KCH Assistant Professor Sheena Martenies, who studies the effects of pollution on children’s health, can comment on the Midwest smoky haze

Comment from Dr. Martenies:

We know that developing fetuses, infants, and small children, they have respiratory symptoms that are rapidly developing. Their bodies are undergoing many changes, and they might be susceptible to those air pollutant exposures.

Biography :

Dr. Martenies is an assistant professor in the department of Kinesiology and Community Health at the University of Illinois. Her research is focused on the independent and joint effects of ambient noise and pollution and neighborhood-level exposures on childhood health outcomes. In particular, she is interested in studying prenatal and early-life exposures to traffic emissions, features of the build environment, and social determinants like poverty influence birth weight, childhood obesity, and other indicators of long-term health risk. She received her PhD in Environmental Health Sciences from the University of Michigan in 2017. She also holds anMPH in Environmental Health Science and Policy from the George Washington University.