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Assistant Professor,
Department of Biomedical & Pharmaceutical Sciences
Environmental Toxicology
As an adolescent growing up in Mexico, Dr. Lilian Calderón-Garcidueñas had a very unusual childhood. Having parents that were both physicians, Lilian and her siblings were nurtured to discover the intricacies of the human body and the medical world starting at a very young age. She knew from the beginning that she wanted to be a doctor, and at the age of 15 she began medical school at The National University of Mexico (UNAM). Today, Dr. Calderón-Garcidueñas examines the effects of air pollution in relation to the pathology of the brain and lungs, and investigates how pollution particles permeate the brain and nervous system.
Spending time at her parent's medical office and tagging along on rounds at the hospital, Lilian was exposed to the nature of medical science at a very young age. At every opportunity, her parents made every event into a learning experience and fostered an early interest in research and medicine. As one of the youngest members of her medical school class, she excelled at her studies in an environment where many of her peers were four or five years older. By her second year of medical school she was teaching classes in Embryology. She came to the U.S. on an internship at Boston University , and continued her scholarship at the University of Toronto, Canada, specializing in Pathology and Neuropathology. She spent three years as a resident in Anatomical Pathology in Massachusetts , and then became an Assistant professor at North Western University in Chicago . Later she returned to Mexico City as a Pathologist at the Instituto Nacional de Perinatologia. An intrinsic interest and passion for literature and poetry compelled Lilian to pursue a Bachelors degree in English Literature and a Master's degree in Comparative Literature while in residency at UNAM.
Lilian's entire family is engaged in the research and medical field in one form or another. Her siblings chose careers in the fields of genetics, pathology, stem cell research and rehabilitation, and all share a passion for literature. She is able to collaborate with various members of her family on research projects and publications, and her oldest daughter is a Physician at Harvard University . She communicates her passion and excitement of research to each of her four children who are aspiring scientists on their way to becoming leaders in the medical and research fields.
While living in Mexico City , Lilian saw first hand the effects that pollution and air quality have on the human body. She took a great interest in integrating the Pathology and Toxicology fields to discover the negative effects of pollutants, particularly in children growing up within these areas of extreme pollution. She was part of an extensive research program examining the toxic effects of pollution on the lungs and brain in children in Mexico City until she accepted a fellowship at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC). Receiving her Ph.D. in Toxicology in 2001, she continued her research at UNC as a postdoctoral fellow in Environmental Pathology.
Arriving at UM in 2004, Dr. Calderón-Garcidueñas established a large and successful Environmental Toxicology research lab where she is able to integrate her specialties in Toxicology, Pathology and medicine. She admits that "Research isn't work, it's fun! Saving lives and discovering how the body reacts and changes to environmental variables is a completely fascinating job." Here, she has a wide spectrum view of how humans and the environment are tied together and how to integrate both clinical and laboratory work into the Environmental Health field.
Her current research strives to link how exposure to environmental pollution particles permeates the brain and nervous system, causing an increase in the likelihood to develop diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Her research has shown that exposure to air pollutants can precipitate a cardiac arrhythmias in clinically healthy children, and causes lung damage in children in Mexico City . She is interested in ascertaining how these developments can be prevented and how we can develop more protective factors. She is extending her research to examine the effects of pollution in the lungs of clinically healthy children to include the effects of smoke inhalation during severe fire seasons in Montana, and will measure the current pollution rates in the Missoula Valley and the implications those rates will have on pediatric health. Her greatest satisfaction in the research field is "The fact that my research will help other people live healthier lives and be aware of the consequences that unhealthy environments can have upon us."
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