Madeleine Scammell
Profiles

Madeleine L.K. Scammell , DSc

Professor, Environmental Health - Boston University School of Public Health

(617) 358-2478
mls@bu.edu
Talbot - T438 WEST
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Biography

Dr. Scammell is a Professor of Environmental Health at Boston University School of Public Health and a JPB Environmental Health Fellow at Harvard School of Public Health. Her expertise is in the area of community-driven and community-based participatory research and includes the use of qualitative methods in the area of environmental health and epidemiologic studies. In 2017 Dr. Scammell was awarded an NIEHS/NIH Outstanding New Environmental Scientist award, establishing the Mesoamerican Nephropathy Occupational Study (MANOS), longitudinal study of agricultural workers in El Salvador and Nicaragua. These efforts are focused on identifying and preventing exposures that may contribute to the epidemic of chronic kidney disease in Central America known as Mesoamerican Nephropathy (MeN), specifically extreme heat and physical exertion, exposure to the herbicide glyphosate, and heavy metals. In 2021 Dr. Scammell was awarded a U01 to establish a Field Epidemiology Site as part of the NIDDK/NIEHS/Fogarty Institute CURE Consortium studying chronic kidney disease of uncertain etiology in agricultural communities. Both studies are part of the Boston University Research Group for the study of Chronic Kidney Disease in Central America and include long term research relationships with investigators in both El Salvador and Nicaragua.

In Massachusetts, Dr. Scammell leads the Local Public Health Institute out of BUSPH, with funding from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. In her own neighborhoods, Dr. Scammell co-leads the Chelsea & East Boston Heat Study, C-HEAT, examining exposure to heat and poor air quality, where we live, work and play. This is in partnership with GreenRoots, Chelsea, a grassroots environmental justice organization. Dr. Scammell led the Community Engagement Cores of two research centers: The Boston University Superfund Research Center (funded by NIEHS/NIH), and the Center for Research on Social and Environmental Stressors in Housing across the Lifecourse (joint center between Boston University and Harvard-Chan School of Public Health funded by NIMHD/NIH and EPA). She continues to develop and support mechanisms to initiate and sustain long-and short-term research relationships between community groups and scientists, and respond to community requests for scientific assistance. Dr. Scammell partners with Alternatives for Community & Environment, Boston Housing Authority, the Boston Public Health Commission. Dr. Scammell served of the Board of Health in the City of Chelsea for 10 years, and currently serves as Chair of the board of directors of the Science & Environmental Health Network. She teaches an upper level course, PH 801, Community-Engaged Research: Theory, application and methods, and previously taught Environmental Health Science, Law and Policy (EH 805) and Foundations of Environmental Health (EH 717). In 2014 Dr. Scammell co-edited with Charles Levenstein, The Toxic Schoolhouse, published by Baywood Press (now Routledge).

Education

  • Boston University School of Public Health, DSc Field of Study: Environmental Health
  • University of Vermont, BA Field of Study: Environmental Studies

Websites

Classes Taught

  • SPHEH961
  • SPHPH801

Publications

  • Published on 7/5/2025

    Raines NH, Avellan M, Candanedo J, Sam B, Scammell MK, Wesseling C, Wijkstrom J, Venugopal V, González-Quiroz M, Rohloff P. Ethical Considerations for Research in CKD of Unknown Etiology: Reflections From an Ethics Panel at the Fourth International Workshop on CKD of Unknown Etiology. Kidney Int Rep. 2025 Sep; 10(9):2937-2942. PMID: 40980669.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 6/30/2025

    Lebov JF, Brooks DR, Aceituno A, Acosta H, Velázquez JA, Anand S, Aragón A, Arias-Hidalgo M, Bhalla V, Courville K, Crowe J, Cubilla-Batista I, Engel LS, Franceschini N, Friedman DJ, Garcia-Trabanino R, González-Quiroz M, Gummidi B, Guzmán-Quilo C, Jha V, Joubert BR, Kesler K, Levin A, López-Bonilla IM, Mendley SR, Mohan S, Navas-Acien A, Parsa A, Rohloff P, Romero EJ, Ruepert C, Sánchez-Polo V, Scammell MK, Solano-Diaz K, Trochinski L, van Geen A, Waikar SS. Rationale and Design of the International Prospective Study of CKD of Uncertain Etiology in Agricultural Communities. Kidney Int Rep. 2025 Sep; 10(9):3192-3201. PMID: 40980658.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 5/27/2025

    Alina M. McIntyre, M. Patricia Fabian, Amruta Nori-Sarma, Marc Healy, Beverly Ge, Jeffrey A. Geddes, Bianca Bowman, Patrick Kinney, Roseann Bongiovanni, and Madeleine K. Scammell. Harnessing Geospatial Data for Urban Climate Resilience: Insights from a Fine Scale Ambient Temperature Analysis in an Urban Heat Island. Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy. 2025; 3(2/3):330-367.

