Dr. Kipen received his BA from UC Berkeley and his MD from UC San Francisco and MPH from Columbia University.  He completed an internal medicine residency at the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, and a fellowship at Mount Sinai Medical  Center, Environmental Sciences Laboratory, in Manhattan.

Research Areas

Dr. Kipen’s research focuses on clinical and epidemiological studies of the health effects of ambient and indoor air pollution. He works closely with Rob Laumbach of the CROM division as well as Debra Laskin and Andrew Gow of Toxicology. They use both controlled human  exposure models and real-world clinical studies to develop and test mechanistic biomarkers of air pollution toxicity. Concentrating on biomarkers of cardiopulmonary effects, prior studies have examined fresh diesel exhaust and secondary organic aerosols. We are currently studying effects of controlled ozone exposures on macrophage phenotypes in induced sputum.   Working in the real world, we have examined cardiopulmonary and oxidative stress outcomes in highway passengers who were driven in a diesel-enriched enriched environment. More recently we examined the ability of portable air cleaners to reduce indoor particulate air pollution and consequent biomarkers of cardiopulmonary health in elderly apartment dwellers.   In light of the current pandemic we have used our experience measuring and filtering particulates in homes to examine SARS-coV-2  aerosols in patient homes.  A more recent interest is to explore underlying mechanisms for the robust human finding of acute cognitive impairment from inhaled CO₂ at commonly encountered levels.

Research Highlights

With former EOHSI members Jim Zhang and David Rich, we conducted a panel study of 130 Beijing medical students built around the Chinese Government’s drastic reductions in air pollution during the 2008 Olympics. We observed broad declines in multiple oxidative stress, inflammatory, and platelet activation biomarkers. Major results have been published in JAMA and the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine with multiple subsidiary papers and a complete report published by the Health Effects Institute. We have Analogous increases in vascular and pulmonary oxidative stress  have ben demonstrated after a 90 minute ride on the NJ Turnpike. Similar findings have been found using controlled exposure to fresh diesel exhaust iin our controlled environment  facility. Related effects have been shown with New Jersey air pollution on the Turnpike and are being evaluated with air cleaners in individual homes.

Significant declines in proteasome (UPP) activity after exposure to secondary organic aerosol and diesel exhaust were observed immediately following exposure in healthy subjects, although our prior work did not reveal apparent nasal inflammatory effects from acute exposures to secondary organic aerosol. The above declines in proteasome activity showed a significant interaction (3-fold increase) in subjects with the ILE/ILE polymorphism of GSTP1.

Scholarly Activities

• Chair, NASA Human Research Program’s Advanced Environmental Health / Advanced Food Technology Standing Review Panel (2015-2018)
• Chair, Scientific Assembly on Environmental, Occupational, and Population Health, American Thoracic Society (2017-2019)
• Member, National Academies Standing Committee on Medical and Epidemiological Aspects of Air Pollution on U.S. Government Employees and their Families, 2016-2021.
• Director, Integrated Health Sciences Facility Core, Rutgers Center for Environmental Exposures and Disease (CEED), NIEHS
• Chair / Member Multiple Ad Hoc Grant Review Panels (e.g., NIEHS, Department of Defense)
• Governor’s Appointee, Public Employee’s Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, New Jersey Department of Labor
• Member, Public Health Scientific Advisory Board, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection

Howard Kipen’s Publications

Recent Publications

1. Ji N, Fang M1. 11.Baptista A, Cepeda C, Greenberg M, Mincey IC, Ohman-Strickland P, Haynes F, Fiedler N, Kipen HM, Laumbach RJ. Exposure to traffic-related airpollution and changes in exhaled nitric oxide and DNA methylation in arginase andnitric oxide synthase in children with asthma. Environ Health. 2021 Feb 11; 20(1):12. doi: 10.1186/s12940-020-00678-8. PMID: 33573660; PMCID: PMC7879528
2. Laumbach RJ, Mainelis G, Black KG, Myers NT, Ohman-Strickland P, Alimokhtari S, Hastings S, Legard A, De Resende A, Calderón L, Lu FT, Kipen HM. Presence of SARS-CoV-2 Aerosol in Residences of Adults with COVID-19. Ann Am Thorac Soc. 2021 Nov 11. doi: 10.1513/AnnalsATS.202107-847RL. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 34762562.
3. Hussain, S., Laumbach, R., Coleman, J., Youssef, H., Kelly-McNeil, K., Ohman-Strickland, P., Zhang, J., & Kipen, H.M. Controlled Exposure to Diesel Exhaust Causes Increased Nitrite in Exhaled Breath Condensate among Subjects with Asthma.  J Occup Environ Med 54(10): 1186-91, Oct 2012. PMCID: PMC4443752

