Krystal Pollitt, PhD, P.Eng.
Associate Professor of Epidemiology (Environmental Health)DownloadHi-Res Photo
Cards
Additional Titles
Affiliated Faculty, Yale Institute for Global Health
Contact Info
Environmental Health Sciences
60 College Street
New Haven, CT 06510
United States
About
Titles
Associate Professor of Epidemiology (Environmental Health)
Affiliated Faculty, Yale Institute for Global Health
Biography
Dr. Pollitt’s research explores the human exposome through characterisation of environmental and biological samples using analytical and mass spectrometry (MS) techniques. Her group has developed various mass spectrometry (ICP-MS, LC-MS and GC-MS) to measure exposure to complex mixtures of trace elements and organic compounds. She has applied these exposure assessment methods in numerous in epidemiological studies.
Visit our lab website: pollittlab.weebly.com
Appointments
Environmental Health Sciences
Associate Professor on TermPrimaryChemical and Environmental Engineering
Associate Professor on TermSecondary
Other Departments & Organizations
- Chemical and Environmental Engineering
- Climate Change and Health
- Environmental Health Sciences
- GEOHealth-MENA program
- Pollitt Lab
- Yale CARES
- Yale Institute for Global Health
- Yale School of Public Health
- Yale Superfund Research Center
- YSPH Global Health Concentration
Education & Training
- Canadian Thoracic Society Post-Doctoral Research Fellow
- University of Toronto (2014)
- PhD
- King's College London, Environmental Toxicology (2012)
- MSc
- University of Toronto, Chemical Engineering (2008)
- BSc
- University of Toronto, Chemical Engineering (2005)
Research
Overview
Dr. Pollitt’s group has developed a wristband air sampler for high-throughput profiling of personal exposures to a broad array of airborne organic contaminants. This wearable exposomic monitor has been deployed in several international epidemiological studies to evaluate personal pollutant exposure in children, pregnant women and the elderly.
Medical Research Interests
Air Pollution; Environmental Exposure; Exposome; Mass Spectrometry
Public Health Interests
Infectious Diseases; Chronic Diseases; Community Engagement; COVID-19; Global Health; Environmental Health
ORCID
0000-0001-7332-2228- View Lab Website
Pollitt Lab
Research at a Glance
Yale Co-Authors
Frequent collaborators of Krystal Pollitt's published research.
Publications Timeline
A big-picture view of Krystal Pollitt's research output by year.
Research Interests
Research topics Krystal Pollitt is interested in exploring.
Jeremy P. Koelmel
Nicole Deziel, PhD, MHS
Caroline Helen Johnson, PhD
Pengfei Guo, MBBS, PhD
Xiaoming Shi
Brian Leaderer, MPH, PhD
124Publications
2,992Citations
Environmental Exposure
Air Pollution
Exposome
Mass Spectrometry
Publications
2024
A deployable film method to enable replicable sampling of low-abundance environmental microbiomes
Mankiewicz Ledins P, Lin E, Bhattacharya C, Pollitt K, Dyson A, Hénaff E. A deployable film method to enable replicable sampling of low-abundance environmental microbiomes. Scientific Reports 2024, 14: 23857. PMID: 39394219, PMCID: PMC11470061, DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-72341-y.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsHuman healthPotential human health impactsHuman health impactsNegative long-term impactEnvironmental microbiomesTime indoorsEnvironmental nucleic acidsExposure studiesSequencing-based analysisChronic exposureHealth impactsHigher DNA yieldLong-term impactLow abundanceMicrobiome abundanceIndoor microbiome exposureSamplerMicrobiome samplesAbundanceIndoor microbiomeDNA yieldExtraction kitMicrobiomeSampling strategyGlobal populationBetween and within-city variations of PM2.5 oxidative potential in five cities in Colombia
Rojas N, Agudelo-Castañeda D, Bustos D, Godri Pollitt K, Gao D, Rodriguez-Villamizar L. Between and within-city variations of PM2.5 oxidative potential in five cities in Colombia. Air Quality, Atmosphere & Health 2024, 1-14. DOI: 10.1007/s11869-024-01632-0.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchAltmetricConceptsPM2.5 mass concentrationsUltrasonic Personal Aerosol SamplerMass concentrationFine particulate matterAmbient PM2.5 samplesHealth exposure metricWithin-city variationAdverse health effectsPM2.5 OPPM2.5 samplesOP metricsBackground siteParticulate matterPM2.5Residential sitesIndustrial sitesOxidation potentialSite typesPersonal aerosol samplersExposure metricsHealth effectsAerosol samplerM-3ConcentrationSitesExposome-Wide Ranking to Uncover Environmental Chemicals Associated with Dyslipidemia: A Panel Study in Healthy Older Chinese Adults from the BAPE Study.
