Dr. Chris Lim Recognized with Health Sciences Career Development Award
The University of Arizona Health Sciences Career Development Awards (CDA) program recently selected Chris Lim, PhD, assistant professor of community, environment and policy in the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, as one of its four 2021 recipients.
Chris Lim, PhD
“I’m very thankful for this award and am excited to work on this project with the guidance of my mentors,” Dr. Lim said. “This project will help us better understand the relationship between air pollution levels and asthma among students in Tucson schools, and establishing a sensor network will improve characterizing local air pollution trends and sources. Through the findings, I hope to provide evidence that can guide policy and protect public health.”
Dr. Lim’s research uses epidemiologic, statistical and data science methods to examine the health effects of air pollution and climate change. He is especially interested in the potential application of low-cost sensor technologies for personal-level exposure assessment, urban air pollution modeling, and community-based environmental justice projects.
Dr. Lim will investigate the impact of air pollution on pediatric asthma in Tucson schools by studying environmental exposures in real time. Using a variety of sensors, including wearable technologies, he will gather more accurate data on exposure to air pollution than could be collected in previous studies, which generally relied on government-run air-pollution monitors that are too far away to accurately gauge an individual’s exposure.
CDA scholars must complete an independent research project, which is expected to generate sufficient pilot findings to enable the submission of an NIH K-series or R01 grant (or equivalent) by the second year of the program. Each scholar also must choose a lead mentor, or mentors if the project is multidisciplinary.
“His interdisciplinary expertise spans environmental epidemiology, engineering and data science, making him an ideal candidate to conduct the study he has proposed,” said Dr. Lim’s primary mentor, Lynn B. Gerald, PhD, MSPH, professor and Canyon Ranch Endowed Chair of health promotion sciences and associate director of clinical/health outcomes sciences at the Asthma & Airway Disease Research Center. “During his early career thus far, he has demonstrated great promise and ability to publish high-impact papers and obtain grant support. Our schools are enthusiastic about the idea and eager to participate in Dr. Lim’s research.”
The CDA program was established by the Office of the Senior Vice President for Health Sciences in 2014 to provide research training and funding for junior faculty members and foster academic careers in clinical and translational research. Selected scholars are provided with mentorship, research training and salary support, plus funding for travel and research supplies.
The other junior faculty members who were selected for this latest round of awards will be profiled in the coming weeks:
- Andreia Chignalia, PharmD, PhD, research assistant professor of anesthesiology, College of Medicine – Tucson;
- David Tzou, MD, assistant professor of urology, College of Medicine – Tucson;
- Amanda Wilson, PhD, MS, assistant professor of community, environment and policy, Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health