BEEP

This ISEE annual award for the best environmental epidemiology paper published in a peer-reviewed journal aims to recognize excellence in the field of environmental epidemiology and encourage the publication of outstanding papers.

Criteria for the award include but are not limited to:

  • Quality (data, analyses, presentation, argument)
  • Originality
  • Importance/impact
  • Relevance to environmental epidemiology


The winning paper is selected by the Best Environmental Epidemiology Paper (BEEP) Award subcommittee and approved by the Executive Council. The handling editor of the journal in which the paper is published will receive a special certificate. Authors, editors, and readers may make nominations. Only outstanding papers should be nominated.

How to Nominate a Paper for the BEEP
Note, nominated papers for the 2024 award must be published in a scientific journal between Jan 1 and Dec 31, 2023

The application should include:

  • Nomination Letter
  • Copy of the paper
  • Brief statement (50-100 words) indicating the specific aspect of the paper that makes it outstanding (e.g., the value of its methodologic contribution or the policy controversy it contributes to resolving).  


Submit all required materials through the online Best Environmental Epidemiology Paper (BEEP) Award Application. The winning paper will be announced during the annual conference.

The deadline for submitting 2024 award nominations is March 15, 2024.


2023 Best Environmental Epidemiology Paper (BEEP) Award

Long-term exposure to low ambient air pollution concentrations and mortality among 28 million people: results from seven large European cohorts within the ELAPSE project
Massimo Stafoggia, PhD, Bente Oftedal, PhD, Jie Chen, PhD, Sophia Rodopoulou, PhD, Matteo Renzi, MSc, Prof Richard W. Atkinson, PhD, et al.

The Lancet Plantery Health, Volume 6, Issue 1, E9-E18, January 2022



Past Award Winners

2022

Association Between Gestational Exposure to Toxicants and Autistic Behaviors Using Bayesian Quantile Regression

Joshua D. Alampi, Bruce P Lanphear, Joseph M Braun, Aimin Chen, Tim K Takaro, Gina Muckle, Tye E Arbuckle, Lawrence C McCandless

American Journal of Epidemiology, September 2021: Vol. 190, Issue 9

2021

Mercury exposure and premature mortality in the Grassy Narrows First Nation community: a retrospective longitudinal study
Aline Philibert, Myriam Fillion, Donna Mergler
The Lancet Planetary Health, Vol. 4, Issue 4, April 1, 2020

2021 - Honorable Mentions

Socioeconomic level and associations between heat exposure and all-cause and cause-specific hospitalization in 1,814 Brazilian cities: A nationwide case-crossover study.
Rongbin Xu, Qi Zhao, Micheline S. Z. S. Coelho, Paulo H. N. Saldiva, Michael J. Abramson, Shanshan Li , Yuming Guo
PloS Medicine

Changing the urban design of cities for health: The superblock model
Natalie Mueller, David Rojas-Rueda, Haneen Khreis, Marta Cirach, David Andres, Joan Ballester, Xavier Bartoll, Carolyn Daher, Anna Deluca, Cynthia Echave, Carles Mila, Sandara Marquez, Joan Palou, Katherine Perez, Cathryn Tonne, Mark Stevenson, Salvador Rueda, Mark Nieuwenhuijsen
Environment International

Improved asthma outcomes observed in the vicinity of coal power plant retirement, retrofit and conversion to natural gas
Joan Casey, Jason G. Su, Lucas R. F. Henneman, Corwin Zigler, Andreas M. Neophytou, Ralph Catalano, Rahul Gondalia, Yu-Ting Chen, Leanne Kaye, Sarah S. Moyer, Veronica Combs, Grace Simrall, Ted Smith, James Sublett & Meredith A. Barrett 
Nature Energy

Within-city Spatial Variations in Ambient Ultrafine Particle Concentrations and Incident Brain Tumors in Adults.
Scott Weichenthal, Olaniyan T, Christidis T, Lavigne E, Hatzopoulou M, Van Ryswyk K, Tjepkema M, Burnett R. 
Epidemiology

Various Types of Perceived Job Discrimination and Sleep Health Among Working Women: Findings From the Sister Study
Soomi Lee, Anne-Marie Chang, Orfeu M Buxton, Chandra L Jackson
American Journal of Epidemiology

Short term association between ozone and mortality: global two stage time series study in 406 locations in 20 countries 
Ana Maria Vicedo Cabrera, Sera F, Liu C, Armstrong B, Milojevic A, Guo Y, Tong S, Lavigne E, Kyselý J, Urban A, Orru H, Indermitte E, Pascal M, Huber V, Schneider A, Katsouyanni K, Samoli E, Stafoggia M, Scortichini M, Hashizume M, Honda Y, Ng CFS, Hurtado-Diaz M, Cruz J, Silva S, Madureira J, Scovronick N, Garland RM, Kim H, Tobias A, Íñiguez C, Forsberg B, Åström C, Ragettli MS, Röösli M, Guo YL, Chen BY, Zanobetti A, Schwartz J, Bell ML, Kan H, Gasparrini A.
BMJ

2020 - Joint Winners

Acute Air Pollution Exposure and the Risk of Violent Behavior in the United States
Jesse D Berman, Jesse Burkhardt,  Jude Bayham, Ellison Carter, Ander Wilson
Epidemiology, Vol. 30, Issue 6, November 2019

Short term exposure to fine particulate matter and hospital admission risks and costs in the Medicare population: time stratified, case crossover study
Yaguang Wei, Yan Wang, Qian Di, Christine Choirat, Yun Wang, Petros Koutrakis, Antonella Zanobetti, Francesca Dominici, Clarence James Gamble, Joel D Schwartz
BMJ, November 27, 2019

