James A. VanDerslice

James A. VanDerslice, PhD

Languages spoken: English

Academic Information

Departments Primary - Family & Preventive Medicine

Divisions: Public Health

Research Interests

  • Exposure Assessment Using GIS and Environmental Modeling
  • Historical Exposure Characterization
  • Improving Water and Sanitation Interventions
  • Antibiotic Resistant Organisms in the Environment
  • Transmission of Antibiotic Resistant Organisms via Fecal-Oral Routes
  • Statistical Analysis of Environmental Data
  • Drinking Water Quality
  • Community Health Needs Assessments

Jim VanDerslice, PhD is a Professor in the Division of Public Health. His research focuses on evaluating human exposures to chemical and microbiological hazards in the environment. Several of his studies have examined contaminants in drinking water and foods, and their effects on infants and children. He utilizes Geographic Information Systems (GIS) as a tool to assess spatial patterns in exposures. He has recently become interested in the effects of the built environment on physical activity and obesity, and is using GIS to classify the built environment of SLC neighborhoods using spatial data and aerial imagery.

Research Statement

James VanDerslice, MSEE, PhD, is an environmental epidemiologist who focuses on methods to assess community exposures and the relationships between these exposures and a wide variety of health outcomes. He is currently working on studies of the impacts of poor ambient air quality on suicide, pneumonia, sperm quality, carcinoid and testicular cancer and pre-term birth. Dr. VanDerslice also has a long-standing interest in the impacts of poor drinking water quality, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in low-resource settings and the engineering, social and economic systems needed for sustainable improvements in WASH. His current research focuses on the spread of antimicrobial-resistant enteric organisms from human and animals’ wastes to human populations.

Education History

Postdoctoral Fellowship University of North Carolina
 Postdoctoral Fellow
Doctoral Training University of North Carolina, School of Public Health
 PhD
Graduate Training University of North Carolina, School of Public Health
 MSEE
Undergraduate Humboldt State University
 BSEE

Selected Publications

Journal Article

  1. Richards-Steed R, Wan N, Bakian A, Medina RM, Brewer SC, Smith KR, VanDerslice JA (2024). Observational methods for human studies of transgenerational effects. Epigenetics, 19(1), 2366065. (Read full article)
  2. Grineski SE, Renteria RA, Collins TW, Bakian AV, Bilder D, VanDerslice JA, Fraser A, Gomez J, Ramos KD (2024). PM(2.5) threshold exceedances during the prenatal period and risk of intellectual disability. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol, 34(5), 861-867. (Read full article)
  3. Gatzke-Kopp LM, Willoughby M, Kress AM, McArthur K, Wychgram C, Folch DC, Brunswasser S, Dabelea D, Elliott AJ, Hartert T, Karagas M, McEvoy CT, VanDerslice JA, Wright RO, Wright RJ (2025). Airborne Lead Exposure and Childhood Cognition: The Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Cohort (2003-2022). Am J Public Health, 114(3), 309-318. (Read full article)
  4. Ramsay JM, Fendereski K, Horns JJ, VanDerslice JA, Hanson HA, Emery BR, Halpern JA, Aston KI, Ferlic E, Hotaling JM (2023). Environmental exposure to industrial air pollution is associated with decreased male fertility. Fertil Steril, 120(3 Pt 2), 637-647. (Read full article)
  5. Newman MG, Porucznik CA, Date AP, Abdelrahman S, Schliep KC, VanDerslice JA, Smith KR, Hanson HA (2023). Generating Older Adult Multimorbidity Trajectories Using Various Comorbidity Indices and Calculation Methods. Innov Aging, 7(3), igad023. (Read full article)
  6. Bakian AV, Chen D, Zhang C, Hanson HA, Docherty AR, Keeshin B, Gray D, Smith KR, VanDerslice JA, Yu DZ, Zhang Y, Coon H (2021). A population-wide analysis of the familial risk of suicide in Utah, USA. Psychol Med, 53(4), 1448-1457. (Read full article)
  7. Ou JY, Ramsay JM, Lee G, VanDerslice JA, Taddie M, Kirchhoff AC, Divver E, Akerley W, Kepka D, Hanson HA (2022). Patterns of indoor radon concentrations, radon-hazard potential, and radon testing on a small geographic scale in Utah. J Environ Radioact, 256, 107046. (Read full article)
  8. Apanga PA, Ahmed J, Tanner W, Starcevich K, VanDerslice JA, Rehman U, Channa N, Benson S, Garn JV (2022). Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae in sink drains of 40 healthcare facilities in Sindh, Pakistan: A cross-sectional study. PLoS One, 17(2), e0263297. (Read full article)
  9. Keating EM, Robison JA, Chiume M, Taddie M, VanDerslice JA, Benson LS, Fitzgerald E, Crouse HL, Eckerle MD, Ciccone EJ, Porucznik CA (2022). Relationship between distance of referring facilities and haemoglobin change in children in Malawi. Paediatr Int Child Health, 41(4), 253-261. (Read full article)
  10. Henry TD, Porucznik CA, Honda TJ, VanDerslice JA, Blackburn BE, Cox KJ, Carrell DT (2021). Differential impacts of particulate air pollution exposure on early and late stages of spermatogenesis. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf, 220, 112419. (Read full article)
  11. Koric A, Singh B, VanDerslice JA, Stanford JB, Rogers CR, Egan DT, Agyemang DO, Schliep K (2021). Polycystic ovary syndrome and postpartum depression symptoms: a population-based cohort study. Am J Obstet Gynecol, 224(6), 591.e1-591.e12. (Read full article)
  12. Leiser CL, Taddie M, Hemmert R, Richards Steed R, VanDerslice JA, Henry K, Ambrose J, ONeil B, Smith KR, Hanson HA (2020). Spatial clusters of cancer incidence: analyzing 1940 census data linked to 1966-2017 cancer records. Cancer Causes Control, 31(7), 609-615. (Read full article)
  13. Qeadan F, Honda T, Gren LH, Dailey-Provost J, Benson LS, VanDerslice JA, Porucznik CA, Waters AB, Lacey S, Shoaf K (2020). Naive Forecast for COVID-19 in Utah Based on the South Korea and Italy Models-the Fluctuation between Two Extremes. Int J Environ Res Public Health, 17(8). (Read full article)
  14. Leiser CL, Smith KR, VanDerslice JA, Glotzbach JP, Farrell TW, Hanson HA (2019). Evaluation of the Sex-and-Age-Specific Effects of PM(2.5) on Hospital Readmission in the Presence of the Competing Risk of Mortality in the Medicare Population of Utah 1999-2009. J Clin Med, 8(12). (Read full article)
  15. Knighton AJ, Savitz LA, Benuzillo J, VanDerslice JA (2017). It takes a village: Exploring the impact of social determinants on delivery system outcomes for heart failure patients. Healthc (Amst), 6(2), 112-116. (Read full article)
  16. Laflamme DM, Vanderslice JA (2004). Using the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) for exposure tracking: experiences from Washington State. Environ Health Perspect, 112(14), 1428-33. (Read full article)

Conference Proceedings

  1. Laflamme DM, VanDerslice JA (2004). Using the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) for exposure tracking: experiences from Washington State. Environ Health Perspect, 112(14), 1428-33.

Editorial

  1. Bakian AV, VanDerslice JA (2019). Pesticides and autism. BMJ, 364, l1149. (Read full article)