Ding E, Deng F, Fang J, Liu J, Yan W, Yao Q, Miao K, Wang Y, Sun P, Li C, Liu Y, Dong H, Dong L, Zhang X, Lu Y, Lin X, Ding C, Li T, Shi Y, Cai Y, Liu X, Godri Pollitt K, Ji J, Tong S, Tang S, Shi X. Exposome-Wide Ranking to Uncover Environmental Chemicals Associated with Dyslipidemia: A Panel Study in Healthy Older Chinese Adults from the BAPE Study. Environmental Health Perspectives 2024, 132: 97005. PMID: 39240788, PMCID: PMC11379127, DOI: 10.1289/ehp13864.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsDyslipidemia markersCardiovascular diseaseMulti-omicsMarkers of dyslipidemiaExamination of cytokinesMeasurement of cytokinesSerum lipidomeSystemic inflammationMulti-omics profilingCardiac functionDyslipidemiaPrimary preventionClinical measuresSerumChinese adultsBlood transcriptomeImpact spectraCytokinesExposome-wide association studyInflammationMarkersBiomolecular pathwaysAssociationHealthy older adultsElectrocardiogramAssociation between Personal Abiotic Airborne Exposures and Body Composition Changes among Healthy Adults (60–69 Years Old): A Combined Exposome-Wide and Lipidome Mediation Approach from the China BAPE Study
Sun P, Guo X, Ding E, Li C, Ren H, Xu Y, Qian J, Deng F, Shi W, Dong H, Lin E, Guo P, Fang J, Zhang Q, Zhao W, Tong S, Lu X, Pollitt K, Shi X, Tang S. Association between Personal Abiotic Airborne Exposures and Body Composition Changes among Healthy Adults (60–69 Years Old): A Combined Exposome-Wide and Lipidome Mediation Approach from the China BAPE Study. Environmental Health Perspectives 2024, 132: 077005. PMID: 39028628, PMCID: PMC11259245, DOI: 10.1289/ehp13865.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsFat mass indicatorsHealthy older adultsBayesian kernel machine regressionVisceral fat areaOlder adultsPercent body fatBody compositionBody fat massExposome-wide association studyPrevention of chronic diseasesAir pollution exposureBody composition indicatorsMediation analysisInBody 770 deviceHealthy adultsAssociated with increased body fat massBody composition changesKernel machine regressionBayesian kernel machine regression modelsChronic diseasesPollution exposureBody fatAssociation studiesAdverse health effectsFat areaHigh-Resolution Mass Spectrometry for Human Exposomics: Expanding Chemical Space Coverage
Lai Y, Koelmel J, Walker D, Price E, Papazian S, Manz K, Castilla-Fernández D, Bowden J, Nikiforov V, David A, Bessonneau V, Amer B, Seethapathy S, Hu X, Lin E, Jbebli A, McNeil B, Barupal D, Cerasa M, Xie H, Kalia V, Nandakumar R, Singh R, Tian Z, Gao P, Zhao Y, Froment J, Rostkowski P, Dubey S, Coufalíková K, Seličová H, Hecht H, Liu S, Udhani H, Restituito S, Tchou-Wong K, Lu K, Martin J, Warth B, Pollitt K, Klánová J, Fiehn O, Metz T, Pennell K, Jones D, Miller G. High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry for Human Exposomics: Expanding Chemical Space Coverage. Environmental Science And Technology 2024, 58: 12784-12822. PMID: 38984754, PMCID: PMC11271014, DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.4c01156.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsHigh-resolution mass spectrometryChemical spaceCoverage of chemical spaceMass spectrometryAccurate mass measurementsChemical space coverageNon-target approachHuman exposomeAnalytical workflowMass measurementsDisease outcomeGenetic driversSpectrometryHarmonized workflowMulti-omics integrationRetrospective validationCare providersChemistsMetabolomicsSpace coverageBiomoleculesHypothesis-drivenDiseasePersonal exposure to airborne organic pollutants and lung function changes among healthy older adults
