College of Public Health--Environmental Public Health Division

Dr. Weir is an Environmental Engineer with a research specialization in mathematical and computational methods for health risk assessment. He is most interested in preventing cancer by understanding the mechanisms of its formation and progression. He brings his expertise in the following to characterize and intervene on risks of cancer in diverse populations: a) chemical and microbial dose-response modeling, b) risk assessment for human exposures to chemical and biological (microbial) carcinogenic hazards in the built environment, c) mathematical and computational methods development addressing risk model uncertainty and d) how to design and incorporate sustainability-focused infrastructure into the built environment without adversely impacting, but enhancing human health outcomes.

Dr. Weir’s current research program engages i) artificial intelligence-driven risk monitoring for cancer susceptibility from disinfection byproducts and other chemical co-exposures in hospital water systems, ii) modeling of human exposures to mixtures of contaminants with an emphasis on the interaction cascade of gastric carcinogenesis, Helicobacter pylori infection, and arsenic exposure in drinking water, and iii) investigating the preclinical in-vitro dose-response of gastric cells and organoids following exposure to mixtures of Helicobacter pylori and inorganic arsenic.

Research Areas:

• Exposure science
• Quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA)
• Risk analysis and management
• Indoor environments
• Water quality
• Engineering technologies
• LMIC development and health improvement
• Built environment
• Cell monolayers
• Human gastric and respiratory organoids
• Microbiome
• Metabelomics
• Resistome

Current ESGP students:
Negin Iranpour, PhD
Joel Teko, PhD