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Faculty Profile
Jaime Mirowsky

Jaime Mirowsky

Jaime Mirowsky

Associate Professor

316 Jahn Laboratory

315-470-6850
jmirowsk@esf.edu

Education and Training

BS        2007     James Madison University       Chemistry        

MS       2010     New York University                  Environmental Health Science

PhD      2013     New York University                 Environmental Health Science

Postdoctoral researcher, 2013-2016, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Courses Taught

EHS 360            Environmental Sampling Methods (3 credits, Spring semester)

FCH 380            Analytical Chemistry (2 credits, Fall semester)

FCH 382            Analytical Chemistry Laboratory (1 credit, Fall semester)

FCH 502            Responsible Conduct of Research (1 credit, Spring semester)

FCH 797            First Year Graduate Seminar (1 credit, Fall semester)

 

Research Interests - Air pollution and health

What is an air pollutant and where does it come from? An air pollutant is any harmful substance that builds up in the air that can have an adverse effect on humans and/or the ecosystem.  Some sources of air pollutants include particles from motor vehicle exhaust or power plants, pollen from plants, smoke from fires or cigarettes, and windblown dust from deserts.  Pollutants can be gaseous (i.e. ozone, nitrogen oxides) or particulates (i.e. diesel particles). Hazardous air pollutants are found both in the outdoor and indoor environment, as well as in both developing and developed countries around the world.  

How bad is it to breathe air pollutants? In 2012, the World Health Organization estimated that air pollutants were responsible for approximately 8 million premature deaths worldwide, making air pollution the world's single largest environmental health problem. Some of the many adverse health effects associated with air pollutant exposures include cancer, asthma, COPD, stroke, and heart disease.  

Who is at increased risk of experiencing health effects from exposure to these pollutants? Whether a person experiences an adverse effect due to pollution exposure depends on several factors, including the age, sex, gender, and genetics of the person, as well as the source, dose, and toxicity of the pollutants being inhaled.  

Air pollution​

Where does my research fit into this? My research interests center on characterizing work-related and environmental exposures to air pollutants, analyzing the physiological and toxicological impact of these pollutants using both cellular and human models, and determining what factors make some humans more susceptible to adverse health effects than others. 

Here are some of my ongoing studies:

1. Assessing the vertical profile of traffic-related air particles and noise levels in an environmental justice neighborhood in Syracuse, NY.

2. Measuring air quality changes in New York City during the COVID-19 pandemic.

3. Analyzing the chemical composition and physical properties of hookah charcoals. 

4. Assessing socioeconomic factors associated with pollutant releases using EPA’s Toxic Release Inventory.

5. Determining the health impact of low-level ozone and particulate matter exposures on cardiovascular-compromised patients in North Carolina.

 

