Research Summary

My program of research focuses on household air pollution in low-resource countries. My research uses implementation science methods to design, implement, and evaluate effective interventions that reduce personal exposures to household air pollution from cooking fires among populations burdened with health inequities related to poor access to health care. I use the National Institute of Environmental Health Services definition of “global environmental health” to refer to the improvement of health for all people with a focus on addressing preventable environmental risks, specifically household air pollution from solid fuels. This is an environmental risk that is related to women’s empowerment, environmental justice, climate change and overall global development.

I have participated as a co-investigator in several stove intervention trials, starting with the RESPIRE trial (Randomized Exposure Study of Pollution Indoors and Respiratory Effects, Dr. Kirk R Smith, PI). RESPIRE was the first randomized controlled trial of a stove intervention to address household air pollution, conducted from 2002-2005. To date, the RESPIRE trial is the most widely cited study in this field of research.

The NACER study evaluated the efficacy and feasibility of a gas stove/behavioral change intervention to reduce exposures to household air pollution among 50 pregnant women in rural Guatemala. Understanding how to influence behavior change among new stove adopters is an important area of focus when introducing new clean stove technologies. Theory-driven interventions are the cornerstone to understanding implementation of complex technologies. Using implementation science methods, we assessed the barriers and enablers at a community level to understand adoption and sustained use of liquefied petroleum gas stoves. Using concepts drawn from Michie’s COM-B model and Behavior Change Wheel, I designed an intervention around an assessment of women’s capabilities, opportunities, and motivations to use the new gas stove instead of sustained use of the woodstove.

As a result of my pioneering work in gas stove implementation and behavioral reinforcement to use the gas stoves, I was invited to participate as a co-investigator in an NIEHS/Gates Foundation-funded UM1 referred to as the Household Air Pollution Intervention Network (HAPIN) Trial (MPIs, Clasen, Checkley, Peel). The HAPIN Trial was a multi-country parallel group randomized controlled trial of a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) stove-and-fuel intervention, complemented with behavioral messaging, on health outcomes among 3,200 pregnant women enrolled in Guatemala, India, Peru and Rwanda (2017-2022). This trial aims to improve understanding of prenatal and early life exposures to household air pollution.

In August 2021, I received NIEHS funding to conduct a hybrid type 1 village-level cluster randomized trial. We developed, and are evaluating, implementation strategies to reduce household-level plastic waste burning in rural Guatemalan indigenous communities. Household waste burning, especially of plastics, is a largely unaddressed environmental hazard in countries that lack waste management infrastructure. Burning plastic releases chemicals that can disrupt neurodevelopment, endocrine, and reproductive function. This is the first implementation science study funded by NIEHS and will develop and evaluate community-level working groups striving to eliminate a common household exposure.

Research Funding

  • May 15, 2023 - April 30, 2028 - Effects of Early Life Exposure to Household Air Pollution on DNA Methylation and Respiratory Disease in Guatemalan Children from the Household Air Pollution Intervention Network (HAPIN) Trial , Co-Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01HL163256
  • September 16, 2022 - June 30, 2026 - Assessing the 5-Year Effects of a 500-day Liquefied Petroleum Gas Cooking Intervention: Continued Follow up of Participants from the Household Air Pollution Intervention Network (HAPIN) trial , Co-Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01ES033530
  • August 18, 2021 - May 31, 2026 - Combustion of plastic waste and human health effects in Guatemala , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01ES032009
  • September 25, 2021 - August 31, 2022 - Assessing the 5-Year Effects of a 500-day Liquefied Petroleum Gas Cooking Intervention: Continued Follow up of Participants from the Household Air Pollution Intervention Network (HAPIN) trial , Co-Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R56ES033530
  • September 22, 2016 - July 31, 2022 - Household Air Pollution and Health: A Multi-Country LPG Intervention Trial , Co-Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: UM1HL134590
  • August 15, 2015 - July 31, 2017 - Prenatal household air pollution exposure: gas stove and behavioral interventions , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R21ES025032
  • June 1, 2001 - August 31, 2011 - Chronic respiratory effects of early life PM exposure , Co-Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01ES010178

Education

Tulane University, BA, 06/84, Latin American Studies
San Francisco State University, BS/MS, 06/91, Nursing
San Francisco State University, FNP, 06/96, Family Nurse Practitioner
University of California, Berkeley, MS, 06/04, Environmental Health Sciences
University of California, Berkeley, PhD, 06/08, Environmental Health Sciences