2019Empirical Evidence of Mental Health Risks Posed by Climate Change
Nick Obradovich, Robyn Migliorini, Martin P. Paulus, Iyad Rahwan 
PNAS, October 23, 2018; Vol. 115, Issue 43
2019
Runner
Up
Association Between Ambient Temperature and Mortality Risk and Burden: Time Series Study in 272 Main Chinese Cities
Renjie Chen, Peng Yin, Lijun Wang, Cong Liu, Yue Niu, Weidong Wang, Yixuan Jiang, Yunning Liu, Jiangmei Liu, Jinlei Qi, Jinling You, Haidong Kan, Maigeng Zhou 
BMJ, Vol. 363, October 31, 2018

Prenatal Exposure to DDT and Pyrethroids for Malaria Control and Child Neurodevelopment: The VHEMBE Cohort, South Africa
Brenda Eskenazi, Sookee An, Stephen A. Rauch, Eric S. Coker, Angelina Maphula, Muvhulawa Obida, Madelein Crause, Katherine R. Kogut, Riana Bornman, Jonathan Chevrier
Environmental Health Perspectives, Vol. 126, April 6, 2018
2018A cleaner burning biomass-fuelled cookstove intervention to prevent pneumonia in children under 5 years old in rural Malawi (the Cooking and Pneumonia Study): a cluster randomised controlled trial
Kevin Mortimer, Chifundo B. Ndamala, Andrew W. Naunje, Jullita Malava, Cynthia Katundu, William Weston, Deborah Havens, Daniel Pope, Nigel G. Bruce, Moffat Nyirenda, Duolao Wang, Amelia Crampin, Jonathan Grigg, John Balmes, Stephen B. Gordon
Lancet 2017; 389: 167–75
2017Association between Air Pollution and Coronary Artery Calcification within Six Metropolitan Areas in the USA (the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis and Air Pollution): A Longitudinal Cohort Study
Joel D. Kaufman, Sara D. Adar, R. Graham Barr, Matthew Budoff, Gregory L. Burke, Cynthia L. Curl, Martha L. Daviglus, Ana V. Diez Roux, Amanda J. Gassett, David R. Jacobs Jr. Richard Kronmal, Timothy V. Larson, Ana Navas-Acien, Casey Olives, Paul D. Sampson, Lianne Sheppard, Emeritus David S Siscovick, James H Stein, Adam A. Szpiro, Karol E. Watson:  
Lancet; 388: 696-704 August 13, 2016
2016Mortality Risk Attributable to High and Low Ambient Temperature: a Multicountry Observational Study
Antonio Gasparrini, Yuming Guo, Masahiro Hashizume, Eric Lavigne, Antonella Zanobetti, Joel Schwartz, Aurelio Tobias, Shilu Tong, Joacim Rocklöv, Bertil Forsberg, Michela Leone, Manuela De Sario, Michelle L Bell, Yue-Liang Leon Guo, Chang-fu Wu, Haidong Kan, Seung-Muk Yi, Micheline de Sousa Zanotti Stagliorio Coelho, Paulo Hilario Nascimento Saldiva, Yasushi Honda, Ho Kim, and Ben Armstrong:  
Lancet; 386: 369–75 May 21, 2015
2015Lung Function and Incidence of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease after Improved Cooking Fuels and Kitchen Ventilation: A 9-Year Prospective Cohort Study 
Yumin Zhou, Yimin Zou, Xiaochen Li, Shuyun Chen, Zhuxiang Zhao, Fang He, Weifeng Zou, Qiuping Luo, Wenxi Li, Yiling Pan, Xiaoliang Deng, Xiaoping Wang, Rong Qiu, Shiliang Liu, Jingping Zheng, Nanshan Zhong, Pixin Ran:  
PLOS Medicine: PLoS Med 11(3): e1001621
2014Does Ambient Air Pollution Trigger Stillbirth?
Ambarina S. Faiz, George G. Rhoads, Kitaw Demissie, Yong Lin, Lakota Kruse, David Q. Rich:  
Epidemiology, 24(4):538-544, July 2013
2013Birth Weight, Head Circumference, and Prenatal Exposure to Acrylamide from Maternal Diet: The European Prospective Mother-Child Study (NewGeneris)
Marie Pedersen, Hans Von Stedingk, Maria Botsivali, Silvia Agramunt, Jan Alexander, Gunnar Brunborg, Leda Chatzi, Sarah Fleming, Eleni Fthenou, Berit Granum, Kristine B. Gutzkow, Laura J. Hardie, Lisbeth E. Knudsen, Soterios A. Kyrtopoulos, Michelle A. Mendez, Domenico F. Merlo, Jeanette K. Nielsen, Per Rydberg, Dan Segerbäck, Jordi Sunyer, John Wright, Margareta Törnqvist, Jos C. Kleinjans, Manolis Kogevinas, and The Newgeneris Consortium:
Environmental Health Perspectives, December 2012: 120:1739-1745
2011Social Network Sensors for Early Detection of Contagious Outbreaks
Nicholas A. Christakis and James H. Fowler:
PLoS ONE September 1, 2010: 5.9:1-8 
2010Fine-Particulate Air Pollution and Life Expectancy in the United States
C. Arden Pope III, Majid Ezzati, and Douglas W. Dockery:
New England Journal of Medicine January 22, 2009: 360:376-386
2009Heat Effects on Mortality in 15 European Cities  
Michela Baccini, Annibale Biggeri, Gabriele Accetta, T. Kosatsky, K Katsouyanni, A Analitis, HR Anderson, L Bisanti, D D’Ippoliti, J Danova, B Forsberg, S Medina, A Paldy, D Rabczenko, C Schindler, P Michelozzi: Epidemiology 2008;19:711–719