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Freya Kamel, Ph.D.

Chronic Disease Epidemiology Group

Freya Kamel, Ph.D.
Freya Kamel, Ph.D.
Staff Scientist



Tel (919) 541-1581
Fax (919) 541-2511
kamel@niehs.nih.gov

Curriculum Vitae (Kamel-cv.pdf)  Download Adobe Reader
P.O. Box 12233
Mail Drop A3-05
Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27709
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Research interests for Freya Kamel, Ph.D., focus on environmental determinants of neurologic dysfunction and disease, in particular, neurodegenerative disease.

Kamel and her colleagues conducted a case-control study of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, to study the role of exposure to lead and other neurotoxicants in this disease (Kamel et al., 2002). Occupational exposure to lead was associated with a two-fold increase in ALS risk. Both blood and bone lead levels were also elevated in ALS cases compared to population controls. However, neither residential nor recreational exposure to lead was related to ALS. Analyses of the role of genetic susceptibility suggested that polymorphisms in the gene for δ-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase were associated with increased risk of ALS (Kamel et al., 2003). Thus, both genetic susceptibility and exposure to environmental neurotoxicants increase risk of ALS.

Another study examined the relationship of farmwork-related exposures to subclinical neurobehavioral deficits in farmworkers. In this community-based study, farmworkers in central Florida were recruited with the assistance of the Farmworkers Association of Florida, a local advocacy group. Farm work was associated with deficits in neurobehavioral performance reflecting cognitive and psychomotor function (Kamel et al., 2003). Longer duration of farm work was associated with worse performance. Deficits related to the duration of work experience were seen in former as well as current farmworkers, and decreased performance was related to chronic exposure even in the absence of a history of pesticide poisoning. Thus, long-term experience of farm work is associated with measurable deficits in cognitive and psychomotor function.

Kamel participated in work on the Agricultural Health Study (AHS), a large cohort study of licensed pesticide applicators and their spouses in Iowa and North Carolina. Using data from the AHS, Kamel found that use of fungicides and organochlorine insecticides was associated with increased risk of retinal degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in adults (Kamel et al., 2000). Another analysis found that prevalence of neurologic symptoms was related to moderate levels of exposure to organophosphate and organochlorine insecticides and fumigants (Kamel et al., 2005).

The AHS is the setting for a nested case-control study of pesticide exposure and Parkinson's disease called the Farming and Movement Evaluation or FAME Study. In collaboration with Caroline Tanner, M.D., Ph.D., at The Parkinson's Institute, FAME investigated the relationship of Parkinson's disease to pesticides and other farm-related exposures in a population with a well-documented history of pesticide exposure. The study also evaluated the role of other environmental neurotoxicants, lifestyle variables and genetic susceptibility. Enrollment of participants in the study began in 2002 and was completed in 2006.

Kamel also serves as an epidemiology resource for the National Toxicology Program (NTP) (http://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/). She has participated in the review of agents and exposure circumstances nominated for listing in the NTP Report on Carcinogens (http://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/index.cfm?objectid=03C9B512-ACF8-C1F3-ADBA53CAE848F635), including alcoholic beverage consumption, beryllium, diesel exhaust particulates, dioxins, environmental tobacco smoke, heterocyclic amines, nickel, silica, solar and ultraviolet radiation, sunbeds, steroidal estrogens, sulfuric acid mists, tamoxifen, trichloroethylene and wood dust.

Kamel received a B.A. in mathematics from Brandeis University and a Ph.D. in biological sciences from SUNY-Binghamton. She did research in neuroendocrinology as a postdoctoral fellow at The Rockefeller University and then as an assistant professor at The Rockefeller University and the University of Wisconsin. She received an M.P.H. in epidemiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She joined the Epidemiology Branch at NIEHS in 1989, and currently serves as an epidemiologic consultant for the National Toxicology Program, an associate editor of the American Journal of Epidemiology, and a member of the editorial board of Environmental Health Perspectives.

Studies

  • Agricultural Health Study (AHS) (http://www.niehs.nih.gov/research/atniehs/labs/epi/studies/ahs/index.cfm)
    The AHS explores potential causes of cancer and other diseases among farmers, their families and commercial pesticide applicators.
  • Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Study (http://www.niehs.nih.gov/research/atniehs/labs/epi/studies/alss/index.cfm)
    The ALS Study explores potential associations of ALS with exposure to lead and other neurotoxins, lifestyle factors and genetic polymorphisms affecting neurologic function or lead metabolism.
  • Farming and Movement Evaluation (FAME) Study (http://www.niehs.nih.gov/research/atniehs/labs/epi/studies/fame/index.cfm)
    The FAME Study examines the relationship between Parkinson's disease and exposure to pesticides, other neurotoxicants and soil pathogens. The study also examines the connection between the illness and lifestyle factors, skin melanin and polymorphisms in genes involved in xenobiotic metabolism, dopaminergic neurotransmission or xenobiotic-specific membrane transport.
  • Farmworkers Health Study (http://www.niehs.nih.gov/research/atniehs/labs/epi/studies/fwhs/index.cfm)
    The Farmworkers Health Study examines the association of long-term pesticide exposure in farmworkers with deficits in cognitive and psychomotor function.

