Peter James

Trained in environmental health and epidemiology, Peter has focused his research on estimating the influence of spatial factors, including exposure to nature, the built environment, the food environment, air pollution, light pollution, noise, and socioeconomic factors, on health behaviors and chronic disease. He has more than a decade of experience working with large prospective cohort studies, including the Nurses’ Health Studies, the Framingham Heart Study, and the Southern Community Cohort Study, where he has aided in the creation of many spatial variables and linked them to health data. More recently, he is developing methodologies to assess real-time, high spatio-temporal resolution objective measures of location and behavior by linking smartphone-based global positioning systems (GPS) and consumer wearable device accelerometry data to understand how spatial factors influence health behaviors.

Teaching

I have developed a course on Built Environment, Nature, and Health. The built environment – our homes, schools, businesses, streets and sidewalks, and transportation options – and the natural environment – features such as vegetation, water, parks, and open spaces – directly and indirectly impact health and well-being. The places where we live, learn, work, and play can determine our exposure to pollution, influence our health behaviors, and ultimately drive disease risk. The built and natural environment can contribute to health outcomes that are the major contributors to morbidity and mortality in the US, and increasingly globally.This course will be taught for the first time in Fall 2 2019.

Education

• BA, Earth and Environmental Studies, History and Sociology of Science, University of Pennsylvania
• MHS, Environmental Health Sciences, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
• ScD, Environmental Health, Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health

Companies

• Associate Professor Harvard Medical School (2021)
• Assistant Professor Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (2019)
• Senior Health Impact Assessment Fellow Metropolitan Area Planning Council (2011)
• Assistant Professor Harvard Medical School (2017 — 2021)
• Research Associate Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health (2015 — 2017)
• Postdoctoral Fellow Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health (2012 — 2015)
• Research Associate National Academies / Institute of Medicine (2003 — 2007)
• Environmental Analyst ECW Environmental (2002 — 2003)