Using data science to find how environmental exposures affect health
Data science tools to identify robust exposure-phenotype associations for precision medicine
This project uses large, diverse health datasets to find environmental and lifestyle factors linked to cancers and heart conditions so findings work well across different groups of people.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Harvard Medical School NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Boston, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11115672 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
Researchers will analyze large, diverse health datasets (including resources like All of Us) to look for links between many environmental exposures and health outcomes such as cancer and heart disease. They will build and apply data-science and machine-learning tools that can screen many exposure–phenotype pairs at once while handling missing data. The team will test methods to reduce bias and to measure how associations change with study design, then try to replicate the most reliable findings across multiple cohorts. The goal is to prioritize robust exposure signals that could guide prevention and more personalized care.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: People with cancer or heart conditions, and individuals from diverse backgrounds who are willing to share health and exposure information in national datasets, are most relevant to this work.
Not a fit: Patients seeking an immediate new treatment or those whose conditions are unrelated to measured environmental exposures are unlikely to get direct clinical benefit from this project.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could identify environmental causes or risk factors for cancer and heart disease that help guide prevention and more tailored care.
How similar studies have performed: Related machine-learning studies have found some exposure–disease links, but methods that handle missing data, bias, and replication across diverse cohorts in a systematic way are still emerging.
Where this research is happening
Boston, United States
- Harvard Medical School — Boston, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Patel, Chirag J. — Harvard Medical School
- Study coordinator: Patel, Chirag J.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.