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
University of North Carolina, School of Public Health
 PhD
Graduate Training University of North Carolina, School of Public Health
 MSEE
Humboldt State University
 BSEE

Selected Publications

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.