service, Occupational Exposure, and Rheumatoid Arthritis Risk in Veterans 01/01/18 - 12/31/21 , PI . Sponsor: Department of Veterans Affairs Research, Sponsor Award ID: VA Merit CX001548-01A2
  • July 1, 2015 - June 30, 2020 - CDC/NIOSH Northern California Educational Resource Center –Occupational Safety and Health Education Residency Training , PI . Sponsor: NIOSH/CDC, Sponsor Award ID: T-42-OH008429
  • July 1, 2014 - June 30, 2019 - Occupational & Environmental Medicine Residency Training Enhancement , PI . Sponsor: HRSA, Sponsor Award ID: D33HP19037
  • July 1, 2017 - September 30, 2018 - Coal Mining Risk of Arthritis, Including Auto-Immune Rheumatologic Disease , PI . Sponsor: Alpha Foundation, Sponsor Award ID: AFC618-4
  • March 15, 2011 - March 14, 2014 - New Technologies, Novel Diseases; Industrial Illness in 20th Century Rayon Manufa , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: G13LM010076
  • October 1, 2000 - June 30, 2013 - Physical and Social Environmental Factors in Adult Asthma Outcomes , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01ES010906
  • March 1, 2012 - February 28, 2013 - Occupational and Environmental Factors in Neurological Disease , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R13OH010279
  • September 30, 2009 - July 31, 2012 - Estimating the Environmental Burden in Two Orphan Lung Diseases , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: RC1ES018211
  • September 1, 2000 - July 31, 2011 - Disability in Valued Life Activities in COPD , Co-Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01HL067438
  • March 1, 2010 - February 28, 2011 - 4th International Conference on the History of Occupational and Environmental Med , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R13OH009827
  • July 1, 2004 - June 30, 2010 - Disability and Health Outcomes in COPD , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01HL077618
  • September 28, 2000 - August 31, 2006 - OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH GRADIENTS IN HOSPITAL WORKERS: THE , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01AR047798
  • September 30, 1997 - September 29, 2002 - ADULT ASTHMA AS A PREDICTOR OF WORK LOSS AND DISABILITY , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01OH003480
  • July 20, 1997 - June 30, 2002 - IMPACT OF ADULT ASTHMA , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01HL056438
  • May 1, 1995 - April 30, 2000 - DISABILITY AMONG ADULTS WITH ASTHMA , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: K04HL003225
  • September 30, 1992 - May 31, 1997 - DISABILITY AMONG ADULTS WITH ASTHMA , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R29HL048959
  • September 28, 1990 - September 27, 1993 - EFFECTS OF ZINC OXIDE WELDING FUME INHALATION , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: K01OH000079

Education

Goddard College, Plainfield, Vermont, BA, 1974, Liberal Arts
Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA MSPH, 1977, Industrial Hygiene
Albert Einstein School of Medicine, Bronx, NY, MD, 1982, Medicine

Honors & Awards

  • 2011
    Elected Fellow, Collegium Ramazzini
  • 2011
    Snell Memorial Lecturer, British Respiratory Society Winter Meeting
  • 2012
    Occupational Health Nursing Hero Award, UCSF School of Nursing,
  • 2013
    Jarsolav Teisinger Medal, Society of Occupational Medicine of the Czech Medical Society
  • 2013-2014
    Mellon Fellow, Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University
  • 2016
    Honorary Doctorate, Sahlgrenska Medical Academy, Gothenburg, Sweden
  • 2017
    Viseltear Prize, American Public Health Association, for “Outstanding Book on the History of Public Health.”
  • 2019
    Excellence in Education and Research in Occupational and Environmental Medicine Award, American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
  • 2021
    Excellence in Interprofessional Teaching Award, UCSF Program for Interprofessional Practice and Education (PIPE) and the Haile T. Debas Academy of Medical Educators
  • 2022
    Rutherford T. Johnstone lecturer, Western Occupational and Environmental Medical Association annual meeting

