David Q. Rich, ScD, is an Associate Professor in the Division of Epidemiology in the Department of Public Health Sciences and Department of Environmental Medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC). Dr. Rich received his ScD in Epidemiology and Environmental Health from the Harvard School of Public Health in 2004, and has since worked at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the Rutgers University School of Public Health, and the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute before relocating to URMC in 2010. Since arriving at UR, Dr. Rich teaches the graduate school level ‘Advanced Epidemiology Methods’ and ‘Environmental and Occupational Epidemiology’ courses, as well as the undergraduate course Principles of Epidemiology. He mentors Epidemiology PhD students/candidates, post-doctoral fellows, and Master in Public Health (MPH) students. Dr. Rich’s research team studies the triggering of acute cardiovascular events (e.g. acute coronary syndrome) by ambient particulate matter air pollution, including fine, ultrafine, and source specific particles and mixtures including black carbon and Delta-C (a marker of wood smoke/combustion), as well as gaseous pollutants including ozone. He also uses epidemiology and controlled exposure studies to examine mechanistic pathways (e.g. autonomic dysfunction, coagulation and endothelial dysfunction, etc.) by which such associations may occur. A second line of research is the reproductive health effects of ambient pollution, including studies of air pollution and fetal growth restriction, preterm birth, and pregnancy complications in pregnant women living in the United States and Beijing, China. Dr. Rich is associate director of the Center for Energy and Environment.

Ongoing Grants

• 07/01/11-12/31/15 Health Effects Institute (PI: Frampton and Rich)
  Cardiovascular Effects of Exposure to Low Levels of Ozone in the Presence or Absence of Other Ambient Pollutants
  This study is a multicenter controlled exposure study examining the acute cardiovascular effects of low level ozone exposures (70ppb and 120ppb versus clean air) in a panel of older exercising subjects. It is done in the human inhalation facility at URMC.
• 07/01/13-06/30/16 NY State Energy Research & Development Authority (PI: Rich)
  Effects of ambient wood smoke exposure on the risk of myocardial infarction and biomarkers of systemic inflammation, coagulation, and thrombosis
  This study will generate spatial and temporal models of particulate air pollutions including Delta-C (marker of wood smoke), and then examine whether increased Delta-C concentrations are associated with an increased risk of myocardial infarction (using dataset of infarctions treated at URMC) and changes in biomarkers of inflammation, coagulation, and thrombosis (from blood samples of MI patients when arriving at the emergency room at URMC).
• 07/01/15-06/30/18 NY State Energy Research & Development Authority (PI: Rich)
  Have changes in air pollution levels and composition reduced the risks of myocardial infarction and fetal growth restriction in Rochester, New York? - An accountability study
  This accountability study will assess if changes in the levels and composition of pollutants emitted from electricity generation and fuel combustion have a measurable health impact in western New York (Using datasets of infarctions treated at the URMC for 10 years, births in 7 county finger lakes region for 15 years, and air pollutants measured at Rochester monitoring site for 15 years).

Completed Studies

• 08/01/10 – 03/31/14 NIEHS - 1R01ES019165-01 (PI: Rich)
  Impact of Air Pollution Reductions during the Beijing Olympics on Pre-term Birth Rates and Birth Weight
  The major goals of the project are to determine whether there were improvements in two reproductive outcomes (preterm birth rate and birth weight among term births) during the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics when air pollution levels were drastically reduced, and to determine which pollutant(s) is/are most closely associated with any improvement (Using datasets of all births in 4 residential districts in Beijing from 2007 to 2009; ambient hourly air pollutant concentrations measured at our monitoring location in central Beijing; average hourly air pollutant concentrations of 8 Beijing government monitoring sites).
• 03/01/12-02/28/14 Health Effects Institute (PIs: Rich and Peters)
  Ambient & controlled particle exposures as triggers for acute ECG-changes, and the role of antioxidant status
  This study utilized already collected data from a panel study and controlled exposure studies in Rochester, New York to examine the immediate change in heart rate variability and repolarization markers following increased ultrafine and fine particle concentrations/exposures. Further, it examined whether this response was modified by total antioxidant levels in blood, exercise, prescribed medication, and subject characteristics (Using health and electrocardiogram datasets from each study, and ambient air pollution data measured in Rochester during course of the study).