Our Projects

Samantha Smith, NvCLPPP Program Manager and a third-year PhD Candidate in Global and Environmental Health, focuses on heavy metal exposure in the home environment in the Philippines. Using a One Health Lens, her research examines heavy metal exposure from environmental sources such as soil and water, as well as within the home through food and consumer products. This work is deeply personal, as her family is from Pampanga, a region known to be a hotspot for lead exposure. She aims to move beyond treating health outcomes by addressing the underlying causes of exposure through research and community partnerships. 

As part of her next steps, Samantha will travel to the Philippines to conduct field-based research, contributing new insights to the global conversation around heavy metal exposure. Samantha’s work reflects her commitment to collaborating with communities and sharing information in clear, culturally-relevant ways.

Laurencia Bonsu, an NvCLPPP Graduate Assistant and third-year PhD Candidate in Global and Environmental Health, focuses on environmental lead and heavy metal contamination in Ghana. Her research examines how illegal mining has affected land and drinking water sources over time, including the presence of heavy metals such as lead in community boreholes, the primary source of drinking water. This is motivated by conditions in her home country, where rivers and drinking water sources have been damaged by environmental degradation.

In November 2025, Laurencia completed her field-based research in Ghana by testing and pumping water from several local boreholes. Her research reflects a commitment to understanding how these changes affect community health.

Alyssa Rodriguez is an MPH student in the Department of Environmental and Global Health whose research centers on environmental lead exposure from industrial sources. Her study examines the risks of lead exposure from aviation gasoline emissions near the North Las Vegas Airport. Although national policies, such as the removal of lead from gasoline and paint, have significantly reduced overall exposure, leaded aviation fuel remains one of the last unregulated sources of airborne lead in the United States. The project assesses environmental contamination in nearby public parks by using spatial analysis to determine whether proximity to the airport is a potential exposure pathway. Alyssa’s findings will provide local data to help inform ongoing policy discussions and future efforts to reduce environmental lead exposure.

Isaiah Braxton is an MPH student in the Department of Environmental and Global Health whose research examines the risks of lead exposure among pregnant women in Ghana. His project analyzes the potential health risks associated with geophagia, the intentional consumption of soil or clay, among pregnant women in Kumasi, Ghana, where the practice is culturally common and often used to alleviate nausea. While widely accepted, geophagic clay may contain harmful contaminants such as lead. Lead is a toxic metal with no safe level of exposure and has well-documented effects on the neurological, hematologic, and cardiovascular systems. Pregnancy may further elevate risk, as physiological changes can mobilize stored lead from bones into the bloodstream, increasing the likelihood of adverse outcomes such as preeclampsia.

To address concerns about exposure and improve field-based assessment capacity, this study aims to measure lead concentrations in locally sold clay samples and compare X-ray fluorescence (XRF) results with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) laboratory analyses to determine whether XRF is a reliable screening tool in low-resource settings. Isaiah’s findings will inform scalable approaches for identifying lead contamination and protecting vulnerable populations.

Erika Silao, NvCLPPP Research Assistant and incoming MPH student in Maternal and Child Health Epidemiology, supports health communication efforts by translating lead exposure research into accessible and engaging content for the public. Erika manages NvCLPPP’s social media platforms and develops campaigns, such as toolkits for Lead Poisoning Prevention Week and content for other outreach initiatives. She also creates quarterly newsletters, product recall and safety alerts, and website content. Erika is committed to raising awareness of environmental exposures and ensuring public health information is clear, relevant, and actionable for the communities we serve.