Announcing Journal of Health and Pollution's Inaugural Editor-in-Chief
EHP Publishing is excited to share that Professor Kalpana Balakrishnan, PhD, FAMS, has been selected as the inaugural Editor-in-Chief for the relaunch of the Journal of Health and Pollution (JHP). Balakrishnan brings a wealth of global environmental health leadership to the journal including the development of large-scale interdisciplinary research and graduate training programs in environmental epidemiology in India over the past 30 years and a previous appointment as a Regional Editor for Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP).
EHP Publishing convened an advisory committee with the focus on making the journal a venue by and for scholars in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and Indigenous communities.
“We are delighted to be able to recruit a preeminent scholar of Dr. Balakrishnan’s caliber to take the initial editorial reins of the journal,” said EHP Editor-in-Chief Joel Kaufman. “We are confident she will be an outstanding inaugural leader of the JHP editorial team.”
JHP will publish high-quality, peer-reviewed environmental health science from regions and communities that have less developed research infrastructure with the goal of strengthening capacity for scholarly publication in these areas.
“A role that facilitates effective communication of high quality scientific findings produced by LMIC-based researchers resonates so well with what I want to do for capacity building in evidence-scant global regions,” Balakrishnan said. “More science from LMICs should be available in the public domain, and JHP intends to be the open voice for environmental health concerns of the Global South. My goal as Editor-in-Chief is to establish JHP as a vehicle where individuals of all backgrounds and skill sets can be heard.”
Before opening the journal to manuscript submissions later this summer, Balakrishnan will be working closely with EHP Publishing staff and the JHP Deputy Editors to appoint Editorial Board members. Follow us on social media to stay updated on the status of JHP.
Career Highlights
After graduating with her PhD in biophysics from Johns Hopkins University, Balakrishnan returned to India to begin her work on exposure assessment and quickly transitioned to training as a field epidemiologist. This experience helped her identify and address some of the most pressing environmental health concerns on the ground, including household air pollution, where she has led some of most extensive cohort studies among rural and peri-urban populations.
She currently serves as Professor of Biophysics and Dean of Research at the Sri Ramachandra Institute for Higher Education and Research in Chennai, India. Her research group serves as a World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Center for Occupational and Environmental Health and as a Center for Advanced Research on Air Quality, Climate and Health for the Indian Council of Medical Research, Government of India.
Balakrishnan has published in many high-impact environmental health journals, including EHP. Her first EHP article in 2002 on exposures to particulate matter from biomass fuels in rural households of southern India marked a milestone for Balakrishnan; in her words, publishing in EHP continues to be an “aspirational benchmark” for all early-career environmental health researchers and “transformed her personal scientific journey in subsequent years." Her recent work can also be seen in The Lancet, The Lancet Planetary Health, the New England Journal of Medicine, and more.