Katherine Ann James

Katherine James is an engineer and epidemiologist specializing in environmental and climate systems health effects of metals in the San Luis Valley and other areas of the Mountain West. She heads a large R01 study on the impact of drought on arsenic exposure and cardiometabolic outcomes in a rural aging population, alongside projects focusing on cadmium exposure, chronic kidney disease, and maternal arsenic exposure and adverse birth outcomes. Dr. James co-leads the Mountain West Alliance for Community Engaged Climate Health that partners with both the San Luis Valley and West Denver communities in developing community-driven action and conversations on adaptation and mitigation of climate stressors including air pollution, drought, wildfires, water quality, and heat. She has extensive experience in community-based human studies. She is also involved in transdisciplinary research on the health effects of environmental heavy metal exposures, climate health and resilience. James is currently spearheading multiple community-engaged research endeavors, including co-leading the Community Engagement Core for the MEMCARE-Superfund Center at Harvard University that evaluates drought's impact on metals in drinking water in active mining areas.