Tarik Benmarhnia
Biographic Data
| ID | 1743714 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Tarik Benmarhnia |
| GIVEN NAMES | Tarik |
| FAMILY NAME | Benmarhnia |
| SIGNATURE | BENMARHNIA T |
| AFFILIATIONS | Scripps Institution of Oceanography |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-4018-3089 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 50 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 13 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 50 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2013 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Potential causal links of long-term PM2.5 components exposure with diabetes incidence and mortality in the United States
Individual and mixed associations between fine particulate matter components and hospital admissions for hypertension
Spatiotemporal co-distribution and time lagged cross correlation of malaria and dengue in Loreto, Peru
Malaria and dengue account for most vector-borne disease-related cases and deaths worldwide, disproportionately affecting tropical regions such as Peru. Previously identified social, environmental, and climate determinants for both diseases are similar despite differences in vector ecologies. Control strategies for both rely on interventions such as removal of breeding sites or insecticide-based strategies, which could be integrated. We assessed …
The 2025 Los Angeles Wildfires and Outpatient Acute Health Care Utilization
This cohort study observed substantial increases in acute health care utilization, especially virtual care-seeking following the LA fires. As disruptive climate events increase, such data are essential to inform health care preparedness and response
An overview of modern machine learning methods for effect measure modification analyses in high-dimensional settings
A primary concern of public health researchers involves identifying and quantifying heterogeneous exposure effects across population subgroups. Understanding the magnitude and direction of these effects on a given scale provides researchers the ability to recommend policy prescriptions and assess the external validity of findings. Traditional methods for effect measure modification analyses require manual model specification that is often impract…
Impact of domestic violence legislation on reported intimate partner violence
Adoption of DV legislation may increase women's reported IPV victimization. Future research could explore effect heterogeneity across multiple socio-demographic subgroups and the potential mechanisms through which such policies may benefit women's health
Urban and socioeconomic disparities in PM 2.5 exposure across 340 Latin American cities
Background. Fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ) is a leading global health risk. Latin American cities exhibit some of the world's highest urban PM 2.5 levels, yet studies of neighborhood-level PM 2.5 exposure and associated disparities in the region are limited. Methods. We conducted a cross-sectional ecological analysis of 53 041 neighborhoods across 340 cities in eight Latin American countries, leveraging the Salud Urbana en America Latina study…
Quantifying the short-term mortality effects of wildfire smoke in Europe
The European Commission, EU Horizon Europe, the European Research Council, and the Research Council of Finland
Impact of a 10-year shift in ambient air quality on mortality in Canada
Changes in activity spaces, life spaces, and exposures to physical activity-promoting environments among women with overweight or obesity
Understanding factors associated with successful adherence and maintenance of weight loss interventions is important to potentially increase efficacy. Activity spaces and environmental exposures are two understudied factors that may be associated with intervention adherence and outcomes. Women with overweight or obesity (n = 498) from two weight loss intervention studies, Reach for Health and Metabolic, Exercise, and Nutrition at University of Ca…
Association between cardiovascular health and perceived quality of life in ethnically diverse adults
Ideal or intermediate CVH health factors and health behaviors were associated with higher PQoL. Sex and ethnicity differences suggest that perceived quality of life is associated with BMI for women and non-Hispanics
Wildfire smoke knows no borders
Exposure to fine particles in wildfire smoke is deleterious for human health and can increase cases of cardio-respiratory illnesses and related hospitalizations. Neighborhood-level risk factors can increase susceptibility to environmental hazards, such as air pollution from smoke, and the same exposure can lead to different health effects across populations. While the San Diego-Tijuana border can be exposed to the same wildfire smoke event, socio…
Disproportionate exposure to surface-urban heat islands across vulnerable populations in Lima city, Peru
Climate change constitutes an unprecedented challenge for public health and one of its main direct effects are extreme temperatures. It varies between intra-urban areas and this difference is called surface urban heat island (SUHI) effect. We aimed to assess SUHI distribution among socioeconomic levels in Lima, Peru by conducting a cross-sectional study at the block-level. The mean land surface temperature (LST) from 2017 to 2021 were estimated u…
The role of the California tier system in controlling population mobility during the Covid-19 pandemic
This analysis provides evidence of the effectiveness of the tier-based system in decreasing overall population mobility to ultimately reduce COVID-19 transmission. Results demonstrate that socio-political demographic indicators drive important variability in such patterns across counties
Do precipitation anomalies influence short-term mobility in sub-saharan Africa? An observational study from 23 countries
Precipitation anomalies were associated with short-term mobility among women, which may be in turn associated with poor health outcomes. More research with longitudinal data is needed to elaborate the associations between weather shocks, mobility, and downstream health impacts