Honors & Awards

  • 2008
    Henrik L. Blum Award for Distinguished Social Action, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley
  • 2009
    Burke Family Global Health Faculty Award, UCSF Global Health Sciences
  • 2009
    Faculty Development Award, UCSF Academic Senate
  • 2009
    NIH Health Disparities Loan Repayment Program Award, National Institutes of Health
  • 2010
    Service Award, San Lorenzo Ministry of Health, San Marcos, Guatemala
  • 2011
    CTSI KL2 Career Development Award in Multidisciplinary Clinical Research, UCSF Clinical and Translational Science Institute
  • 2012
    Service Award, San Lorenzo Ministry of Health, San Marcos, Guatemala
  • 2014
    Volunteer Award, Street Level Health Project, Oakland, California

Selected Publications

  1. Underhill LJ, de Las Fuentes L, Nicolaou L, Hossen S, Diaz-Artiga A, Pillarisetti A, Papageorghiou AT, Ndagijimana F, Rosa G, Thangavel G, McCracken JP, Balakrishnan K, Mukhopadhyay K, Steenland K, Thompson LM, Waller LA, Clark ML, Johnson MA, Garg S, Sambandam S, Simkovich SM, Aravindalochanan V, Williams KN, Ye W, Peel JL, Clasen TF, Checkley W, Davila-Roman VG, HAPIN Investigators Household air pollution exposure in adult women is associated with increased carotid intima-media thickness: A cross-sectional study of the Household Air Pollution Intervention Network trial.  View on PubMed
  2. Peel JL, Chang HH, Steenland K, Underhill LJ, Ye W, Balakrishnan K, Díaz-Artiga A, McCracken JP, Rosa G, Thompson LM, Aravindalochanan V, Barr DB, Castañaza A, Chen Y, Chiang M, Clark ML, Dávila-Román VG, de Las Fuentes L, Garg SS, Hartinger SM, Harvey S, Hossen S, Jabbarzadeh S, Johnson MA, Kim DY, Kirby MA, Lovvorn AE, McCollum ED, Moulton LH, Mukeshimana A, Mukhopadhyay K, Naeher LP, Ndagijimana F, Nicolaou L, de Dieu Ntivuguruzwa J, Piedrahita R, Pillarisetti A, Puttaswamy N, Ramakrishnan U, Sambandam S, Simkovich S, Sinharoy SS, Thangavel G, Waller LA, Wang J, Williams KN, Checkley W, Clasen TF, Rosenthal JP Liquefied Petroleum Gas or Biomass for Cooking and Effects on Blood Pressure: Results from the Household Air Pollution Intervention Network (HAPIN) Trial.  View on PubMed
  3. Pillarisetti A, Ye W, Peel JL, Chang H, Underhill LJ, Balakrishnan K, Díaz-Artiga A, McCracken JP, Rosa G, Thompson LM, Aravindalochanan V, Boyd Barr D, Chen Y, Chiang M, Clark ML, Davila-Roman V, Jabbarzadeh S, Johnson MA, Kirby MA, Lovvorn AE, Naeher LP, Ndagijimana F, Piedrahita R, Puttaswamy N, Waller LA, Wang J, Williams KN, Nicolaou L, Checkley W, Clasen TF, Rosenthal JP, Steenland K, HAPIN Investigators Household air pollution and blood pressure among adult women participants of the Household Air Pollution Intervention Network Trial: An exposure-response analysis.  View on PubMed
  4. Shackelford BB, Steenland K, Kirby MA, Balakrishnan K, Chiang M, Diaz-Artiga A, McCracken JP, Thompson LM, Rosa G, Waller LA, Jabbarzadeh S, Wang J, Pillarisetti A, Johnson MA, Peel JL, Checkley W, Clasen TF, HAPIN Investigators Gestational and postnatal exposures to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and their association with acute ear infections, diarrhea, respiratory symptoms, and mortality: A longitudinal study of infants in the multicountry Household Air Pollution Intervention  View on PubMed