Guo X, Ren H, Sun P, Ding E, Fang J, Fang K, Ma X, Li C, Li C, Xu Y, Cao K, Lin E, Guo P, Pollitt K, Tong S, Tang S, Shi X. Personal exposure to airborne organic pollutants and lung function changes among healthy older adults. Environmental Research 2024, 258: 119411. PMID: 38876423, DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2024.119411.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchA Pilot Study Utilizing Wearable Samplers to Assess Personal Chemical Exposure Profile of Patients With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
Huston J, Valle G, Stewart J, Lin E, Zhou J, Liu S, Rochester C, Pollitt K, Dela Cruz C. A Pilot Study Utilizing Wearable Samplers to Assess Personal Chemical Exposure Profile of Patients With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. 2024, a3094-a3094. DOI: 10.1164/ajrccm-conference.2024.209.1_meetingabstracts.a3094.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchPolyMatch: Novel Libraries, Algorithms, and Visualizations for Discovering Polymers and Chemical Series
Koelmel J, Stelben P, Oranzi N, Kummer M, Godri D, Qi J, Rennie E, Lin E, Weil D, Pollitt K. PolyMatch: Novel Libraries, Algorithms, and Visualizations for Discovering Polymers and Chemical Series. Journal Of The American Society For Mass Spectrometry 2024, 35: 413-420. PMID: 38301121, DOI: 10.1021/jasms.3c00313.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchAltmetricConceptsAccurate mass matchingChemical moietiesQ-TOF instrumentMS/MS libraryPolymer databaseSeries polymersEsterified speciesLC-HRMS/MSHomologous seriesMass matchingFunctional groupsRepeat unitsAdvancement of materials sciencePolyethylene glycolContaining fragmentsMaterials scienceMoietyDegree of unsaturationPolymerPhysicochemical propertiesChemical speciesFragment coverageHTML linksIterative exclusionMolecular levelHousehold air pollution and risk of pulmonary tuberculosis in HIV-Infected adults
Katoto P, Bihehe D, Brand A, Mushi R, Kusinza A, Alwood B, van Zyl-Smit R, Tamuzi J, Sam-Agudu N, Yotebieng M, Metcalfe J, Theron G, Godri Pollitt K, Lesosky M, Vanoirbeek J, Mortimer K, Nawrot T, Nemery B, Nachega J. Household air pollution and risk of pulmonary tuberculosis in HIV-Infected adults. Environmental Health 2024, 23: 6. PMID: 38233832, PMCID: PMC10792790, DOI: 10.1186/s12940-023-01044-0.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsRisk of pulmonary tuberculosisPulmonary tuberculosisHousehold air pollutionHIV infectionTB-HIV coinfectionHIV-infected adultsAssociated with increased riskCase-control studyMultivariate logistic regressionHAP exposureDose-dependentlyPersonal CO exposuresPersonal carbon monoxidePTB riskLowest quintileCo-exposureHighest quintileBackgroundIn low-Logistic regressionRandom sub-sampleEffective interventionsHIVTuberculosisAir pollutionEastern Democratic Republic of CongoAssessment of wood smoke induced pulmonary toxicity in normal- and chronic bronchitis-like bronchial and alveolar lung mucosa models at air–liquid interface
