story by Homma Rafi
Director of Communications, School of Public Health
ATLANTA—Dr. Christina H. Fuller, associate professor of environmental health in the School of Public Health at Georgia State University, has been selected to serve on the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) prestigious Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC).
Dr. Fuller is an environmental health scientist with expertise in the areas of air pollution, environmental justice, and community-engaged research. She was selected to serve as a charter member of CASAC by Administrator Michael S. Regan, the head of EPA. The agency is responsible for developing and enforcing regulations to protect human health and the environment, ensuring Americans have clean air, land and water.
The Clean Air Act requires EPA to set the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) of six pollutants — carbon monoxide, lead, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, particle pollution and sulfur dioxide — to ensure public health and public welfare protection. The CASAC’s panel of experts provide independent knowledge on the scientific and technical bases of the NAAQS to EPA and review scientific data as needed to establish standards to protect the public’s health and environment from the potentially harmful pollutants.
“I’m honored to be named to the CASAC and pleased to contribute my expertise and experience to promote air quality standards that foster public and ecological health,” said Dr. Fuller.
Dr. Fuller’s research lies at the intersection of three related areas: fate and transport of particles and gases in the environment; disproportionate burden of environmental exposures and outcomes on marginalized populations; and devising and testing novel solutions to near-roadway particulate matter exposures. Her work has been dedicated to making information accessible, transparent, and accountable to help promote environmental equity.
The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have previously funded Dr. Fuller’s research. She is co-editor of the recent book Ambient Combustion Ultrafine Particles and Health and on the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. Dr. Fuller is an active member of the International Society of Exposure Science (ISES) and the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology (ISEE). She earned her doctorate in environmental health from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
According to EPA, the 2021 CASAC comprises seven members — five women and two men — with expertise in respiratory medicine, inhalation toxicology, ecology, epidemiology, biostatistics, health disparities and exposure assessment. There are three people of color on the committee, making it the most diverse panel since the committee was established in 1977.