     Read At: Custom
  • Published on 5/22/2025

    González-Quiroz M, Aceituno A, Anand S, van Geen A, Engel LS, Jarquin E, Ruepert C, Villegas-González N, Arias-Hidalgo M, Franceschini N, Anchía-Pastrán D, Solano-Diaz K, Corrales-Vargas A, Crowe J, Cubilla-Batista I, Acosta H, Mike A, Guzmán-Quilo C, Aragón A, López-Bonilla I, Rohloff P, Scammell MK, Garcia-Trabanino R, Velázquez JA, Brooks DR, Mohan S, Radhakrishnan J, Gummidi B, Jha V, Collado W, Bhalla V, Friedman DJ, Waikar SS, Kesler K, Trochinski L, Ferguson PL, Parsons PJ, Hsu-Kim H, Huset C, Summer Jenkins S, Mendley SR, Lebov JF, Joubert BR, Navas-Acien A. Environmental exposure assessment in the international prospective study of Chronic Kidney Disease of UnceRtain Etiology (CKDu) in Agricultural Communities (CURE) research consortium: Design and protocol development. Sci Total Environ. 2025 Jun 25; 983:179642. PMID: 40409020.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 11/25/2024

    Friedman DJ, Leone DA, Amador JJ, Kupferman J, Francey LJ, Lopez-Pilarte D, Lau J, Delgado I, Yih WK, Salinas A, Wang M, Genovese G, Shah S, Kelly J, Tattersfield CF, Raines NH, Amador M, Dias L, Pitsillides A, Ramirez-Rubio O, Amador AG, Cortopassi M, Applebaum KM, Alper SL, Banks AS, McClean MD, Leibler JH, Scammell MK, Dupuis J, Brooks DR. Genetic risk factors for Mesoamerican nephropathy. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2024 Dec 03; 121(49):e2404848121. PMID: 39585978.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 10/24/2024

    McIntyre A, Heidari L, Hagen M, Bongiovanni R, Bowman BN, Fabian P, Kinney P, Scammell MK. Extreme Heat and Air Quality: Community Leader Perspectives on Information Barriers and Opportunities in Two Environmental Justice Communities. New Solut. 2025 Feb; 34(4):256-267. PMID: 39445356.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 9/3/2024

    Amy Mueller, M Patricia Fabian, Madeleine K Scammell, Bianca Navarro-Bowman, Barbara Espinosa Barrera, Yasser Aponte, Ben Cares, Karl Allen and Roseann Bongiovanni. The role of sensors and community engagement in the mission toward equitable, healthy cities. Environmental Research Letters. 2024; 19(10):101003.
  • Published on 6/10/2024

    McIntyre AM, Scammell MK, Kinney PL, Khosla K, Benton L, Bongiovanni R, McCannon J, Milando CW. Portable Air Cleaner Usage and Particulate Matter Exposure Reduction in an Environmental Justice Community: A Pilot Study. Environ Health Insights. 2024; 18:11786302241258587. PMID: 38863688.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 4/18/2024

    Raines NH, Leone DA, Amador JJ, Lopez-Pilarte D, Ramírez-Rubio O, Delgado IS, Francey LJ, Leibler JH, Asara JM, Scammell MK, Parikh SM, Brooks DR, Friedman DJ. Derangement in Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide Metabolism is Observed During Acute Kidney Injury Among Male Agricultural Workers at Risk for Mesoamerican Nephropathy. Kidney Int Rep. 2024 Jul; 9(7):2250-2259. PMID: 39081728.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 3/19/2024

    Claudel SE, Waikar SS. Systematic Review of Kidney Injury Biomarkers for the Evaluation of CKD of Uncertain Etiology. Kidney Int Rep. 2024 Jun; 9(6):1614-1632. PMID: 38899184.

     Read At: PubMed

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