David Christopher Christiani MD, MPH, MS

Dr. David Christiani, MD, MPH, MS, is a Professor of Occupational Medicine and Epidemiology with the School’s Departments of Environmental Health and Epidemiology at the Harvard T. H Chan School of Public health. He earned his MD in 1976 from Tufts University and an MS and MPH from the Harvard School of Public Health. He did his post-graduate medical training at Boston City Hospital and the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. 

Professor Christiani’s major research interest lies in the interaction between human genes and the environment. In the emerging field of molecular epidemiology, he studies the impact of humans’ exposure to pollutants on health, as well as how genetic and acquired susceptibility to these diseases along with environmental exposures can lead to acute and chronic pulmonary and cardiovascular disease. He is also developing new methods for assessing health effects after exposure to pollutants and is very active in environmental and occupational health studies internationally. In Asia, Africa, and North America, Dr. Christiani and his wide network of collaborators are studying the reproductive effects of exposure to chemicals, in China; arsenic exposure and bladder and skin cancer, in Taiwan and Bangladesh; exposure to indoor combustion products in respiratory disease in Central America; petrochemical exposures, brain tumors, and leukemia in Taiwan; and the respiratory effects of paraquat exposure in Africa. Preventing these diseases is the ultimate goal. 

With his HSPH colleagues, Professor Christiani has developed biological markers useful for examining pollutant-induced diseases such as lung cancer, bladder cancer, skin cancer, and upper-respiratory tract inflammation. He led a large molecular and genetic analysis of lung cancer, looking at genetic factors that make people susceptible to lung cancer and helping predict the outcome of treatment. He has also led studies of the acute respiratory effects of toxins in the particles produced by coal-burning power plants. This study is also evaluating molecular markers in nasal and lung fluids of exposed and unexposed workers. With collaborators at the Mass. General Hospital, Professor Christiani is examining the role of genetic susceptibility in ARDS, as well as biomarkers predictive of outcome and survival for this disorder.