​A clean home doesn't always equal a healthy home: Cleaning products can be loaded with dangerous chemicals. Read this before you spring clean this year.  In the article, several experts identify potential environmental exposures that can occur during home cleaning and give alternatives on how to reduce exposures.  In the article, I am quoted as follows:

Luz Claudio, PhD, professor of environmental medicine and public health at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, has done a lot of research work on children's asthma, and she's particularly concerned about spray cleaners. "Some of these products contain chemicals that are known or suspected to be asthma triggers, such as ethanolamine and ammonium compounds," she says. She adds that simple vinegar and water in a spray bottle work just as well as any chemical combo purchased in a store.
Click the button to read the full article in Reader's Digest.

Public School Review: Why Students and Schools Benefit from Foreign Language Programs.  Foreign language skills are critically important for opening the door of possibility to have a great learning experience in another country. 

Luz Claudio, PhD, professor of environmental medicine and public health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, sought to understand participation of minorities in medical research in a study of parents of New York City children. 
Claudio said. “Our conclusion was that minorities would participate in medical research if asked by their trusted physician, particularly if that physician is also a minority.” 

Admission rates for medical school are falling. Medical schools are receiving more applications.  This is partly because most students send applications to more than a dozen medical schools.  
I tell students that research internships can help their applications. ​

​This article provides 5 ways to encourage your household to recycle. In it, I was quoted as:  “Make it easy to recycle by having a designated space for recycling.” Also: 

• Repurpose and upcycle
• Locate local recycling centers
• Make recycling fun for the younger ones

“Students can get the most out of their time as an intern by creating a plan with their internship mentor to achieve something tangible by the end of their time as interns.” She stressed the importance of creating concrete results that can be leveraged in future job applications and on your resume. ​

Many of us women in STEM owe our careers to the pioneering women who encouraged us, guided us and mentored us to succeed.  Here are the stories of six of us who were fortunate to have wonderful mentors.
I now mentor many students. One of the most important things I teach them is scientific writing. It’s the main thing Dr. Brosnan taught to me and was the biggest key to my success.

​The men and women getting off the plane looked like an army of ancient soldiers marching into the battle, only instead of spears or quivers of arrows each weary traveler carried a thin brown or black tube slung across their shoulders. As we all marched down the hall toward baggage claim, I turned to one of them. “What’s with all of the tubes,” I asked. “They’re too small for golf clubs.” He smiled and filled me in. “We’re all presenting posters at a conference this weekend,” he said.

If your new look for the new year includes straightening your hair, be aware that some chemical straighteners can damage your hair and potentially also your health.  "Finally, no conversation about chemical straighteners would be complete without mentioning the F-word: formaldehyde. Keratin hair straighteners or Brazilian blowout products are always a concern among experts because they contain formaldehyde, which is a toxic chemical ingredient, says  Dr. Luz Claudio, Tenured Professor of Department of Preventive Medicine."

Claudio knew that she wanted to work at the intersection of public-health research and policy. Today, as head of the division of international health at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, Claudio has won renown for her work on asthma in low-income communities. She credits her relationship with the committee member: “That experience changed my life.”
 “One measure of success for professors is the success of their students,” says Claudio. ​

As a result of this project, we will train over 180 people to develop team skills to understand, select and use genomics data tools and approaches,” Kovatch and colleagues Luz Claudio, Ph.D., professor of preventive medicine, and Andrew Sharp, Ph.D., senior faculty member and associate professor of genetics and genomic sciences, stated in an abstract of their grant proposal. The course will be offered online via Coursera, they added.." ​