Rachel J. Keith is an Associate Professor
of Medicine with the Division of Environmental Health and the Director of Human
Subject Services with the Environment Institute at the University of
Louisville. Her research program combines her skill set in basic sciences,
nursing, community participatory research, and clinical studies. For most of
her career, she has practiced part-time in a preventive cardiology clinic,
focusing on researching how environmental exposures impact health outcomes, and
targeting prevention of cardiovascular disease. The environment is made of many
things including lifestyle choices such as physical activity, tobacco use, and
diet choices, workplace psychosocial metrics, as well as exposure to inhaled
compounds such as air pollution or biotics like Sars-CoV02. Though genetics
plays a role in the susceptibility of individuals to disease, a larger portion
likely comes from the environment. Her research uses tools for evaluating
perceptions of residential and workplace exposures, physical and mental health
and risk, cardiovascular health, metabolic health, exposure to hazardous
chemicals, greenness exposure, e-cigarettes, and biomarkers of injury. She is establishing how the environment
influences both disease and the perception of risk with an eye on policy and
regulatory implications.
