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Curtis Noonan
Assistant Professor

Phone: (406) 243-4957

Email: curtis.noonan@umontana.edu

Curtis Noonan received his Ph.D. in Environmental Health with a specialization in Epidemiology from Colorado State University in 2000. He is also a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley (B.A., 1989) and the George Washington University (M.A., 1995). After receiving his Ph.D., Curtis worked as an epidemiologist at the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry in Atlanta. In 2004, he was hired as Assistant Professor for Epidemiology in the Department of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and the Department of Pharmacy Practice.

RESEARCH STATEMENT

Dr. Noonan’s laboratory is focused on the human health effects of exposures to environmental agents. His current research includes the investigation of the impact of biomass smoke exposure on the respiratory health of susceptible human populations. One of his studies is the first randomized trial in the US to utilize a woodstove intervention to assess the impact of the consequent reductions in indoor particulate matter on health outcomes in a susceptible population. In addition to clinically-relevant health outcomes measures among asthmatic children, his laboratory investigates sub-clinical biomarkers of respiratory inflammation and oxidative stress. Another study conducted by Dr. Noonan tracks a community-wide woodstove changeout program and evaluates the impact on ambient levels of particulate matter and children’s health. He is also actively engaged in identifying reliable biomarkers of exposure to biomass smoke. The results of these and similar studies will be translatable to other regions in the US and the world where biomass burning is commonly used for heating and cooking and is a large contributor to global burden of disease. Dr. Noonan is also actively engaged in studying environmental risk factors for diabetes and asthma among Northern Plains Native American populations.

KEY PUBLICATIONS

Noonan CW, Ward TJ. Environmental tobacco smoke, woodstove heating and risk of asthma symptoms. Journal of Asthma (In Press 2007).

Dent L, Harris K, Noonan CW. Tobacco Interventions Delivered by Pharmacists: A Systematic Review. Pharmacotherapy 2007;27:1040-51.

Brown B, Noonan CW, Nord M. Prevalence of food insecurity and health associated outcomes and food characteristics of Northern Plains Indian households. Journal of Hunger and Environmental Nutrition 2007 (In Press).

Ward TJ, Noonan CW, Hooper K. Results of an indoor size fractionated PM school sampling program in Libby, MT. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment. 2007;130:163-71.

Noonan CW. Exposure matrix development for the Libby cohort. Inhal Tox 2006;18:965-70.

Ward TJ, Spear T, Hart J, Noonan CW, Holian A, Getman M, Webber JS. Trees as reservoirs for amphibole fibers in Libby, Montana. Sci Total Environ. 2006;367:460-65.

Noonan CW, Pfau JC, Larson TC, Spence MR. Nested Case-Control Study of Autoimmune Disease in an Asbestos-Exposed Population. Environ Health Perspect 2006;114:1243-47.

Schumpert JC, Noonan CW, Sylvester J, et al. Patterns of Asthma Symptoms and Perceptions of Harm from Seasonal Atmospheric Events in Rural Western Montana. Int J Occup Environ Health. 2006;12(1):52-58.

Noonan CW, White MC, Thurman D, Wong L-Y. Temporal and geographic variation in United States motor neuron disease mortality, 1969–1998. Neurology 2005;64:1215-1221.

Health Investigations Communications Work Group (Noonan CW, contributing author). Communicating results to community residents: Lessons from recent ATSDR health investigations. Journal of Exposure Analysis and Environmental Epidemiology 2004;14:484-491.

Ichinose TY, Burch JB, Noonan CW, Yost MG, Keefe TJ, Bachand A, Mandeville R, Reif JS. Immune markers and ornithine decarboxylase activity among electric utility workers. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine 2004;46:104-12.

Pealer LN, Marfin AA, Peterson LR, et al. (Noonan CW, member of the team authorship). Transmission of West Nile Virus through blood transfusion in the United States in 2002. New England Journal of Medicine 2003;349:1236-45.

Noonan CW, Kathman SJ, Sarasua SM, White MC. Influence of zinc on environmental and biological measures of lead and cadmium in children. Journal of Exposure Analysis and Environmental Epidemiology 2003;13:318-323.

Noonan CW, Sarasua SM, Campagna D, Kathman SJ, Lybarger JA, Mueller PW. Renal biomarker effects of exposure to low levels of environmental cadmium. Environmental Health Perspectives 2002;110:151-5.

Noonan CW, Reif JS, Yost M, Touchstone J.  Occupational exposure to magnetic fields in case-referent studies of neurodegenerative diseases. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health 2002;28(1);42-48.

Noonan CW, Reif JS, Burch JM, Ichinose T, Yost M, Magnusson K. Relationship between amyloid ? protein and melatonin metabolite in a study of electric utility workers. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine 2002;44:769-775.

Noonan CW, Kathman SJ, White MC. Prevalence estimates for MS in the United States and evidence of an increasing trend for women. Neurology 2002;58:136-8.

Burch JB, Reif JS, Noonan CW, Ichinose T, Yost MG. Melatonin metabolite excretion among cellular telephone users. International Journal of Radiation Biology 2002;78:1029-1036.

Burch JB, Reif JS, Noonan CW, Yost MG. Melatonin metabolite levels in workers exposed to 60 Hz magnetic fields:  work in substations and with 3-phase conductors. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine 2000;42:136-142.