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

  • May 1, 2018 - April 30, 2023 - Preventive Medicine Residencies, PI. Sponsor: HRSA, Sponsor Award ID: D33HP31668
  • January 1, 2018 - December 31, 2021 - Military Service, Occupational Exposure, and Rheumatoid Arthritis Risk in Veterans, Principal Investigator. Sponsor: VA, Sponsor Award ID: I01CX001548
  • 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

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

Selected Publications

  1. Torén K, Blanc PD, Murgia N, Stockfelt L, Schiöler L. Inhaled Corticosteroid (ICS) Use and Invasive Pneumococcal Pneumonia. Ann Am Thorac Soc. 2021 Aug 19.  View on PubMed
  2. Chien A, Domeracki S, Guntur S, Taylor K, Lu CM, Lampiris H, Blanc PD. Association between household exposure and cycle threshold in COVID-19 infected health care workers. J Occup Med Toxicol. 2021 Aug 04; 16(1):29.  View on PubMed
  3. Naidoo RN, Blanc PD, Torén K. History of work-related diseases as a tool to protect the health of workers. Ind Health. 2021 09 09; 59(4):204-203.  View on PubMed
  4. Ying D, Schmajuk G, Trupin L, Blanc PD. Inorganic Dust Exposure During Military Service as a Predictor of Rheumatoid Arthritis and Other Autoimmune Conditions. ACR Open Rheumatol. 2021 Jul; 3(7):466-474.  View on PubMed
  5. Barnes H, Jones K, Blanc P. The hidden history of hypersensitivity pneumonitis. Eur Respir J. 2021 Jun 03.  View on PubMed
  6. McNicholas JE, Kosnik R, Blanc PD, Taylor BR, Guntur S. Temporal Trends in COVID-19 Incidence in Two Healthcare Worker Cohorts. J Occup Environ Med. 2021 06 01; 63(6):528-531.  View on PubMed
  7. Gandhi SA, Cohen RA, Blanc PD, Go LHT. Early radiographic pneumoconiosis is associated with impaired exercise gas exchange among coal miners with normal resting spirometry. Am J Ind Med. 2021 06; 64(6):453-461.  View on PubMed
  8. Melamed J, Gerona R, Blanc PD, Takamoto P, Conner S, Goodnough R. Gamma-Butyrolactone Overdose Potentially Complicated by Co-Ingestion of Industrial Solvent N-Methyl-2-Pyrrolidone. J Anal Toxicol. 2021 Mar 12; 45(3):322-324.  View on PubMed
  9. Andersson M, Blanc PD, Torén K, Järvholm B. Smoking, occupational exposures, and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis among Swedish construction workers. Am J Ind Med. 2021 04; 64(4):251-257.  View on PubMed
  10. Lytras T, Beckmeyer-Borowko A, Kogevinas M, Kromhout H, Carsin AE, Antó JM, Bentouhami H, Weyler J, Heinrich J, Nowak D, Urrutia I, Martínez-Moratalla J, Gullón JA, Pereira Vega A, Raherison Semjen C, Pin I, Demoly P, Leynaert B, Villani S, Gislason T, Svanes Ø, Holm M, Forsberg B, Norbäck D, Mehta AJ, Keidel D, Vernez D, Benke G, Jõgi R, Torén K, Sigsgaard T, Schlünssen V, Olivieri M, Blanc PD, Watkins J, Bono R, Squillacioti G, Buist AS, Vermeulen R, Jarvis D, Probst-Hensch N, Zock JP. Cumulative Occupational Exposures and Lung-Function Decline in Two Large General-Population Cohorts. Ann Am Thorac Soc. 2021 02; 18(2):238-246.  View on PubMed
  11. Delfosse V, Huet T, Harrus D, Granell M, Bourguet M, Gardia-Parège C, Chiavarina B, Grimaldi M, Le Mével S, Blanc P, Huang D, Gruszczyk J, Demeneix B, Cianférani S, Fini JB, Balaguer P, Bourguet W. Mechanistic insights into the synergistic activation of the RXR-PXR heterodimer by endocrine disruptor mixtures. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2021 01 05; 118(1).  View on PubMed
  12. Vinnikov D, Tulekov Z, Romanova Z, Krugovykh I, Blanc PD. Smoking practices in relation to exhaled carbon monoxide in an occupational cohort. BMC Public Health. 2020 Dec 09; 20(1):1894.  View on PubMed
  13. Torén K, Blanc PD, Qvarfordt I, Aspevall O, Schiöler L. Inhaled Corticosteroids Use and Risk of Invasive Pneumococcal Disease in a Population-based Study. Ann Am Thorac Soc. 2020 12; 17(12):1570-1575.  View on PubMed
  14. Domeracki S, Clapp RN, Taylor K, Lu CM, Lampiris H, Blanc PD. Cycle Threshold to Test Positivity in COVID-19 for Return to Work Clearance in Health Care Workers. J Occup Environ Med. 2020 11; 62(11):889-891.  View on PubMed
  15. Barnes H, Olin AC, Torén K, McSharry C, Donnelly I, Lärstad M, Iribarren C, Quinlan P, Blanc PD. Occupation versus environmental factors in hypersensitivity pneumonitis: population attributable fraction. ERJ Open Res. 2020 Oct; 6(4).  View on PubMed
  16. Kolaitis NA, Gao Y, Soong A, Greenland JR, Hays SR, Golden J, Leard LE, Shah RJ, Kleinhenz ME, Katz PP, Venado A, Kukreja J, Blanc PD, Singer JP. Primary graft dysfunction attenuates improvements in health-related quality of life after lung transplantation, but not disability or depression. Am J Transplant. 2021 02; 21(2):815-824.  View on PubMed
  17. Garshick E, Blanc PD. Military Deployment and Respiratory Symptoms: Some Answers, Many Questions. Chest. 2020 06; 157(6):1407-1408.  View on PubMed
  18. Venado A, Kolaitis NA, Huang CY, Gao Y, Glidden DV, Soong A, Sutter N, Katz PP, Greenland JR, Calabrese DR, Hays SR, Golden JA, Shah RJ, Leard LE, Kukreja J, Deuse T, Wolters PJ, Covinsky K, Blanc PD, Singer JP. Frailty after lung transplantation is associated with impaired health-related quality of life and mortality. Thorax. 2020 08; 75(8):669-678.  View on PubMed
  19. Torén K, Blanc PD, Naidoo RN, Murgia N, Qvarfordt I, Aspevall O, Dahlman-Hoglund A, Schioler L. Occupational exposure to dust and to fumes, work as a welder and invasive pneumococcal disease risk. Occup Environ Med. 2020 02; 77(2):57-63.  View on PubMed
  20. Blanc PD, Redlich CA. Reply to Lee and Strek: Occupational Burden in Chronic Respiratory Disease: Call for Recognition, Training, and Data Capture. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2019 12 15; 200(12):1559.  View on PubMed

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