Department

Environmental and Occupational Health

Education

• University of Texas at El Paso, Postdoctoral in Molecular Biology, 2002-2003

• College of Medicine, Central University of Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador, M.D. in Medicine, 1981

• Instituto Politecnico Nacional, Mexico City, Mexico, MSc in Immunology, 1987

• Instituto Politecnico Nacional, Mexico City, Mexico, ScD in Immunology, 2002

Background

• Associate Professor (tenured), Department of Environmental & Occupational Health, School of Public Health, Indiana University, Bloomington; 8/2015-present
• Director, Global Environmental Health Research Laboratory, School of Public Health, Indiana University, Bloomington; 8/2015-present
• Faculty Affiliate. Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies, IU School of Global & International Studies; 3/2018-present
• Associate Professor, Department of Public Health Sciences, College of Health Sciences, University of Texas at El Paso (tenured in 2010); 9/2004–7/2015
• Director, Human Immunology, Nutrition, & Disease Research Laboratory, College of Health Sciences, University of Texas at El Paso; 2004-2015
• Advisory Board Member & Faculty Affiliate, “Buen Ambiente, Buena Salud: Educational Strategies for Addressing Air Quality on the Border, UTEP-Environmental Protection Agency Internship Program; 9/2011-7/2015
• Program Director, U.S.-Mexico Tuberculosis & Infectious Disease  Training, Research & Community Outreach Program, (ENLACES/TIES), University of Texas at El Paso; 2005-2008
• Clinical Research Professor, Department of Health Promotion, College of Health Sciences, University of Texas at El Paso; 9/2003-8/2004
• Graduate Program Director, Graduate School of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, Universidad Central del Ecuador, Quito; 1996-1998
• Director, National Tropical Disease Control Program, National Office of Epidemiology, Ministry of Public Health, Quito; 1995-1997
• Director, National Leishmaniasis & Chagas Disease Control Program, National Office of Epidemiology, Ministry of Public Health, Quito; 1993-1995
• Director, Division of Tropical Medicine & Nutrition, Biomedical Research Institute, College of Medicine, Universidad Central del Ecuador, Quito; 1987-2002
• Chief, Tuberculosis Division (Northern Ecuador), National Hygiene Institute "Leopoldo Izquieta Perez", Ministry of Public Health, Quito; 1987-2001
• Director, Immunology Research Laboratory, Biomedical Research Institute, College of Medicine, Universidad Central del Ecuador, Quito; 1987-2002
• Associate Professor, Department of Immunology, College of Medicine, Universidad Central del Ecuador, Quito; 1987-2002
• Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine, Universidad Central del Ecuador, Quito; 1982-1984

Scholarly Interests

• Air pollutant exposure (especially UFP and PM_2.5), inflammation, oxidative stress, and cardiorespiratory health of children and women
• Epidemiology, prevention and control of infectious diseases
• Food insecurity, health, and health care
• Health challenges of Latinos/Hispanics, other ethnic minority groups, and immigrants
• Global health

Selected Publications

Articles

Wang Y, Armijos RX, Weigel MM.  Dietary inflammatory index and cardiometabolic risk in Ecuadorian school-age children. Journal of American Nutrition Association 2022; 18:1-10. doi: 10.1080/27697061.2022.2113177.

Weigel MM, Armijos RX. Ecuadorian school food environment: association with healthy and unhealthy food and beverage consumption and BMI. Food and Nutrition Bulletin 2022; 21:3795721221116447. doi: 10.1177/03795721221116447.  PMID: 35993259.

Weigel MM, Armijos RX. Maternal care and infant outcomes of Colombian and Venezuelan immigrants in Ecuador. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health J Immigr Minor Health. 2022 Jun 6:1–10. doi: 10.1007/s10903-022-01370-4. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35666372; PMCID: PMC9169017.

Armijos RX⁺, Weigel MM⁺, Obeng-Gyasi E, Racines-Orbe M. Elevated blood lead and metal/metalloid levels and environmental exposure sources in urban Ecuadorian school-age children and mothers. International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health 2021; 235:113770. doi: 10.1016/j.ijheh.2021.113770

Wang Y*, Armijos RX,  Xun P, Weigel MM. Dietary inflammatory index and cardiometabolic risk in Ecuadorian women. Nutrients 2021; 13(8), 2640; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13082640

Khan KM, Weigel MM, Yonts S, Rohlman D, Armijos RX. Residential exposure to urban traffic is associated with the poorer neurobehavioral health of Ecuadorian schoolchildren. Neurotoxicology. 2019; 73:31-39. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuro.2019.02.018.