Declines in cigarette smoking among US adolescents and young adults
Since 1997, a large decline in cigarette smoking occurred in the US population under age 24 years, that was independent of the 2017-19 adolescent surge in past 30-day e-cigarette vaping. Further research is needed to assess whether the 2014-15 to 2018-19 increase in exclusive vaping in those aged 18-24 years is a cohort effect from earlier dependence on e-cigarette vaping as adolescents
Association of traditional marital practices with contraceptive decision-making, couple communication, and method use among couples in rural Maharashtra, India
In India, traditional social practices around marriage, such as non-involvement of prospective brides in choice of partner and timing of marriage, child/early marriage, dowry and purdah , compromise women's agency at the time of marriage and may also affect contraceptive practices in marriage. This paper examines the associations between traditional marital practices and contraceptive behaviours, including women's control over contraceptive decis…
Impacto de las olas de calor en la morbilidad y mortalidad cardiovascular y respiratoria en municipios del nordeste de Brasil
En los últimos años se generaron un vasto número de estudios sobre impactos que causan las olas de calor sobre la salud de la población, sin embargo, muchos de ellos fuera del país. Este estudio tiene el objetivo de analizar el impacto de olas de calor sobre la salud cardiovascular y respiratoria de la población nordestina, analizando cómo olas de calor de octubre a marzo aumentan los riesgos de morbilidad y mortalidad de la población de cinco mu…
Effects of the Great Recession on suicide mortality in Chile and contributing factors
Between 2008 and 2009 suicide rates in Chile were higher than those observed before and after, increasing more than in other countries in Latin America. The Great Recession has been suggested as an important factor behind this increase. This study assesses the excess of suicide attributable to the crisis in Chile, a “mature” neoliberal society with a precarious social security system, low salaries, and high levels of indebtedness, and identifies …
Saharan Dust and Childhood Respiratory Symptoms in Benin
Mineral dust is one of the largest natural constituents of coarse particulate matter (PM 10 ). Most of these dust emissions originate from northern Africa, and several hundred tera-grams of dust are emitted annually from this region. Previous evidence has linked dust PM 10 to adverse respiratory outcomes in children. However, most of these studies have been from high-income countries (HICs) or examined dust from other regions of the world, mainly…
The Role of Neighborhood Air Pollution Exposure on Somatic Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Mutations in the Los Angeles Basin (2013–2018)
Limited previous work has identified a relationship between exposure to ambient air pollution and aggressive somatic lung tumor mutations. More work is needed to confirm this relationship, especially using spatially resolved air pollution. We aimed to quantify the association between different air pollution metrics and aggressive tumor biology. Among patients treated at City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center in Duarte, CA (2013-2018), three non…
The TROLLEY Study
The TROLLEY study was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov ( NCT04940481 ) June 17, 2021, and OSF Registries ( https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/PGEHU ) June 24, 2021, prior to participant enrollment
Effectiveness of e-cigarettes as aids for smoking cessation
Sales increases in high nicotine e-cigarettes in 2017 did not translate to more smokers using these e-cigarettes to quit smoking. On average, using e-cigarettes for cessation in 2017 did not improve successful quitting or prevent relapse
Heat Waves and Emergency Department Visits Among the Homeless, San Diego, 2012–2019
Objectives. To determine the effect of heat waves on emergency department (ED) visits for individuals experiencing homelessness and explore vulnerability factors. Methods. We used a unique highly detailed data set on sociodemographics of ED visits in San Diego, California, 2012 to 2019. We applied a time-stratified case–crossover design to study the association between various heat wave definitions and ED visits. We compared associations with a s…
Climate Change and Mental Health
Climate change is negatively impacting the mental health of populations. This scoping review aims to assess the available literature related to climate change and mental health across the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) five global research priorities for protecting human health from climate change. We conducted a scoping review to identify original research studies related to mental health and climate change using online academic databases. We…
Heat Waves and Emergency Department Visits Among the Homeless, San Diego, 2012–2019
Objectives. To determine the effect of heat waves on emergency department (ED) visits for individuals experiencing homelessness and explore vulnerability factors. Methods. We used a unique highly detailed data set on sociodemographics of ED visits in San Diego, California, 2012 to 2019. We applied a time-stratified case–crossover design to study the association between various heat wave definitions and ED visits. We compared associations with a s…
The Montreal heat response plan
Green mobility and obesity risk
Changes in activity spaces, life spaces, and exposures to physical activity-promoting environments among women with overweight or obesity
Understanding factors associated with successful adherence and maintenance of weight loss interventions is important to potentially increase efficacy. Activity spaces and environmental exposures are two understudied factors that may be associated with intervention adherence and outcomes. Women with overweight or obesity (n = 498) from two weight loss intervention studies, Reach for Health and Metabolic, Exercise, and Nutrition at University of Ca…
