The exposome: measuring the complex exposures we face as humans and their impact on health Learn more

You are more than your genes. The exposome captures the non-genetic influences on health and disease.

There are tens of thousands of chemicals in our environment and more are introduced every day. Some of these chemicals are pharmaceuticals that provide needed relief to people suffering from certain ailments or chemicals that help control the spread of disease, but when these chemicals end up in our water supply they present a possible health concern.

We believe that the role of our environment is underappreciated in the biomedical research community. We need to learn more about how the environment influences our health, both in negative and positive ways. With this knowledge we can make better decisions in our personal lives and regulatory agencies can make better decisions about minimizing the adverse effects on populations.

The exposome, conceptually and practically, provides a holistic view of human health and disease. It includes exposures from our diets, our lifestyles, and our behaviors. It also includes how our bodies respond to these challenges. When coupled with advances in genetics and medicine, we believe the exposome will help lead to improved strategies aimed at preventing and treating diseases, such as autism, diabetes, heart disease, and Alzheimer’s disease. We believe that pursuit of a Human Exposome Project, similar to the Human Genome Project, will help reveal the importance of the environment in our lives. Major research efforts are now focused on defining the human exposome. We anticipate the next few years will witness transformative advances in our understanding of environmental contributors to disease and health.

Please come back to see our progress.

Click here for a brief background on the exposome!

Learn more about current international exposome research projects

Dr. Christopher Wild coined the word Exposome 20 years ago. I asked him to give a personal account of its history for the journal Exposome. He did not disappoint. This is a must-read. The Exposome at 20

Phenomenal exposome paper in Nature Medicine. Analysis of nearly 500,000 in the UK Biobank, looking at genetic vs. environmental effects on mortality and aging. Clear evidence that the exposome is a greater driver than the genome for all-cause mortality. Nature Medicine-UK Biobank Exposome

Great exposome paper in Science from the lab of Beate Escher. Neurotoxic Mixture Effects

The Exposome Moonshot Forum is scheduled for May 12-15, 2025. Exposome Moonshot Forum

New exposome PODCAST from the Mayo Clinic.

Oxford University Press invites you to submit your work to the academic journal Exposome. This is the first journal dedicated to this important field.

Brief introductory article to The Exposome: A New Paradigm for the Environment and Health

http://scitechconnect.elsevier.com/the-exposome-a-new-paradigm-for-the-environment-and-health/

Past events

Learn about the Exposome Bootcamp at Columbia University. The Exposome Bootcamp was held July 18-19, 2024. https://www.mailman.columbia.edu/research/precision-prevention/exposome-boot-camp-measuring-exposures-omic-scale

Sapporo Exposome Symposium here

See a summary from the Exposome Journal Club Spring 2021 here Exposome Journal Club

Recent Publications in the Field

Exposomics: perfection not required

Phospholipid Removal for Enhanced Chemical Exposomics in Human Plasma

Exposomic Biomonitoring of Polyphenols by Non-Targeted Analysis and Suspect Screening

The ethical aspects of exposome research: a systematic review

Large scale enzyme based xenobiotic identification for exposomics

The Exposome and Health: Where Chemistry Meets Biology

Analytical complexity in detection of gene variant-by-environment exposure interactions in high-throughput genomic and exposomic research

Reconstructing pre-natal and early childhood exposure to multi-class organic chemicals using teeth: Towards a retrospective temporal exposome

Reference Standardization for Mass Spectrometry and High-Resolution Metabolomics Applications to Exposome Research

Development of Exposome Correlation Globes to Map Out Environment-wide Associations

T3DB: The Toxic Exposome Database

The Blood Exposome and Its Role in Discovering Causes of Disease

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Our goal is to bring investigators together to formulate a plan to define the exposome in a way that is useful to those in health care and public health, to identify gaps in knowledge or technique, and to help develop a new generation of scientists who focus on these complex environmental influences on health.

To learn more see below:

https://www.elsevier.com/books/the-exposome/miller/978-0-12-814079-6

Eric Topol comments on exposome article in Science.

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The U.S. version of the #exposome wikipedia site has returned after a multi-year absence. https://t.co/TsZSr75bU3 June 11, 2023

Exposome-Related News

Exposome variations affect Drosophila bristle patterning via the regulation of proneural genes through distinct mechanisms - Nature
Source: Google Search Published on: 2025-10-16
Izza Shahid - statnews.com
Source: Google Search Published on: 2025-10-15
Anthroposomics: integrating anthropological methods into exposome research - BioMed Central
Source: Google Search Published on: 2025-10-14
Exposome Completes Pre-Series A Funding of INR 23 Crore to Scale Clean-Tech Solutions for Air and Water Filtration - Business Wire India
Source: Google Search Published on: 2025-10-13
Exposome Completes Pre-Series A Funding of INR 23 Crore to Scale Clean-Tech Solutions for Air and Water... - lokmattimes.com
Source: Google Search Published on: 2025-10-13
Exposome Completes Pre-Series A Funding of INR 23 Crore to Scale Clean-Tech Solutions for Air and Water Filtration - Editorji
Source: Google Search Published on: 2025-10-13
Exposome Completes Pre-Series A Funding of INR 23 Crore to Scale Clean-Tech Solutions for Air and Water Filtration - Tribune India
Source: Google Search Published on: 2025-10-13
Exposome Completes Pre-Series A Funding of INR 23 Crore to Scale Clean-Tech Solutions for Air and Water Filtration - Tribune India
Source: Google Search Published on: 2025-10-13
Exposome Completes Pre-Series A Funding of INR 23 Crore to Scale Clean-Tech Solutions for Air and Water Filtration - ANI News
Source: Google Search Published on: 2025-10-13
Environmental Factor - April 2025: NIEHS celebrates two trailblazers in environmental health research - niehs.nih.gov
Source: Google Search Published on: 2025-10-10
The soil nematode exposome: Unraveling the impacts of particulate plastics from agroecosystems to one health - ScienceDirect.com
Source: Google Search Published on: 2025-10-10
The soil nematode exposome: Unraveling the impacts of particulate plastics from agroecosystems to one health - ScienceDirect.com
Source: Google Search Published on: 2025-10-10

Definition

The human exposome is the environmental equivalent of the human genome. It is a representation of the complex exposures we are subjected to throughout our lives, including our diet, lifestyle factors, and social influences. It also incorporates how our bodies respond to these challenges. The exposome encompasses much of what we refer to as nurture. The term exposome was coined by Dr. Christopher Wild at the International Agency for Research on Cancer, World Health Organization.
Vision

Several academic and government laboratories across the world are collecting data that can contribute to our understanding of the exposome. Our goal is to bring these investigators together to formulate a plan to define the exposome in a way that is useful to those in health care and public health, to identify gaps in knowledge or technique, and to help develop a new generation of scientists who focus on these complex environmental influences on health. The Human Exposome Project will build upon the already existing resources and work to identify additional funding to pursue the important questions in the field.
Need

The rapid advancement in the areas of genetics and genomics has transformed our understanding of human biology. However, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have only been able to account for a minority of disease risk. Quantitative data on the environmental factors that influence health are desperately needed. The Human Exposome Project can help provide this important information in a form that can be used to directly impact human health.

You are more than your genes. The exposome captures the non-genetic influences on health and disease.

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Exposome-Related News

Definition

Vision

Need