People

Principal Investigator

Sara Adar, ScD, Principal Investigator

Sara is a Professor of Epidemiology and Global Public Health at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. She started her career as an environmental engineer with a bachelors degree from MIT. After becoming fascinated by environmental health, she earned a masters degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and then worked in environmental consulting as a risk assessor for 3 years. Afterwards, she returned to school, earning a doctorate degree in Exposure, Epidemiology, and Risk from the Harvard School of Public Health. Her primary area of research relates to how the environment influences aging. At work, she is often happiest when mentoring students, engaging in scientific discussions, and thinking about epidemiological methods. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her two kids and husband, being in nature, and traveling.

Senior Research Scientists

Meredith Pedde, PhD, Assistant Research Scientist

Meredith is conducting research on air pollution with the aim of informing environmental policy. Since completing her PhD in 2021, Meredith has focused her work on the investigation of the attendance and educational benefits of replacing diesel-powered school buses with cleaner alternatives. She has also been the lead research scientist on a project to understand the long-term consequences of air pollution on ALS progression and is now contributing to the Gateway to Global Aging Data project. Before her PhD, Meredith was trained in public policy at the Ford School and was a full-time staffer at the EPA. Outside of work, Meredith enjoys the outdoors and spending time with her husband and daughter.

Tom Luben, PhD, Research Area Specialist Lead

Tom is a senior epidemiologist who formerly worked for the USEPA's Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment group. His expertise is in air pollution and water contamination with an emphasis on generating scientific evidence to support policy. Tom also holds an adjunct Associate Professor position in the Department of Epidemiology at the Gillings School of Global Public Health at UNC Chapel Hill.

Research Staff

Adam Taggartt, PhD, Data Manager

Adam received a PhD in Kinesiology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research previously focused on the cognitive effects of martial arts compared to resistance exercises. Before moving to the USA, he was a kickboxing/MMA and fitness instructor in West London where he also studied for his Master's degree. He now manages all exposome data for the HRS-INS. In his spare time, Adam loves practicing martial arts, carpentry, and archery.

Current Ph.D. Students

Tingfan Jin

Tingfan joined our team after completing his masters degree at the TH Chan Harvard School of Public Health. Tingfan is studying the impacts of climate on health.

Nia Clements

Nia joined the group in the Fall of 2024 after completing her M.P.H. through Cornell's Population Medicine and Epidemiology program. Nia has been working on generating novel metrics of pesticides to understand their impacts on the brain.

Affiliated Post-Doctoral Fellows

Boya Zhang, PhD

Boya is an alumna of our group having earned her PhD at UM and studying the relationships of air pollution and dementia. Boya is now a post-doctoral fellow at the TH Chan Harvard School of Public Health. Lucky for us, Boya continues to contribute to the Gateway to Global Aging Data project, working on harmonized analyses of cognition and air pollution across multiple nations.

Jiaqi Gao, PhD

Jiaqi is an alumna of our group. During her PhD at the UM, Jiaqi studied the relationship between long-term exposures to air pollution and physical function limitations/disability in late life. Jiaqi is now a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Minnesota with Dr. Jesse Berman but still collaborates with our team on how extreme weather is related to cognitive functioning in older adults from around the world. We're delighted to keep working with Jiaqi!

Ekta Chaudhary, PhD

Ekta received a PhD in Atmospheric Sciences from the Centre of Atmospheric Sciences, IIT Delhi, India. While with our team, she studied how the indoor environment impacts cognitive aging in the LASI-DAD cohort. Ekta is now a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Dusseldorf but we continue to collaborate on research related to environmental quality and health in India.