On the role of social support on macroeconomic determinants on elderly people health
Rolden et al 1 examined the association between macroeconomic cycles and variations in mortality rates of middle-aged and older people. They proposed that reductions in social support during good economic times may play an important role in the counterintuitive relationship between macroeconomic cycles and older adults’ health. We welcome this research on the health of the elderly population, an age group seldom considered in the literature on th…
Measuring Spatial Environmental Deprivation
Despite increasingly stringent environmental regulations, industrial and transportation emissions continue impact public health. Since vulnerable populations bear a disproportionate burden of environmental risks, spatial differentials in environmental exposure contribute to social disparities in health outcomes. Environmental Justice (EJ) analyses tend to focus either on the location of selected point or nonpoint pollution on a whole territory (t…
On the role of social support on macroeconomic determinants on elderly people health
Rolden et al 1 examined the association between macroeconomic cycles and variations in mortality rates of middle-aged and older people. They proposed that reductions in social support during good economic times may play an important role in the counterintuitive relationship between macroeconomic cycles and older adults’ health. We welcome this research on the health of the elderly population, an age group seldom considered in the literature on th…
Social Inequalities Related to Hazardous Incinerator Emissions
Environmental justice (EJ) research focuses on disproportionate population exposures to multiple point and non-point pollution sources. The hazardous pollutants released by waste incinerators can contribute to uneven (or unjust) spatial and social distributions of environmental risks. The EJ literature has already revealed that the geographical distribution of incinerators generates distinct social inequalities. In the French context, these inequ…
Quantifying Vulnerability to Extreme Heat in Time Series Analyses
We propose a new analytical approach for estimating vulnerability in the relationship between heat and health. Our results suggest that in Paris and Montreal, health disparities related to heat impacts exist today and will increase in the future
The Relationship Between Apparent Temperature and Daily Number of Live Births in Montreal
Neighborhood educational disparities in active commuting among women
Our results suggest that neighborhood educational disparities in active commuting tend to increase with commuting distance among women. Further research is needed to provide geographically driven guidance for health promotion intervention aiming at reducing disparities in active transportation among socioeconomic groups
The heterogeneity of vulnerability in public health
The concept of vulnerability is frequently used in public health policies to develop tailored interventions or dedicate proportionately more resources to certain sub-populations. However, once segments of the population are identified as vulnerable, they are rarely consulted regarding whether this label is acceptable before instituting interventions. Instead, it is implicitly assumed that the targeted individuals identify themselves as vulnerable…
The Montreal heat response plan
Quantifying the impact of changing the threshold of New York City heat emergency plan in reducing heat-related illnesses
The adverse health impact of high heat is widely documented and can lead to a substantial public health burden. Although heat-related illness in western countries is largely preventable, extreme heat remains the main weather contributor to the burden of disease in the United States. In most US cities, local National Weather Service offices issue heat alerts in advance of forecast periods of high heat. In some locations, additional local heat emer…
Advancing our Understanding of Heat Wave Criteria and Associated Health Impacts to Improve Heat Wave Alerts in Developing Country Settings
Health effects of heat waves with high baseline temperatures in areas such as India remain a critical research gap. In these regions, extreme temperatures may affect the underlying population's adaptive capacity; heat wave alerts should be optimized to avoid continuous high alert status and enhance constrained resources, especially under a changing climate. Data from registrars and meteorological departments were collected for four communities in…
The Use of a Quasi-Experimental Study on the Mortality Effect of a Heat Wave Warning System in Korea
Many cities and countries have implemented heat wave warning systems to combat the health effects of extreme heat. Little is known about whether these systems actually reduce heat-related morbidity and mortality. We examined the effectiveness of heat wave alerts and health plans in reducing the mortality risk of heat waves in Korea by utilizing the discrepancy between the alerts and the monitored temperature. A difference-in-differences analysis …
The health burden of fall, winter and spring extreme heat events in Southern California and contribution of Santa Ana Winds
Background : Extreme heat is associated with increased morbidity but most studies examine this relationship in warm seasons. In Southern California, Santa Ana winds (SAWs) are associated with high temperatures during the fall, winter and spring, especially in the coastal region. Objective s: Our aim was to examine the relationship between hospitalizations and extreme heat events in the fall, winter and spring, and explore the potential interactio…
Examining the joint effects of heatwaves, air pollution, and green space on the risk of preterm birth in California
This study found synergistic harmful effects for heatwaves with air pollution, and potential positive interactions with lack of green space on PTB. Implementing interventions, such as heat warning systems and behavioral changes, targeted toward pregnant women at risk for high air pollution and low green space exposures may optimize the benefits of reducing acute exposure to extreme heat before delivery