Upadhyay S, Rahman M, Rinaldi S, Koelmel J, Lin E, Mahesh P, Beckers J, Johanson G, Pollitt K, Palmberg L, Irmler M, Ganguly K. Assessment of wood smoke induced pulmonary toxicity in normal- and chronic bronchitis-like bronchial and alveolar lung mucosa models at air–liquid interface. Respiratory Research 2024, 25: 49. PMID: 38245732, PMCID: PMC10799428, DOI: 10.1186/s12931-024-02686-5.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsWood smokeBiomass fuel burningHuman primary bronchial epithelial cellsSecretion levels of proinflammatory cytokinesLevels of proinflammatory cytokinesPrimary bronchial epithelial cellsTumor necrosis factor-aAir-liquid interfacePrimary ciliary dyskinesiaHousehold air pollutionHighest increased riskBackgroundChronic obstructive pulmonary diseaseBronchial epithelial cellsChronic respiratory disordersPassive samplingToxicological end pointsAssociated with COPDExposed to WSObstructive pulmonary diseaseTobacco smoke exposureAir pollutionWS exposureExposure induced changesPulmonary toxicityAcute phase response
Clinical Trials
Current Trials
A Short-Term Longitudinal Study of the Brain Mechanisms of Childhood Irritability
HIC ID2000025557REGRoleSub InvestigatorPrimary Completion Date05/14/2024Recruiting ParticipantsGenderBothAge8 years - 15 years
Academic Achievements & Community Involvement
honor Joan M. Daisey Outstanding Young Scientist Award
International AwardInternational Society of Exposure ScienceDetails10/03/2022United Stateshonor Early Career Research Award
Yale University AwardYale School of Public HealthDetails05/01/2021United Statesactivity MUDHRA Study
ResearchDetails02/01/2019 - PresentMysuru, KA, IndiaAbstract/SynopsisAssessment of indoor biomass smoke exposure induced adverse respiratory outcomes in women and children living in rural regions of India
activity Environmental factors in placental pathology
ResearchDetails01/01/2019 - PresentToronto, ON, CanadaAbstract/SynopsisThe placenta is an organ that develops during pregnancy. It transfers oxygen and nutrients from the mother to the fetus and allows for the removal of waste products from the fetus. Placental changes during pregnancy are normal and important to a healthy pregnancy. Abnormal changes can occur when the mother is exposed to certain risk factors and toxins, resulting in placental dysfunction. Placental dysfunction often involves changes to the blood vessels of the placenta, leading to reduced oxygen and nutrient exchange between the mother and the fetus. This may not only affect fetal growth and survival, but also long-term health following delivery. This study will screen environmental contaminants in blood samples collected from a prospective cohort of pregnant women. The association between environmental exposures and placental dysfunction will be evaluated.
activity Shunyi Birth Cohort
ResearchDetails10/01/2018 - PresentBeijing, Beijing, ChinaAbstract/SynopsisPersonal air pollutant exposure assessment of pregnant women
News & Links
Media
News
- July 10, 2024
MPH candidate selects YSPH for its academic diversity and community engagement
- July 09, 2024
YSPH teams with state Department of Education to improve health in Connecticut schools
- May 23, 2024
2024 Top Research Awards Announced
- October 25, 2023Source: Yale Ventures
Dr. Krystal Pollitt on how collaboration across Yale feeds innovation
Get In Touch
Contacts
Mailing Address
Environmental Health Sciences
60 College Street
New Haven, CT 06510
United States
Locations
LEPH
Lab
60 College Street, Fl 5, Rm 510
New Haven, CT 06510