Publications

  1. Prunuske AJ, Evans-Anderson HJ, Furniss KL, Goller CC, Mirowsky JE, Moore ME, Raut SA, Swamy, Wick S, Wolyniak MJ. 2022. Using a Community of Transformation to create a sustained change toward increased active learning in the undergraduate classroom. Discover Education. 1 (1), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1007/s44217-022-00023-w 
  2. Mirowsky JE, Carraway MS, Dhingra R, Tong H, Neas L, Diaz-Sanchez D, Cascio W, Case M, Crooks J, Hauser E, Dowdy ZE, Kraus W, Devlin RB. 2022. Exposures to low-levels of fine particulate matter are associated with acute changes in heart rate variability, cardiac repolarization, and circulating blood lipids in coronary artery disease patients. Environmental Research. 214(Pt 1):113768. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35780850/ 
  3. Gouger AR, Mirowsky JE. 2022. Using project-based learning to assess the effectiveness of water filtration devices in removing chemical analytes in an undergraduate analytical chemistry laboratory. Journal of Chemical Education. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jchemed.2c00338 
  4. Charette AT, Hill DT, Collins MB, Mirowsky JE. 2022. Assessing the quantity and toxicity of chemical releases from TRI facilities in Upstate New York. Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13412-022-00759-9 
  5. Zangari S, Mirowsky JE. 2022. Lettuce not be salty: An update of a common secondary education experiment measuring seed germination under salt-stressed conditions. Journal of Toxicological Education. https://hdl.handle.net/1912/28034   
  6. Charette A, Collins MB, Mirowsky JE. 2021. Assessing Residential Socioeconomic Factors Associated with Pollutant Releases using EPA’s Toxic Release Inventory. Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13412-021-00664-7.
  7. Petroni M, Hill D, Younes L, Barkman L, Howard S, Howell IB, Mirowsky J, Collins MB. 2020. Hazardous Air Pollutant Exposure as a Contributing Factor to COVID-19 Mortality in the United States. Environmental Research Letters. 15:0940a9. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abaf86
  8. Bind M-A C, Rubin D, Cardenas A, Dhingra R, Ward-Caviness C, Liu Z, Mirowsky J, Schwartz JD, Coull BA, Diaz-Sanchez D, Devlin RB. 2020. Heterogeneous causal effects of ozone on DNA methylome of bronchial epithelial cells: Evidence from a randomized crossover study. Scientific reports. 10:15739. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-72068-6. 
  9. Mirowsky JE. 2020. Converting an Environmental Sampling Methods lecture/laboratory course into an inquiry-based laboratory experience during the transition to distance learning. J Chem Ed. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.jchemed.0c00591
  10. Zangari S, Hill D, Charette A, Mirowsky JE. 2020. Air quality changes in New York City during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sci Total Environ. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969720340183
  11. Zangari S, Mirowsky JE. A simple, cost-effective, and novel method for determining the efficiency of industrial and commercial noise-canceling headphones. 2019. Noise and Health. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32655064/
  12. Weaver AM, McGuinn L, Neas L, Mirowsky JE, Devlin R, Dhingra R, Ward-Caviness C, Cascio W, Kraus WE, Hauser ER, Di Q, Schwartz J, Diaz-Sanchez D. 2019. Neighborhood sociodemographic effects on the associations between long-term PM2.5 exposure and cardiovascular outcomes and diabetes. Environmental Epidemiology. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30882060
  13. Mirowsky JE, Carraway MS, Dhingra R, Tong H, Neas L, Diaz-Sanchez D, Cascio W, Case M, Crooks J, Hauser E, Dowdy ZE, Kraus W, Devlin RB. 2017. Ozone exposure is associated with acute changes in inflammation, fibrinolysis, and endothelial cell function in coronary artery disease patients. Environmental Health. 16(1): 126. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29157250)
  14. Mirowsky JE, Devlin RB, Diaz-Sanchez D, Cascio W, Grabich SC, Hayes C, Blach C, Hauser ER, Shah S, Kraus W, Olden K, Neas L. 2017. A novel approach for measuring residential socioeconomic factors associated with cardiovascular and metabolic health. Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology. 27: 281-289. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27649842) 
  15. Zhou S, Pan G, Behrooz L, Vilcassim R, Mirowsky JE, Breysee P, Rule A, Huang JS, Weitzman M, Gordon T. 2016. Secondhand hookah smoke: an occupational hazard for hookah bar employees. Tobacco Control. 0:1-6. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26811352)
  16. Mirowsky JE, Dailey LA, Devlin RB. 2016. Differential expression of pro-inflammatory and oxidative stress mediators induced by nitrogen dioxide and ozone in primary human bronchial epithelial cells. Inhalation Toxicology. 28: 374-382. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27206323)
  17. Mirowsky J, Jin L, Thurston G, Lighthall D, Tyner T, Horton L, Galdanes K, Chillrud S, Ross J, Pinkerton KE, Chen LC, Lippmann M, Gordon T. 2015. In vitro and in vivo toxicity of urban and rural particulate matter from California. Atmospheric Environment. 103:256-262. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26478712)
  18. Mirowsky JE, Gordon T. 2015. Non-invasive effects measurements for air pollution human studies: methods, analysis, and implications.  Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology. 25: 354-380. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25605444) 
  19. Mirowsky JE, Peltier RE, Lippmann M, Thurston G, Neas L, Diaz-Sanchez D, Carter J, Laumbach R, Gordon T. 2015. Repeated measures of inflammation, blood pressure, and heart rate variability associated with traffic exposures in healthy adults. Environmental Health. 14:66-77. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26276052)
  20. Mirowsky J, Hickey C, Horton L, Blaustein M, Galdanes K, Peltier RE, Chillrud S, Chen LC, Ross J, Nadas A, Lippmann M, Gordon T. 2013. The effect of particle size, location and season on the toxicity of urban and rural particulate matter. Inhalation Toxicology. 25:747-757. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24255952)

You can access all my publications here (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/1pAOC1ApGvHcKf/bibliography/public/)!

 

Current Graduate Advisees

Amanda CharetteAmanda Charette
atcharet@syr.edu

  • Degree Sought: PHD
  • Graduate Advisor(s): Mirowsky
  • Area of Study: FCH Environmental Chemistry

Additional information

If you want more information about the graduate program, please visit the following website (http://www.esf.edu/forms/chemistry/chem.asp) and fill out a brief form.

You can also email me if you want further information about my research!