  5. Sivalogan K, Stein AD, Thompson LM, Wang J, Diaz-Artiga A, Aravindalochanan V, Jabbarzadeh S, Nicolaou L, Williams KN, Balakrishnan K, Peel JL, Checkley W, Clasen T, Sinharoy SS, HAPIN investigators Provision of a liquefied petroleum gas cookstove and fuel during pregnancy and infancy and linear growth trajectories between birth and 12 months: evidence from the multi-center Household Air Pollution Intervention Network (HAPIN) trial.  View on PubMed
  6. Handley MA, Abascal Miguel L, Thompson LM, Velloza J Bridging community-engaged research and implementation science methods to advance public health practice.  View on PubMed
  7. Mansura Khanam, Sheela Sinharoy, Vigneswari Aravindalochanan, Shirin Jabbarzadeh, Lisa M Thompson, Usha Ramakrishnan, Thomas Clasen. Effect of Cooking With Liquefied Petroleum Gas Versus Biomass on Wasting Among Infants at 12 Months of Age in India. Current Developments in Nutrition. 2025 May 1; 9:106291.  View on PubMed
  8. Jean Louis R, Edwards J, Thompson LM. Reported Racial Discrimination in Healthcare Settings and Impacts on Health Outcomes in a Racially Diverse Sample in the United States: Findings from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. J Racial Ethn Health Disparities. 2025 Apr 22.  View on PubMed
  9. Erick Mollinedo, John P. McCracken, Michael Johnson, Ricardo Piedrahita, Ajay Pillarisetti, Lance A. Waller, Jiantong Wang, Lisa M. Thompson, Anaite Diaz-Artiga, Oscar de Leon, Alexander Ramirez, Alejandro Polanco, Devan Campbell, Katherine A. Kearns, Jacob Kremer, Laura Nicolaou, Maggie L. Clark, Kalpana Balakrishnan, Ghislaine Rosa, Jennifer L. Peel, William Checkley, Thomas F. Clasen, Luke P. Naeher. Comparing Performance and Reliability of Collocated Enhanced Children’s MicroPEM (ECM) on Gravimetric and Nephelometric PM2.5 Personal Exposure Samples in Field Measurements in Rural Guatemala. Indoor Air. 2025 Jan 2; 2025(1).  View on PubMed
  10. Viviane Valdes, Eileen F. Sullivan, Fahmida Tofail, Lisa M. Thompson, Shahria H. Kakon, Talat Shama, Rashidul Haque, Charles A. Nelson. Trajectories and social determinants of child cognitive development: a prospective cohort study from infancy through middle childhood in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The Lancet Regional Health - Southeast Asia. 2025 Jan 1; 32:100511.  View on PubMed
  11. Ye W, Campbell D, Johnson M, Balakrishnan K, Peel JL, Steenland K, Underhill LJ, Rosa G, Kirby MA, Díaz-Artiga A, McCracken J, Thompson LM, Clark ML, Waller LA, Chang HH, Wang J, Dusabimana E, Ndagijimana F, Sambandam S, Mukhopadhyay K, Chiang M, Hartinger SM, Nicolaou L, Williams K, Piedrahita R, Kearns KA, Kremer J, Ghosh A, Rosenthal JP, Checkley W, Clasen T, Naeher L, Pillarisetti A. Exposure Contrasts of Women Aged 40-79 Years during the Household Air Pollution Intervention Network Randomized Controlled Trial. Environ Sci Technol. 2025 Jan 14; 59(1):69-81.  View on PubMed
  12. Thompson LM, Ferguson A, Raheel H, Lovvorn AE, Hengstermann-Artiga M, Lopez MR, Higgins M, Saikawa E, Handley MA. PRECIS-2 used as an implementation science tool for global environmental health: A cross-sectional evaluation of the Ecolectivos study protocol to reduce burning of household plastic waste in rural Guatemala. PLoS One. 2024; 19(12):e0316161.  View on PubMed
  13. Raheel H, Sinharoy S, Diaz-Artiga A, Garg SS, Pillarisetti A, Balakrishnan K, Chiang M, Lovvorn A, Kirby M, Ramakrishnan U, Jabbarzadeh S, Mukeshimana A, Johnson M, McCracken JP, Naeher LP, Rosa G, Wang J, Rosenthal J, Checkley W, Clasen TF, Peel JL, Thompson LM, Household Air Pollution Intervention Network (HAPIN) investigators. Effects of a liquefied petroleum gas stove and fuel intervention on head circumference and length at birth: A multi-country household air pollution intervention network (HAPIN) trial. Environ Int. 2025 Jan; 195:109211.  View on PubMed
