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.