Other Publications

1. Lu, FT, Gupta, D, Fiedler, N, Satish, U, Black, KG, Legard, A, De Resende, A, Guo, C, Gow, AJ, Kipen, HM et al.. Mechanisms Underlying Acute Cognitive Impairment following Carbon Dioxide Inhalation in a Randomized Crossover Trial. Environ Health Perspect. 2024;132 (10):107702. doi: 10.1289/EHP14806. PubMed PMID:39466336 PubMed Central PMC11515854
2. Radbel, J, Rebuli, ME, Kipen, H, Brigham, E. Indoor air pollution and airway health. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2024;154 (4):835-846. doi: 10.1016/j.jaci.2024.08.013. PubMed PMID:39182629
3. Yang, Z, Black, K, Ohman-Strickland, P, Graber, JM, Kipen, HM, Fang, M, Zarbl, H. Disruption of central and peripheral circadian clocks and circadian controlled estrogen receptor rhythms in night shift nurses in working environments. FASEB J. 2024;38 (11):e23719. doi: 10.1096/fj.202302261RR. PubMed PMID:38837828
4. Lu, FT, Laumbach, RJ, Legard, A, Myers, NT, Black, KG, Ohman-Strickland, P, Alimokhtari, S, de Resende, A, Calderón, L, Mainelis, G et al.. Real-World Effectiveness of Portable Air Cleaners in Reducing Home Particulate Matter Concentrations. Aerosol Air Qual Res. 2024;24 (1):. doi: 10.4209/aaqr.230202. PubMed PMID:38618024 PubMed Central PMC11014421
5. Caruth, J, Black, K, Legard, A, De Resende, A, Getz, K, Borowski, M, Debilio, L, Brewer, A, Kipen, H, Udasin, IG et al.. Incidence and Predictors of COVID-19 Infection in Prison Healthcare Workers. J Occup Environ Med. 2023;65 (7):573-579. doi: 10.1097/JOM.0000000000002836. PubMed PMID:36882811 PubMed Central PMC10329989
6. Gholizadeh, A, Black, K, Kipen, H, Laumbach, R, Gow, A, Weisel, C, Javanmard, M. Detection of respiratory inflammation biomarkers in non-processed exhaled breath condensate samples using reduced graphene oxide. RSC Adv. 2022;12 (55):35627-35638. doi: 10.1039/d2ra05764f. PubMed PMID:36545081 PubMed Central PMC9745889
7. Myers, NT, Laumbach, RJ, Black, KG, Ohman-Strickland, P, Alimokhtari, S, Legard, A, De Resende, A, Calderón, L, Lu, FT, Mainelis, G et al.. Portable air cleaners and residential exposure to SARS-CoV-2 aerosols: A real-world study. Indoor Air. 2022;32 (4):e13029. doi: 10.1111/ina.13029. PubMed PMID:35481935 PubMed Central PMC9111720
8. Laumbach, RJ, Mainelis, G, Black, KG, Myers, NT, Ohman-Strickland, P, Alimokhtari, S, Hastings, S, Legard, A, de Resende, A, Calderón, L et al.. Presence of SARS-CoV-2 Aerosol in Residences of Adults with COVID-19. Ann Am Thorac Soc. 2022;19 (2):338-341. doi: 10.1513/AnnalsATS.202107-847RL. PubMed PMID:34762562 PubMed Central PMC8867362
9. Zhang, JJ, Kan, H, Kipen, HM. Respiratory health, children’s lung function, and air quality in four Chinese cities: two snapshots in 1993-1996 and 2017-2018. J Thorac Dis. 2020;12 (10):6311-6314. doi: 10.21037/jtd-19-crh-aq-preface. PubMed PMID:33209470 PubMed Central PMC7656390
10. Malaviya, R, Kipen, HM, Businaro, R, Laskin, JD, Laskin, DL. Pulmonary toxicants and fibrosis: innate and adaptive immune mechanisms. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol. 2020;409 :115272. doi: 10.1016/j.taap.2020.115272. PubMed PMID:33031836 PubMed Central PMC9960630
11. Radbel, J, Laskin, DL, Laskin, JD, Kipen, HM. Disease-modifying treatment of chemical threat agent-induced acute lung injury. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2020;1480 (1):14-29. doi: 10.1111/nyas.14438. PubMed PMID:32726497 PubMed Central PMC10250775
12. Kipen, HM, Laskin, DL. NETs: a new biomarker of traffic-related air pollution exposure: are they ready to catch fish?. Eur Respir J. 2020;55 (4):. doi: 10.1183/13993003.00305-2020. PubMed PMID:32245775 PubMed Central PMC10250776
13. Sunil, VR, Radbel, J, Hussain, S, Vayas, KN, Cervelli, J, Deen, M, Kipen, H, Udasin, I, Laumbach, R, Sunderram, J et al.. Sarcoid-Like Granulomatous Disease: Pathologic Case Series in World Trade Center Dust Exposed Rescue and Recovery Workers. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2019;16 (5):. doi: 10.3390/ijerph16050815. PubMed PMID:30845693 PubMed Central PMC6427752
14. Chiao, S, Kipen, H, Hallman, WK, Pollio, DE, North, CS. Anthrax Exposure, Belief in Exposure, and Postanthrax Symptoms Among Survivors of a Bioterrorist Attack on Capitol Hill. Disaster Med Public Health Prep. 2019;13 (3):555-560. doi: 10.1017/dmp.2018.115. PubMed PMID:30417804
15. Fiedler, N, Weisel, C, Nwankwo, C, Kipen, H, Lange, G, Ohman-Strickland, P, Laumbach, R. Chronic Exposure to Solvents Among Construction Painters: Reductions in Exposure and Neurobehavioral Health Effects. J Occup Environ Med. 2018;60 (12):e663-e670. doi: 10.1097/JOM.0000000000001470. PubMed PMID:30308619 PubMed Central PMC6289817