Dr. Kurunthachalam Kannan stands as a preeminent environmental health scientist whose work has fundamentally advanced our understanding of human exposure to environmental contaminants. He currently serves as Deputy Director of the Division of Environmental Health Sciences at the New York State Department of Health's Wadsworth Center while holding a professorship at the University at Albany's School of Public Health. With over twenty-five years of dedicated research leadership, Dr. Kannan has established himself as a leading authority in environmental biomonitoring and exposure science, developing innovative methodologies that bridge analytical chemistry and public health. His career trajectory from early research scientist to deputy director reflects a consistent commitment to advancing the scientific understanding of environmental health threats and translating those findings into actionable public health knowledge.
Dr. Kannan's groundbreaking research has centered on biomonitoring human exposure to environmental chemicals, pioneering methods to detect and quantify organic pollutants in human tissues and body fluids. His laboratory has developed novel analytical techniques that have enabled the identification of previously unrecognized exposure pathways for persistent organic compounds, endocrine disruptors, and emerging contaminants of concern. With over 525 peer-reviewed publications and 25 book chapters to his credit, his work has established critical connections between environmental exposures and health outcomes, informing regulatory decisions and public health interventions worldwide. The conceptual framework of exposomics that his research has advanced represents a paradigm shift in how we understand the totality of environmental exposures throughout the human lifespan and their relationship to disease etiology.
Beyond his research contributions, Dr. Kannan has played a pivotal role in shaping environmental health science through leadership in major collaborative initiatives, including directing projects funded by two major awards totaling 15 million dollars that produced 14 diverse research outcomes. His laboratory serves as a hub for methodological innovation in environmental biomonitoring, providing specialized analytical capabilities through programs like HHEAR that support researchers globally. As an educator and mentor, he has trained numerous scientists who now contribute to the field across academic, governmental, and private sector institutions. Dr. Kannan continues to advance the frontiers of exposure science with ongoing research focused on developing more comprehensive approaches to characterize the human exposome, with the ultimate goal of enabling more effective prevention strategies for environmentally influenced diseases.