Selected Publications

  1. Murray M, Blanc P, Kales SN, Balmes J, Frederick M, Cummings KJ, Harrison R, Gandhi S Respiratory Injuries among California Career Firefighters, 2000-2019.  View on PubMed
  2. Santana IA, Blumberg M, Chan N, Ansay MJ, Tien PC, Blanc PD, Guntur S Outbreaks of COVID-19 among healthcare personnel in a U. S. veterans administration health care system site, June and August 2023.  View on PubMed
  3. d'Errico A, Strippoli E, Goldman SM, Blanc PD Acamprosate and risk of parkinsonism.  View on PubMed
  4. Hosseini R, Garshick E, Slade MD, Timmons A, Korpak AM, Smith NL, Nakayama KS, Baird CP, Ciminera P, Kheradmand F, Fan VS, Hart JE, Koutrakis P, Kuschner WG, Ioachimescu OC, Jerrett M, Montgrain PR, Proctor SP, Wendt CH, Wongtrakool C, Wan ES, Blanc PD, Redlich CA Military Inhalational Exposures Outside the Theater of Conflict and Chronic Respiratory Symptoms.  View on PubMed
  5. Blanc PD Remembering history, now more than ever.  View on PubMed
  6. Riva MA, Dekel R, Nemery B, Blanc PD, Naidoo RN The history of occupational health on the African continent.  View on PubMed
  7. Fellay I, Blanc P, Larionov A, Schlunke L, Filgueira L, Lannes N Japanese encephalitis virus-associated human microglia induce cell death of human microvascular endothelial cells in receptor-independent infection.  View on PubMed
  8. Alif SM, Benke G, Kromhout H, Abramson MJ, Kogevinas M, Jarvis D, Le Moual N, Dharmage S, Schlünssen V, Torén K, Norback D, Lytras T, Carsin AE, Svanes C, Olivieri M, Dorado-Arenas S, Urrutia I, Pascual Erquicia S, Acke S, Bentouhami H, Wieslander G, Murgia N, Martínez-Moratalla J, Leynaert B, Radon K, Gerlich J, Nowak D, Villani S, Holm M, Verlato G, D'Errico A, Bakke P, Skorge TD, Storaas T, Dahlman-Höglund A, Hellgren J, Miedinger D, Sigsgaard T, Blanc PD, Zock JP Occupational exposures and incidence of asthma over two decades in the European Community Respiratory Health Survey.  View on PubMed
  9. d'Errico A, Strippoli E, Goldman SM, Blanc PD Exposure to disulfiram and incidence of parkinsonism.  View on PubMed
  10. Tilly MK, McNicholas JE, Whitman JD, Tulsky JP, Villanueva AH, Kang J, Blanc PD, Solomon GM, Jacobson MA. Rapid COVID-19 Testing of Symptomatic Health Care Personnel: A Strategy for Safely Maintaining the Workforce. J Occup Environ Med. 2025 Mar 01; 67(3):176-180.  View on PubMed
  11. Maccarone J, Redlich CA, Timmons A, Korpak AM, Smith NL, Nakayama KS, Baird CP, Ciminera P, Kheradmand F, Fan VS, Hart JE, Koutrakis P, Kuschner WG, Ioachimescu OC, Jerrett M, Montgrain PR, Proctor SP, Wendt CH, Wongtrakool C, Wan ES, Blanc PD, Garshick E. Sinusitis and rhinitis among US veterans deployed to Southwest Asia and Afghanistan after September 11, 2001. J Allergy Clin Immunol Glob. 2025 Feb; 4(1):100367.  View on PubMed
  12. Murgia N, Akgun M, Blanc PD, Costa JT, Moitra S, Muñoz X, Toren K, Ferreira AJ. Issue 3-The occupational burden of respiratory diseases, an update. Pulmonology. 2025 Dec 31; 31(1):2416808.  View on PubMed
  13. Blanc PD, Trupin L, Yelin EH, Katz PP. Psychological morbidity among coal miners compared to other occupations in Appalachia. J Occup Med Toxicol. 2024 Oct 22; 19(1):40.  View on PubMed
  14. Jugnundan S, Schmajuk G, Trupin L, Blanc PD. Survey self-report of rheumatoid arthritis and treatments versus specialist clinician confirmation. BMC Rheumatol. 2024 Oct 09; 8(1):51.  View on PubMed
  15. Abrham Y, Zeng S, Lin W, Lo C, Beckert A, Evans L, Dunn M, Giang B, Thakkar K, Roman J, Blanc PD, Arjomandi M. Self-report underestimates the frequency of the acute respiratory exacerbations of COPD but is associated with BAL neutrophilia and lymphocytosis: an observational study. BMC Pulm Med. 2024 Sep 02; 24(1):433.  View on PubMed
  16. Maccarone JR, Sterns OR, Timmons A, Korpak AM, Smith NL, Nakayama KS, Baird CP, Ciminera P, Kheradmand F, Fan VS, Hart JE, Koutrakis P, Jerrett M, Kuschner WG, Ioachimescu OC, Montgrain PR, Proctor SP, Redlich CA, Wendt CH, Blanc PD, Garshick E, Wan ES. Deployment-related Cigarette Smoking Behaviors and Pulmonary Function Among U.S. Veterans. Mil Med. 2024 Aug 30; 189(9-10):2030-2038.  View on PubMed
  17. Jacobson MA, Blanc PD, Tulsky J, Tilly M, Meister R, Huen W, McNicholas JE. Risk of subsequent SARS-CoV-2 infection among vaccinated employees with or without hybrid immunity acquired early in the Omicron-predominant era of the COVID-19 pandemic. Am J Ind Med. 2024 Apr; 67(4):334-340.  View on PubMed
  18. Garshick E, Redlich CA, Korpak A, Timmons AK, Smith NL, Nakayama K, Baird CP, Ciminera P, Kheradmand F, Fan VS, Hart JE, Koutrakis P, Kuschner W, Ioachimescu O, Jerrett M, Montgrain PR, Proctor SP, Wan ES, Wendt CH, Wongtrakool C, Blanc PD. Chronic respiratory symptoms following deployment-related occupational and environmental exposures among US veterans. Occup Environ Med. 2024 Feb 02; 81(2):59-65.  View on PubMed
  19. Seedahmed MI, Albirair MT, Whooley MA, Koth LL, Blanc PD, Arjomandi M. Response. Chest. 2024 01; 165(1):e25-e26.  View on PubMed
  20. Seedahmed MI, Albirair MT, Whooley MA, Koth LL, Blanc PD, Arjomandi M. Screening for Exposure to Beryllium Among US Veterans With a Diagnosis of Sarcoidosis, 2002-2020. Chest. 2023 11; 164(5):1253-1256.  View on PubMed

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