Detecting the net effect of flooding on infectious diarrheal disease in Anhui Province, China
Though a number of studies have shown positive relationships between flooding events and infectious diarrhea, there is a paucity of rigorous evidence regarding the net effect of flooding on diarrhea incidence, controlling for existing pre-trends and meteorological confounders. The study treats the 2016 catastrophic flood event in Anhui Province, China as a natural experiment using a difference-in-differences design with propensity score matching …
Why do apprentices smoke much more than high school students? Understanding educational disparities in smoking with a Oaxaca-blinder decomposition analysis
Prevention programs could target cannabis and alcohol use as well as parental smoking to help decrease educational disparities in smoking status among French adolescents
Cash transfer programs have differential effects on health
Climate Change and Mental Health
Climate change is negatively impacting the mental health of populations. This scoping review aims to assess the available literature related to climate change and mental health across the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) five global research priorities for protecting human health from climate change. We conducted a scoping review to identify original research studies related to mental health and climate change using online academic databases. We…
Improving the Design Stage of Air Pollution Studies Based On Wind Patterns
A growing literature in economics and epidemiology has exploited changes in wind patterns as a source of exogenous variation to better measure the acute health effects of air pollution. Since the distribution of wind components is not randomly distributed over time and related to other weather parameters, multivariate regression models are used to adjust for these confounding factors. However, this type of analysis relies on its ability to correc…
Smoke and Covid-19 case fatality ratios during California wildfires
Recent evidence has shown an association between wildfire smoke and COVID-19 cases and deaths. The San Francisco Bay Area, in California (USA), experienced two major concurrent public health threats in 2020: the COVID-19 pandemic and dense smoke emitted by wildfires. This provides a unprecedented context to unravel the role of acute air pollution exposure on COVID-19 severity. A smoke product provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Assoc…
Effects of maternal exposure to fine particulate matter on birth weight in 16 counties across China
The adverse effects of air pollution during pregnancy have been studied intensively, but mainly utilizing linear and logistic models, which generally yield little information about how air pollution may change the distribution of birth weight in populations. We aimed to examine the effects of fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ) on quantiles of birth weight, and if effects were heterogeneous in different populations and regions. We used a prospectiv…
Device-Measured and Self-Reported Active Travel Associations with Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors in an Ethnically Diverse Sample of Adults
Active travel (AT) provides an opportunity to alleviate the physical inactivity and climate crises contributing to the global chronic disease burden, including cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Though AT shows promising links to reduced CVD risk, prior studies relied on self-reported AT assessment. In the present study, device-measured and self-reported AT were compared across population subgroups and relationships with CVD risk biomarkers were eval…
Availability and Promotion of Cannabidiol (CBD) Products in Online Vape Shops
Vaping products containing cannabidiol (CBD), a cannabis-derived compound used in wellness products and available in all 50 US states, were recently implicated in outbreaks of poisonings. Little is known about the commercial availability of CBD products in vape shops (i.e., stores that sell e-cigarettes). To document the availability and marketing of CBD products in online vape shops, in June 2020, we used the Google Chrome browser without cached…
Effects of menthol use and transitions in use on short-term and long-term cessation from cigarettes among US smokers
These results demonstrate that menthol impaired menthol smokers' attempts to quit smoking but switching from menthol improved success. This suggests that removing menthol may improve menthol smokers' success during quit attempts
Accounting for space, time, and behavior using GPS derived dynamic measures of environmental exposure
Time-weighted spatial averaging approaches (TWSA) are an increasingly utilized method for calculating exposure using global positioning system (GPS) mobility data for health-related research. They can provide a time-weighted measure of exposure, or dose, to various environments or health hazards. However, little work has been done to compare existing methodologies, nor to assess how sensitive these methods are to mobility data inputs (e.g., walki…
Change in GPS-assessed walking locations following a cluster-randomized controlled physical activity trial in older adults, results from the Miparc trial
This study employed novel GPS methods to assess the effect of a multilevel physical activity (PA) intervention on device-measured walking locations in 305 community dwelling older adults, ages 65+ (mean age = 83, 73% women). Retirement communities were randomized to a 1-year PA intervention that encouraged neighborhood walking, or to a healthy aging control condition. Total time and time spent walking in four life-space domains were assessed usin…
Medicine (40 works) · Environmental health (31 works) · Population (23 works) · Air Quality and Health Impacts (22 works) · Climate Change and Health Impacts (20 works) · Geography (20 works) · Demography (19 works) · Demography (19 works) · Environmental Science (14 works) · Psychology (11 works)