Skip to main contentSkip to footer content
 

Faculty Profile
Eun Kyung Lee

Orange horizontal rule

test

Assistant Professor

Department of Environmental Studies
228 Marshall Hall

[email protected]
315-470-6538

Biography

My research focuses on understanding how neighborhood environments and policies shape patterns of chronic disease risk, particularly in communities facing racial and socioeconomic inequities. I study both physical neighborhood environments (e.g., proximity to industrial facilities and access to healthy food, health care, and green space) and social factors (e.g., poverty, gentrification or social capital), especially within the context of historical redlining and its influence on disease patterns. Through this work, I aim to inform policies and interventions that advance health equity and improve community health outcomes.

Trained at the intersection of data science and community health, with a focus on environmental health, my work centers on translational research that develops interventions responsive to community-identified needs. I am the principal investigator of a career development award from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), investigating how environmental and social stressors influence cardiovascular health. My ongoing research also examines how climate-related hazards, such as urban heat, and social vulnerability contribute to chronic conditions, including cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases, and mental health outcomes.

Before joining ESF, I completed postdoctoral training at the Boston University School of Public Health and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. I received my PhD in Environmental Health Sciences from the University at Albany, State University of New York, and a Master of Public Health from Tufts University School of Medicine.

Education

  • PhD, Environmental Health Sciences, University at Albany, SUNY
  • MPH, Global Health, Tufts University School of Medicine

Courses Taught

  • EHS 250: Foundations of Environmental Health
  • EHS 350/550: Environmental Health Management
  • EST 496: Quantitative Methods for Measuring Environmental Inequality
  • EST 617: Measuring Environmental Inequality

Selected Publications

  • Lee E.K., Donley G., Ciesielski T.H., Freedman D.A., Cole M.B. (2023). Spatial availability of federally qualified health centers and disparities in health services utilization in medically underserved areas. Social Science & Medicine. 328, 116009. DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.116009
  • Cole M.B., Lee E.K., Frogner B.K., Wright B. (2023). Changes in performance measures and service volume at US federally qualified health centers during the COVID-19 pandemic. JAMA Health Forum. 4(4): e230351. DOI: 10.1001/jamahealthforum.2023.0351
  • Lee E.K., Donley G., Ciesielski T.H., Gill I., Yamoah O., Roche A., Martinez R., Freedman D.A. (2022). Health outcomes in redlined versus non-redlined neighborhoods: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Social Science & Medicine. 294, 114696. DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114696
  • Motairek I., Lee E.K., Janus S., Farkouh M., Freedman, D.A., Wright J., Nasir K., Rajagopalan S., Al-Kindi S. (2022). Historical neighborhood redlining and contemporary cardiometabolic risk. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 80(2), 171-175. DOI: 10.1016/j.jacc.2022.05.010
  • Gill I., Shah A., Lee E.K., Sommer R., Ross K., Bole A., Freedman D.A. (2022). Community interventions for childhood asthma ED visits and hospitalization: A systematic review. Pediatrics. 150 (4): e2021054825. DOI: 10.1542/peds.2021-054825 
  • Freedman D.A., Clark J.K., Lounsbury D.W., Boswell L., Burns M., Jackson M.B., Mikelbank K., Donley G., Worley-Bell L., Mitchell J., Ciesielski T.H., Embaye M., Lee E.K., Roche A., Gill I., Yamoah O. (2022). Food system dynamics structuring nutrition equity in racialized urban neighborhoods. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. nqab380. DOI: 10.1093/ajcn/nqab380
  • Lee E.K., Romeiko X.X., Zhang W., Feingold B.J., Khwaja H.A., Zhang X., Lin S. (2021). Residential proximity to biorefinery sources of air pollution and respiratory diseases in New York State. Environmental Science and Technology. 55(14), 10035-10045. DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.1c00698
  • Bevan G.H., Freedman D.A., Lee E.K., Rajagopalan S., Al-Kindi S.G.  (2021). Association between ambient air pollution and county-level cardiovascular mortality in the United States by Social Deprivation Index. American Heart Journal. 235: 125-131. DOI: 10.1016/j.ahj.2021.02.005
  • Lee E.K., Zhang W., Zhang X., Adler P.R., Lin S., Feingold B.J., Khwaja H.A., Romeiko X.X. (2020). Projecting life-cycle environmental impacts of corn production in the U.S. Midwest under future climate scenarios using a machine learning approach. Science of the Total Environment. 714, 136697. DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.136697
  • Lee E.K., Zhang X., Adler P.R., Kleppel G.S., Romeiko X.X. (2019). Spatially and temporally explicit life cycle global warming, eutrophication and acidification impacts from corn production in the U.S. Midwest. Journal of Cleaner Production. 242, 118465. DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.118465