Selected Publications

  1. Kamel F, Umbach DM, Munsat TL, Shefner JM, Hu H, and Sandler DP. Lead exposure and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Epidemiology 13:311-9, 2002. [Abstract] (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=11964933) Exit NIEHS Website [Full Text] (http://gateway.ut.ovid.com/gw2/ovidweb.cgi?QS=3uk6KeZOr%2bzMiAPlCgvXfCX1HxAjvgAwpwImDExmhKr7YA8YjaznGnebJ6NtWFdDEhWXQsK0Ua5lr5VAvqUfih9jYXCgWxHaSgLYEMDLNWsg36VbYjiDu3wZ1UhvcE%2fj4zjx8C%2fzCSb%2ben4Urqwn1goeTKLLlWe2_kkMSAX0zDwsNnhBu) Exit NIEHS Website [download the PDF] (http://gateway.ut.ovid.com/gw2/ovidweb.cgi?WebLinkFrameset=1&S=FPDDNCJLGGCGMK00D&returnUrl=ovidweb.cgi%3f%26Full%2bText%3dL%257cS.sh.15.16%257c0%257c00001648-200205000-00012%26S%3dFPDDNCJLGGCGMK00D&directlink=http%3a%2f%2fgraphics.tx.ovid.com%2fovftpdfs%2fFPDDNCJLGGCGMK00D%2ffs041%2fovft%2flive%2fgv012%2f00001648%2f00001648-200205000-00012.pdf) Exit NIEHS Website
  2. Kamel F, Umbach DM, Lehman TA, Park LP, Munsat TL, Shefner JM, Sandler DP, Hu H, Taylor JA. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, lead, and genetic susceptibility: δ-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase and vitamin D receptor genes. Environ Health Perspect 111: 1335-9, 2003. [Abstract] (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Retrieve&list_uids=12896855&dopt=Citation) Exit NIEHS Website [Full Text] (http://www.ehponline.org/members/2003/6109/6109.html) Exit NIEHS Website [PDF] (http://www.ehponline.org/members/2003/6109/6109.pdf)  Download Adobe Reader Exit NIEHS Website
  3. Kamel F, Rowland AS, Park LP, Anger WK, Baird DD, Gladen BC, Moreno T, Stallone L, Sandler DP. Neurobehavioral performance and work experience in Florida farmworkers. Environ Health Perspect 111: 1765-72, 2003. [Abstract] (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Retrieve&list_uids=14594629&dopt=Citation) Exit NIEHS Website [Full Text] (http://www.ehponline.org/members/2003/6341/6341.html) Exit NIEHS Website [PDF] (http://www.ehponline.org/members/2003/6341/6341.pdf)  Download Adobe Reader Exit NIEHS Website
  4. Kamel F, Engel LS, Gladen BC, Hoppin JA, Alavanja MCR, Sandler DP. Neurologic symptoms in licensed private pesticide applicators in the Agricultural Health Study. Environ Health Perspect 113: 877-882, 2005. [Abstract] (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=16002376&query_hl=16) Exit NIEHS Website [Full Text] (http://www.ehponline.org/members/2005/7645/7645.html) Exit NIEHS Website [PDF] (http://www.ehponline.org/members/2005/7645/7645.pdf)  Download Adobe Reader Exit NIEHS Website
  5. Kamel F, Tanner CM, Umbach DM, Hoppin JA, Alavanja MCR, Blair A, Comyns K, Goldman SM, Korell M, Langston JW, Ross GW, Sandler DP. Pesticide exposure and self-reported Parkinson’s disease in the Agricultural Health Study. Amer J Epidemiol 165(4): 364-74, 2007. [Abstract] (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=17116648&query_hl=15&itool=pubmed_docsum) Exit NIEHS Website
  6. Chen H , Richards M , Sandler DP , Umbach DM , Kamel F. Head injury and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. American Journal of Epidemiology 7: 810-816, 2007. [Abstract] (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=17641152) Exit NIEHS
  7. Kamel F, Umbach DM, Stallone L, Richards M, Hu H, Sandler DP, . Association of lead exposure with survival in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). Neurology 116(7):943-947, 2008. [Abstract] (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=18629318) Exit NIEHS
  8. Crawford JM, Hoppin JA, Alavanja MCR, Blair A, Sandler DP, Kamel F. Hearing loss in licensed pesticide applicators. Journal of occupational and environmental medicine / American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine 50(7):817-826, 2008. [Abstract] (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=18617838) Exit NIEHS
  9. Fang F, Kamel F, Sandler DP, Sparen P, Ye W. Maternal age, exposure to siblings and risk of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. American Journal of Epidemiology 167(11):1281-1286, 2008. [Abstract] (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=18367467) Exit NIEHS

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Last Reviewed: September 09, 2008