  14. Louis RJ, Thompson LM Bots and Fake Participants: Ensuring Valid and Reliable Data Collection Using Online Participant Recruitment Methods.  View on PubMed
  15. Kelsey Chen, Alexander Ramirez Soza, Maria Renee Lopez, Mayari Hengstermann Artiga, Eri Saikawa, John P Mccracken, Dana Boyd Barr, Lisa M Thompson. Assessment of urinary biomarkers and women’s exposure to plastic waste burning: A pilot study in rural Guatemala. ISEE Conference Abstracts. 2024 Aug 15; 2024(1).  View on PubMed
  16. Laura M. Grajeda, Anaite Diaz Artiga, Maria Renee Lopez, Keyla Castellanos, Tatiana Petrovick, Albino Barraza Villarreal, Lisa M. Thompson, Shirin Jabbarzadeh, Jiantong Wang, Lance Waller, Maggie L. Clark, Amy E. Lovvorn, Christina Eckhardt, Nadia Hoekstra, Michael Johnson, Ajay Pillarisetti, Diddier Prada, Andrea Baccarelli, Ye Shen, Jessica Knight, Luke Naeher, Thomas Clasen, Jennifer Peel, Eric D. Mccollum, John P. Mccracken. Early life liquefied petroleum gas intervention and pulmonary function in Guatemalan children from the Household Air Pollution Intervention Network trial. ISEE Conference Abstracts. 2024 Aug 15; 2024(1).  View on PubMed
  17. Oscar Fernando de León, Lisa Marie Thompson, Vigneswari Aravindalochanan, Sheela S. Sinharoy, Ajay Pillarisetti, Shirin Jabbarzadeh, Anaite Diaz-Artiga, Kyle Steenland, Dana Boyd Barr, Viviane Valdes, John Patrick Mccracken, Kalpana Balakrishnan, William Checkley, Ghislaine Rosa, Thomas F. Clasen. Effects of a cleaner fuel intervention on child development at 12 months in the Household Air Pollution Intervention Network trial. ISEE Conference Abstracts. 2024 Aug 15; 2024(1).  View on PubMed
  18. Bonnie Nadyne Young, Kalpana Balakrishnan, Gloriose Bankundiye, Howard Chang, William Checkley, Thomas Clasen, Anaite Diaz Artiga, Ephrem Dusabimana, Shirin Jabbarzadeh, Michael Johnson, Maria Renee Lopez Bolanos, John P Mccracken, Florien Ndagijimana, Laura Nicolaou, Jean De Dieu Ntivuguruzwa, Jennifer L Peel, Naveen Puttaswamy, Ghislaine Rosa, Lisa M Thompson, Lindsay J Underhill, Lance A Waller, Jiantong Wang, Dana Boyd Barr, Maggie L Clark, Hapin Investigators. Effects of a liquefied petroleum gas stove intervention on biomarkers of metals exposure among pregnant women in the HAPIN trial. ISEE Conference Abstracts. 2024 Aug 15; 2024(1).  View on PubMed
  19. Kaytlyn Salmons, Kayleigh Keller, Howard H Chang, Yunyun Chen, Shirin Jabbarzadeh, Ajay Pillarisetti, Bonnie N Young, Kyle Steenland, John P Mccracken, Anaite Diaz Artiga, Lisa M Thompson, William Checkley, Lindsay J Underhill, Nathaniel Rothman, Batel Blechter, Dana Boyd Barr, Jennifer L Peel, Qing Lan, Maggie L Clark. Household air pollution and telomere length among women in Guatemala and Peru: the Household Air Pollution Intervention Network (HAPIN) trial. ISEE Conference Abstracts. 2024 Aug 15; 2024(1).  View on PubMed
  20. Anord Nyanana, Laurean Rwanyuma, Faraja Chiwanga, Jessie Mbwambo, Charles Pallangyo, Usule Tarimo, Sydney A. Spangler, Lisa M. Thompson. Cooking-related burn injuries at Muhimbili National hospital and knowledge about safe use of liquefied petroleum gas in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania: A cross-sectional study. Burns Open. 2024 Jul 1; 8(3):211-216.  View on PubMed

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