Vape and Mirrors: Chemical exposure and potential health effects from e-cigarette use

Dr. Angela Aherrera is a K99/R00 postdoctoral research fellow at the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (JHSPH). She received her bachelor’s in behavioral biology (2011) from Johns Hopkins University and both her master’s (2015) and Doctorate in Public Health (2019) from JHSPH. She also completed a T32 postdoctoral fellowship (2022) at the Pediatric Pulmonary Division of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

As an exposure scientist and environmental epidemiologist, Dr. Aherrera has a long-term interest in understanding environmental hazards and their impact on health outcomes. Her research interests focus largely on exposure to environmental hazards, namely tobacco and electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes), heavy metals, aldehydes and microplastics, and understanding their role in the development and prevention of adverse respiratory health outcomes. In September 2022, she was awarded the K99/R00 Pathway to Independence by the NIEHS/FDA to investigate the exposure and toxicity of metal and aldehydes, as well as the pulmonary health effects, including inflammation, of using new and emerging electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) devices among young adults. She was also awarded NIOSH pilot funding this year to address the critical knowledge gaps on occupational exposures to microfibers, a major type of microplastic, among garment industry workers.

Dr. Aherrera is passionate about reducing inequities in vulnerable and disproportionately exposed populations. She aims to build collaborations and a portfolio of multidisciplinary research that provide policy-relevant environmental epidemiologic evidence for interventions that would ultimately improve general population health.

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