Kurunthachalam Kannan, Ph.D.
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Kurunthachalam Kannan, Ph.D.

Deputy Director of the Division of Environmental Health Sciences
Professor, School of Public Health, Environmental Health Sciences
(518) 474-0015
Fax: Fax: (518) 473-2895

Research Interests

A significant conceptual change has occurred in recent years in relation to how we think about health and diseases, the role the environment plays in disease etiology, and how best to assess human exposure to environmental pollutants and dietary chemicals. Our research is focused on environmental and biomonitoring studies designed to determine human exposure sources, pathways, and effects of organic contaminants. Biomonitoring is a powerful approach to assessing human exposure to toxic substances or their metabolites in human body fluids or tissues.

Advances in analytical chemistry and toxicology have made it possible to discern biomarkers of exposure and health effects, which has led to the concept of ‘exposome’.   Exposome studies measurements of exposures from our environment, diet, lifestyles, and our behaviors. It also encompasses how our bodies respond to various challenges. When coupled with advances in genetics and medicine, we believe the exposome will help elucidate environmental causes of disease and lead to improved strategies for preventing and treating diseases.  Our current research projects are focused in the field of exposomics.

Our research interests include the development of novel analytical methods to detect organic chemicals in human and environmental specimens, aimed at assessing sources and pathways of exposure and developing biomarkers of exposures as well as health effects.

Our current research projects include biomonitoring of persistent organic compounds, endocrine disruptors, and other emerging environmental chemicals for both assessing exposure and characterizing human exposure pathways, and to allow for evaluation of their associations with health outcomes in populations.

Our overarching theme of research is in understanding environmental sources, pathways, distribution, dynamics, and the fate of chemical pollutants, which is crucial if we are to devise solutions to current and future environmental problems.

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Choi G, Kuiper J, Bennett D, Barrett E, Bastain T, Breton C, Chinthakindi S, Dunlop A, Farzan S, Herbstman J, Kargas M, Marist C, Meeker J, Morello-Frosch R, O'Conner T, Pellizzari E, Romano M, Sathyanarayana S, Schantz S, Schmidt R, Watkins D, Zhu H, Kannan K, Buckley J, Woodfruff T. Exposure to melamine and its derivatives and aromatic amines among pregnant women in the United States: The ECHO Program. Chemosphere. 2022; (307(Pt 2)): DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.135599
Pubmed Web Address
Yan M, Zhu H, Shi Y, Xu Ke, Chen S, Zou Q, Sun H, Kannan K. Profiling of multiple classes of flame retardants in house dust in China: Pattern analysis and human exposure assessment. Environmental Pollution. 2022; (311): DOI: doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2022.120012
Pubmed Web Address
Peterson A, Eckel S, Habre R, Yang T, Faham D, Amin M, Grubbs B, Farzan S, Kannan K, Robinson M, Lerner D, Al-Marayati L, Walker D, Grant E, Breton C, Bastain T. Detected prenatal perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) exposure is associated with decreased fetal head biometric parameters in participants experiencing higher perceived stress during pregnancy in the MADRES cohort. Environmental Advances. 2022; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envadv.2022.100286
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Liang H, Snyder N, Wang Jm Xun X, Yin Q, LeWinn K, Carroll K, Bush N, Kannan K, Barrett E, Mitchell R, Tylavsky F, Adibi J. A study on the association of placental and maternal urinary phthalate metabolites. Journal Of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology. 2022; DOI: doi: 10.1038/s41370-022-00478-x
Pubmed Web Address
Li Z, Robinson M, Kannan K. An assessment of exposure to several classes of pesticides in pet dogs and cats from New York, United States. Environment International. 2022; DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2022.107526
Pubmed Web Address
Oh J, Shin H, Kannan K, Busgang S, Schmidt R, Schweitzer J, Hertz-Picciotto I, Bennett D. Childhood exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances and neurodevelopment in the CHARGE case-control study. Environmental Research. 2022; DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2022.114322
Pubmed Web Address
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