Arroyo IZ, Gomez C*, Alarcon H*, Jimenez A, Pardo A, Montaño G, Armijos RX, Noveron JC. (2018) Alkyl length effects on the DNA transport properties of Cu (II) and Zn(II) metallovesicles: an in vitro and in vivo study. Journal of Drug Delivery; https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/2851579.

Weigel MM, Armijos RX. (2018) Food insecurity, cardiometabolic health, and health care in U.S.-Mexico border immigrant adults: An exploratory study. J Immigr Minority Health, doi: 10.1007/s10903-018-0817-3.

Obeng-GyasiE*, Armijos RX, Weigel MM, Filippeli G, Sayegh A. (2018) Cardiovascular-related outcomes in U.S. adults exposed to lead. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, 15(4), 759 doi: 10.3390/ijerph 15040759.

Obeng-GyasiE*, Armijos RX, Weigel MM, Filippeli G, Sayegh A. (2018) Hepatobiliary-related outcomes in U.S. adults exposed to lead. Environments, 5(4); 46 doi:10.3390/environments504004.

Olvera H, Meyers O, Weigel MM, Armijos RX. (2018) The value of using seasonality and meterological variables to model intra-urban PM_2.5 variation. Atmospheric Environment; 182:1-8.

Weigel MM, Armijos RX. (2018) Household food insecurity and psychosocial dysfunction in Ecuadorian elementary schoolchildren. Int J Pediatrics;1-7 doi: https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/6067283.

Raysoni AU*, Armijos RX, Weigel MM, Echanique P, Racines M, Pingitore NE, Li WW. (2017) Evaluation of sources and patterns of elemental composition of PM_2.5 at three low-income neighborhood schools and residences in Quito, Ecuador. Int J Environ Res Public Health; 14(7). pii: E674. doi: 10.3390/ijerph 14070674.

Kipp E*, Mariscal J*, Armijos RX, Weigel MM, Waldrup K. (2016) Genetic evidence of enzootic leishmaniasis in a stray canine and Texas mouse from sites in West and Central Texas. Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz.; 111(10):652-654. doi: 10.1590/0074-02760160225.

Raysoni AU*, Armijos RX, Weigel MM, Montoya T*, Echanique P, Racines M, Li WW. (2016) Assessment of indoor and outdoor PM species at schools and residences in a high-altitude Ecuadorian urban center. Environmental Pollution;214:668-79.

Weigel MM, Armijos RX, Racines M, Cevallos W, Castro NP. (2016) Association of household food insecurity with the mental and physical health of low-income urban Ecuadorian women with children. J Environ Public Health; http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/ 5256084

Weigel MM, Armijos RX, Racines M, Cevallos W. (2016) Food Insecurity is associated with undernutrition but not overnutrition in Ecuadorian women from low-income urban neighborhoods. J Environ Public Health; 8149459. doi:10.1155/2016

Armijos RX, Weigel MM, Meyers O, Li WW, Racines M, Berwick M. (2015) Residential exposure to urban traffic is associated with increased carotid intima-media thickness in children. Journal of Environmental and Public Health; 713540.

Sobin C, Flores MG*, Parisi N*, Schaub M*, Cervantes M*, Armijos RX. (2013) Microglial disruption in Young mice with early chronic exposure to lead. Toxicology Letters. 2013;220:44-52.

Weigel MM, Armijos RX, Beltran O*. (2013) Musculoskeletal injury, functional disability, and health-related quality of life in aging Mexican immigrant farmworkers. Journal of Immigrant Minority Health; doi: 10.1007/s10903-013-9788-6.

Weigel MM, Armijos RX. (2011) Exploratory study of the occupational health and health-seeking of migrant and seasonal farmworkers on the U.S.-Mexico Border. J Immigrant Minority Health; doi: 10.1007/s10903-011-9503-4.