Despite extensive research on the health risks of thousands of pollutants, both on their own and in combination with others, scientists still do not understand how exposures combine over a lifetime to impact a person’s disease risk. To shed light on that critical question, the Keck School of Medicine of USC has launched a new center focused on accelerating environmental health research and finding practical and equitable solutions. The Center for Translational Exposomics Research (CTER) builds on USC’s pioneering work in a new field known as exposomics, which measures total lifetime environmental exposures, along with their associated health effects. CTER is studying how a wide range of environmental exposures relate to the development of diseases such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes. By combining state-of-the-art experimental and statistical methods with a community-based participatory approach, the CTER team aims to translate science into actionable insights as quickly as possible.

 

American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2024, Abstract 4168086

American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2024, Late Breaking Science Abstract 4168636

Researchers are calling for a ‘resilience index’ to be used as an indicator of policy success instead of the current focus on GDP.

They say that GDP ignores the wider implications of development and provides no information on our ability to live within our planet’s ‘safe operating space’.

Debate continues to swirl nationally on the fate of a practice born of an 86-year-old federal statute allowing companies to pay workers with disabilities subminimum wages: anything below the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, but for some roles as little as 25-cents-per-hour. Those in favor of repealing this statute highlight assumptions about reduced productivity along with the unfairness of this wage level—often used elsewhere to pay, for example, food service workers who typically make additional wages in tips. Those against repeal have voiced concerns that, without subminimum wage laws, employment opportunities for workers with disabilities may dwindle.