Adar Group Alumni

Former Post-Doctoral Fellows

Ekta Chaudhary (2024-2025) Now a Post-Doctoral Fellow, University of Dusseldorf

Jiaqi Gao (2024-2025) Now a Post-Doctoral Fellow, University of Minnesota

Meredith Pedde (2021-2023) Now an Assistant Research Scientist, University of Michigan School of Public Health

Rachel Bergmans (2019-2021) Now a Research Assistant Professor, Michigan Medicine

Margaret Hicken (2011-2013) Now Research Associate Professor, University of Michigan Institute for Social Research

Kai Zhang (2010-2012) Now a Professor, University of North Texas

Graduated Doctoral Students (Committee Chair or Co-Chair)

Jiaqi Gao (2021-2024) Now a Post-Doctoral Fellow, University of Minnesota

Alan Fossa (2019-2023) Now a Senior Research Analyst, Arbor Research

Boya Zhang (2019-2023) Now a Post-Doctoral Fellow, TH Chan Harvard School of Public Health

Meredith Pedde (2017-2021) Now an Assistant Research Scientist, University of Michigan School of Public Health

Paola Filigrana (2013-2019) Now a Research Assistant Professor, Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Paul Christine (2014-2015) Now Assistant Professor, Colorado State University

Yeh-Hsin Chen (2010-2013) Now a Chronic Disease Epidemiologist, Pennsylvania Dept of Health

Graduated Doctoral Students (Committee Member)

Stephanie Grady (2022-2024) Now a Post-Doctoral Fellow, Boston University

Annie Doubleday (2022-2023) Now an Ambient Air Quality Epidemiologist, Washington State Dept of Health

Magali Blanco (2019-2021) Now a Research Scientist, University of Washington School of Public Health

Rachel Shaffer (2018-2020) Now an Epidemiologist, Environmental Protection Agency

John Kubale (2017-2020) Now a Research Assistant Professor, University of Michigan ISR

Yin-Hsiu Chen (2015-2017) Now a Data Scientist, Google

Paulina Kaiser (2014) Now Director of Health Outcomes Research & Evaluation, Samaritan Health Services

Jana Hirsch (2013-2014) Now an Associate Research Professor, Drexel School of Public Health

Jeffrey Wing (2012-2014) Now an Assistant Professor, Ohio State University

Graduated Masters Students

Layla Leandros (2023-2024)

Sahil Tolia (2022-2023)

Leigh Baker (2021-2022)

Hannah Gearhart (2021-2022)

Zijin Chu (2020-2021)

Jiaqi Gao (2019-2020)

Sandar Breggs (2019-2020)

Samar Ahmed (2019-2020)

Josie Gauthier (2018-2020)

Dylan Kilby (2018-2020)

Dian Zhang (2018-2019)

Jessica Yasser (2018-2019)

Rita Seith (2016-2017)

Stephanie McCracken (2016-2017)

Brad Petrowitz (2016-2017)

Zsuzsanna Szabo (2017)

Claire McMenamy (2015-2016)

Karin Dove (2015-2016)

Sissi Wang (2015-2016)

Christopher Barnett (2014-2015)

Douglas Strane (2014-2015)

Meredith Pedde (2014-2015)

Babak Khamsehi (2013-2015)

Kan Sun (2013-2014)

Richa Adhikari (2013-2014)

Meredith Nichols (2013-2014)

Wendy Qi (2013-2014)

Jordan Jahnke (2012-2013)

TaNisha Roby (2012-2013)

Haley Aja (2012-2013)

Darien Weatherspoon (2011-2012)

Kari Mendelson-Victor (2011-2012)

Laura Elkayam (2011-2012)

Yiting Li (2011-2012)

Claudia Slater (2011-2012)

Michael Thompson (2010-2011)

Huda Elasaad (2010-2011)

Phyllis Reed (2008-2009)

Graduated Undergraduates

Rio Mizuno (2017)

Haris Sohail (2015-2016)

Emily Chen (2015-2016)

Megan Bushlow (2013-2015)

Emily Schottenfels (2013)

Mobashira Farooqi (2013)

Nicolette Chao (2011-2012)

Visiting Scholars

Jianghua Zhang (2017, Shanghai CDC)

Joan Marc (2016, SUNY Medical School)

Xia Zhang (2016, Shanghai CDC)

Li Xudong (2014, Beijing CDC)

Hussein Mwanga (2012, Millennium Fellow)

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