Nathan Chen

Nathan Chen joined the Exposure Research Lab as a Research Fellow in January 2025. His research interests include evaluating environmental and occupational exposures to air pollutants, heat, noise, and vibration. He recently received his Ph.D. in Environmental Health Sciences from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Nathan’s dissertation focused on the evaluation of hand-arm vibration and the related vascular and muscular health effects among groundskeeping workers in the southeastern US. Through this work, he secured a CDC/NIOSH Pilot/Small Project Training (PPRT) grant from the Deep South Center for Occupational Health and Safety in 2021, two best-in-show student poster awards and two scholarships from the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA), and published two peer-reviewed journal articles, with one under review and another in preparation.

In addition to hand-arm vibration exposure assessment, Nathan explores the application of wearable real-time sensors to evaluate the association between environmental exposures (i.e., air pollutants, noise, and heat) and cardiovascular health effects, as well as the use of innovative 3D technology for the fit testing of safety eyewear.

Nathan is currently undergoing training in the field of occupational health sciences in the Exposure Research Lab. He looks forward to more research collaboration opportunities to advance his research in exploring the association between exposures and relevant health effects.