Our Team

CEPEG prides itself on helping communities understand their health issues and improve policy and program solutions. We share our multi-disciplinary expertise and commitment to scientific rigor and cultural humility.

Katherine James PhD, MS, MSPH

Associate Professor, Director

Center for Health, Work & Environment
Community Epidemiology & Program Evaluation
Department of Environmental & Occupational Health
Department of Epidemiology

Email Address:kathy.james@cuanschutz.edu

Primary Phone:303-724-8169

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Dr. James is an engineer and epidemiologist specializing in environmental and climate systems health effects of metals in the San Luis Valley and other areas of the Mountain West. She heads a large R01 study on the impact of drought on arsenic exposure and cardiometabolic outcomes in a rural aging population, alongside projects focusing on cadmium exposure, chronic kidney disease, and maternal arsenic exposure and adverse birth outcomes. Dr. James leads the MEMCARE Community Engagement Core, implementing interventions to reduce metal exposure in pediatric populations. With extensive experience in community-based human studies and a network she is actively involved in transdisciplinary research on the health effects of environmental heavy metal exposures, climate health and resilience. Currently spearheading multiple community-engaged research endeavors, including a NIH funded project on drought's impact on metals in drinking water and its cardiovascular consequences, her work emphasizes sustainable community engagement for climate health research and equity in rural and urban communities through initiatives like the Mountain West ACE-CH Hub.

Areas of Expertise

Climate Health
Metals Toxicity
Rural Health
Worker Exposure Assessment
Mentoring students

Education, Licensure & Certifications

PhD University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus, Epidemiology, 2010
MS University of Colorado, Boulder, Civil/Environmental Engineering, 2002
MSPH University of Colorado, Health Sciences Center, Public Health, 2000
BS Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University, Biological Systems Engineering, 1996

Awards

2022: Faculty Award for Excellence in Research, Colorado School of Public Health
2022: Selected for the Climate Change, Health Equity, and Public Health Law Learning and Practice Collaborative
2021: Alpha Upsilon Chapter of the Delta Omega National Honorary Society in Public Health
2021: Selected Climate for Health Ambassadors Community, EcoAmerica
2019: Selected for the NIH/NSF sponsored Data Innovation Lab on Environmental Health in Rural Populations
2018: Dean’s International Travel Award Colorado School of Public Health
2013: Selected for the Early Career Women in Medicine Leadership Conference July 2013
2012: Faculty Development Award Children’s Environmental Health Center, National Jewish Hospital
2011: American Academy of Neurology Conference, Selected as a top abstract for presentation by the scientific chair, Dr. Stefan Pulst, in the “Scientific Program Highlights Plenary Session”.
2000: Awarded Travel Scholarship Royal Society Hygiene and Tropical Medicine to travel to the Republic of Mauritius for environmental research and training.
1998: Dennis Burkitt Fellowship, Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

Affiliations

Member, International Society of Environmental Epidemiologists
Member, Society of Toxicology
Member, International Society of Exposure Science
Member, CU Climate Consortium

Research

Mountain West ACE-CH Hub: Climate Change Engagement Platform to Support Resilient Rural and Urban Communities, Role: Principal Investigator (25%), 03/2023-03/2024, National Institutes of Health $600,000 (PI: James)
Drought and the Impact on Arsenic Exposure and Cardiometabolic Outcomes in an Aging Population of Rural Colorado, Role: Principal-Investigator (25%), 9/1/2021-8/30-2026, National Institutes of Health $2,989,281 (PI: James)
Occurrence and Potential Health Effects of Heavy Metals in Cannabis Flower, Concentrates, Vape Devices, and Vape Emissions, Role: Co-Investigator (20%), 9/15/2022-9/14/2025, Institute of Cannabis Research
Metals and Metal Mixtures: Cognitive Aging, Remediation and Exposure Sources (MEMCARE), Role: Co-Investigator (6%), Community Engagement Core Lead, 12/1/2019-11/30/2025, National Institutes of Health $8,185,130 (PI: Lu)
Tobacco Program Evaluation (STEPP), Role: Co-Investigator (25%), 7/1/2013-6/30/23, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment $5,672,446 (PI: Cooper)

Publications and Presentations

Baraghoshi D, C Niswander, M Strand, S Wheat, J Ramstetter, N Stoll, J Fox, KA James. (2023) Exacerbation of Renal, Cardiovascular, and Respiratory Outcomes Associated with Changes in Climate. Yale J Biol Med. Jun 30;96(2):159-169
Fox J, Macaluso F, Moore C, Mesenbring E, Johnson RJ, Hamman RF, James KA. Urine tungsten and chronic kidney disease in rural Colorado. Environ Res. 2021 Apr;195:110710
18. James, KA, T Byers, JE Hokanson, JR Meliker, GO Zerbe, JA Marshall. (2015) Association between lifetime exposure to inorganic arsenic in drinking water and coronary heart disease in Colorado residents. Environmental Health Perspectives. 123(2):128-34
34. James, KA, M Strand, MK Hamer, L Cicutto. (2018) Health Services Utilization in Asthma Exacerbations and PM 10 Levels in Rural Colorado. Annals of the American Thoracic Society 15(8): 947-954
Vaughn, AM, K Lohmiller, KA James, M Van Dyke, N Whitesell, WB Allshouse, F Macaluso, C Kelley (2022) Characterization of Colorado residents and radon reduction behaviors through latent class analysis and path models. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity Volume 250, 106910

Community Epidemiology & Program Evaluation Group (CEPEG)

Colorado School of Public Health

CU Anschutz

Fitzsimons Building

13001 East 17th Place

6th Floor East

Mail Stop F542

Aurora, CO 80045

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Community Epidemiology & Program Evaluation Group