Southwest Environmental Health Sciences Center

The Strategic Vision of the Southwest Environmental Health Sciences Center (SWEHSC) is to facilitate and implement innovative research and community engagement aimed at understanding the mechanisms underlying environmental health (EHS) risks and disease among people living in arid environments. Importantly, the SWEHSC strategic vision supports our long-term goal of uniting interdisciplinary scientists to study environmental effects on the health and well-being of people in the arid Southwest environment. Because the unique conditions of the arid desert Southwest environment mirror those of many other global desert climates, the interdisciplinary research conducted by the SWEHSC could also improve the lives of the 2.1 billion people globally who live in arid lands. As extreme weather increases the burden on human health through water and respiratory exposures due to drought, wildfires, and decreasing water supply, the arid Southwest serves as the proverbial ‘canary in the coal mine’ for the resulting health effects. Specifically, research within the SWEHSC focuses on 1) routes of exposure in arid environments, including exposure to groundwater contaminants and inhalation, 2) the adverse health outcomes following inhalation of air pollutants, and 3) the molecular pathways of adaptive responses to environmental exposures such as arsenic and ultraviolet light. EHS factors that are prevalent in the desert Southwest will help forecast the concerns related to other arid lands. Accordingly, our mission impacts not only the health and well-being of people in the arid Southwest, but also the billions of people across the planet affected by arid environments. The SWEHSC will continue to improve the health of people in arid lands by developing rational approaches to identifying and mitigating hazardous environmental exposures. The geographic location of the SWEHSC provides unique research opportunities to identify and address basic environmental health hazards that impact these populations. Moreover, strengthening ties between SWEHSC faculty and academic and governmental agencies in Mexico enables impactful binational EHS initiatives, with the tangible ability to improve public health along the US-Mexico border and for broad translation to global stakeholders.