When
Monday, November 9, 2026, at 10:00 a.m.
Chris Lim
Associate Professor
School of Technology for Public Health
Arizona State University
"Exposure Assessment for Epidemiology and Community-Based Citizen Science"
Harshbarger 118A-A1
ABSTRACT
Understanding how environmental conditions like air pollution affect health depends on how well we measure exposure. Yet the conditions people encounter in their homes, neighborhoods and daily activities can differ substantially from those captured by conventional monitoring networks. Low-cost sensors and wearable technologies offer new opportunities to characterize these exposures, strengthen epidemiologic research and involve communities directly in generating environmental health evidence. This talk will examine how emerging exposure assessment approaches can support both population health research and community-based citizen science, with a focus on air quality. I will discuss how integrating air pollution measurements with information about people's activities and surroundings can reveal patterns that broader spatial averages may miss. The talk will also consider practical challenges in study design, sensor performance, data interpretation and the use of these measurements in epidemiologic analyses. A central question is how to produce exposure data that are scientifically credible and useful to the communities collecting them. I will explore opportunities to connect community priorities with measurement strategies, communicate uncertainty clearly and translate findings into actions that reduce harmful exposures. Together, these approaches can help bridge environmental monitoring, epidemiology and community engagement to better understand and address health risks.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Chris Chaeha Lim, is an associate professor in the School of Technology for Public Health at Arizona State University and directs the Health & Urban Modeling Lab. His research examines how air pollution, extreme heat and the built environment shape human health, with particular attention to disparities in exposure and health outcomes. His work combines environmental epidemiology, exposure science and data science, using low-cost sensors and spatial modeling to understand the environmental conditions people experience in their daily lives. He is especially interested in how these approaches can strengthen population health research while supporting community-based citizen science and environmental justice. His research includes personal exposure assessment, urban air pollution monitoring and the health implications of climate change, as well as work examining heat-related demand for emergency medical services. Through this work, Lim seeks to connect advances in measurement and modeling with practical questions about who faces the greatest environmental risks and how those risks can be reduced. Before joining ASU, he was a faculty member at the University of Arizona. He earned his PhD from the New York University School of Medicine and completed his postdoctoral training at the Yale School of the Environment.