Matt Perzanowski, PhD, MPH
- Professor of Environmental Health Sciences
On the web
Overview
Dr. Perzanowski is an environmental health scientist and Director of Columbia’s NIEHS Center for Environmental Health in Northern Manhattan (CEHNM). His research examines the environmental exposures that lead to allergic sensitization, asthma, and airway inflammation, with a focus on why asthma risk differs so sharply among children in New York City’s low-income neighborhoods, sometimes between children living just city blocks apart.
Dr. Perzanowski leads a field- and laboratory-based molecular epidemiology group. Its work includes the NYC Neighborhood Asthma and Allergy Study, supported by NIEHS, HUD, CDC, and ASPR, which compares asthma prevalence and persistence across neighborhoods. His group works on non-invasive measures of airway inflammation in pediatric population studies. It is also investigating how early-life dysregulation of the autonomic nervous system may raise the risk of exercise-induced asthma, and how this pathway may contribute to disparities in emergency department visits. Working closely with communities, he leads HUD- and NIEHS-funded research evaluating a large-scale mold remediation program in NYC public housing and its effect on asthma emergency department visits.
At the Mailman School, Dr. Perzanowski is Vice Chair for Education and Training in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Director of the MPH Core Curriculum, and Co-Director of Columbia’s NIEHS T32 training grant.
Office Location: 630 West 168th Street, VP&S Room 16-418
Academic Appointments
- Professor of Environmental Health Sciences
Administrative Titles
- Vice Chair, EHS Education and Training
- Director, Columbia Center for Environmental Health and Justice in Northern Manhattan
- Multiple Principal Investigator, NIEHS T32 Training Grant, Advanced training in environmental health and data science: molecules to populations
- Director, MPH CORE Curriculum
Credentials & Experience
Education & Training
- MPH, 2002 Umea University
- PhD, 2003 Umea University
Committees, Societies, Councils
Research
Research Interests
- Air pollution and Asthma
- Asthma
- Child and Adolescent Health
- Chronic disease
- Environmental Health
- Global Health
- Public Health Education
- Urban Health
Selected Publications
Flores NM, Casey JA, Lovinsky-Desir S, Spira-Cohen A, Louis S, Walters S, Little M, Zou J, Rudolph KE, Hernández D, Chen Q, Perzanowski MS. (2026) Impact of a Large-Scale Mold Intervention in Public Housing on Asthma Emergency Department Visits. Am J Respir Crit Care Med.
Flores NM, Little M, Acosta L, D’Andrea C, Divjan A, Cochran SJ, Sobek E, Clark N, Lemons AR, Dannemiller KC, Green BJ, Perzanowski MS. (2026) Domestic fungal exposure and asthma morbidity in New York City children following Superstorm Sandy. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol.
Wang S, Chen Q, Perzanowski MS, Divjan A, Gelman A. (2026) A Bayesian contamination model for serial dilution assays. Biometrics. 82(3):ujag134
Feng J, Acosta L, Thompson MA, Jacobson JS, Perzanowski MS. (2026) Mold exposure and rhinitis symptoms among children attending Head Start centers in New York City. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol. 136(4):417-418
Dannemiller KC, Conrad LA, Haines SR, Huang YJ, Marr LC, Siegel JA, Hassan S, King JC, Prussin AJ 2nd, Shamblin A, Perzanowski MS. (2025) Indoor bioaerosols and asthma: Overview, implications, and mitigation strategies. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 155(3):714-725
Perzanowski MS, Rauh V, Ramphal B, Acosta L, Hoepner L, Rundle AG, Perera FP, Herbstman J, Miller RL, Margolis AE. (2024) Rhinorrhea and watery eyes in infancy and risk of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in school-age children. Dev Psychobiol. 66(5):e22497
Flores NM, Lovinsky-Desir S, Divjan A, Hoepner LA, Zou J, Miller RL, Herbstman JB, Perera FP, Perzanowski MS, Chen Q. (2024) Trajectory analysis of rhinitis in a birth cohort from lower-income New York City neighborhoods. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 154(1):111-119
Cochran SJ, Acosta L, Divjan A, Lemons AR, Rundle AG, Miller RL, Sobek E, Green BJ, Perzanowski MS, Dannemiller KC. (2023) Fungal diversity in homes and asthma morbidity among school-age children in New York City. Environ Res. 239(Pt 1):117296
Berger S, Pini N, Lucchini M, Nugent JD, Acosta L, Angal J, Rauh VA, Elliott AJ, Myers MM, Fifer WP, Perzanowski MS. (2023) Neonatal rhinorrhea, heart rate variability, and childhood exercise-induced wheeze. J Allergy Clin Immunol Glob. 2(4):100149
Conrad LA, Buchinsky N, Acosta LM, Nugent JD, Savary KW, Miller RL, Emanet N, Herbstman J, Beebe B, Myers MM, Fifer WP, Perzanowski MS. (2021) Increased Heart Rate Variability Response Among Infants with Reported Rhinorrhea and Watery Eyes: A Pilot Study. J Asthma Allergy. 14:1349-1354
Global Health Activities
Obstructive Lung Diseases in Northern Sweden : Dr. Perzanowski was a senior researcher involved with a longitudinal cohort study of pediatric asthma and allergy.
World Health Organization (WHO) Urban Pests and Health Project : Dr. Perzanowski was a scientific contributor to the WHO Urban Pests and Health Project, co-authoring a chapter on asthma and allergy in the urban environment.
Urban Health Activities
NYC Neighborhood Asthma and Allergy Study: In New York City, the prevalence of childhood asthma and rates for asthma hospitalization vary markedly between neighboring communities. The NYC Neighborhood Asthma and Allergy Study investigates why children living just city blocks apart face such different asthma risk. The study originally enrolled 7-8-year-old children in the HIP Health Plan (now EmblemHealth), comparing neighborhoods with strikingly different asthma prevalence that are geographically close, similar in income, and similar in health care access. Notable results include identifying cockroach allergen as a driver of disparities in asthma morbidity and linking differences in combustion-related air pollution to airway inflammation. The study has also found novel associations between exercise-induced asthma and urgent medical visits for asthma, and between mold exposure and asthma morbidity, airway inflammation, and missed school days for asthma.
Mold Policy Intervention in New York City Public Housing and Asthma Morbidity: Mold contamination is common in urban homes. It disproportionately affects lower-income families, who often have less control over the conditions that cause mold growth, and it is clearly linked to more frequent asthma exacerbations. This project is evaluating the effects of an innovative mold remediation program run by the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), the largest public housing system in the United States. The team recently published findings showing a substantial decrease in emergency department visits for asthma following the intervention. These findings demonstrate how a large-scale housing policy can be a meaningful public health intervention for lower-income New Yorkers, a community with a high burden of asthma.