The Chinatown Blogger was fortunate to be able to get a few moments from Doug Brugge’s busy schedule for this interview. Dr. Brugge currently teaches at Tufts University School of Medicine at the Chinatown campus. He has done work previously with Native American communities in Oklahoma and Mexico, particularly on impacts of uranium mining on Navajo communities. Recently, Tufts University and 2 Chinatown groups, the Chinese Progressive Association and Chinatown Residents Association, were [1] awarded funding by the National Institute of Highways (NIH) to conduct a study on effects of highway pollution on nearby communities.

Chinatown Blogger: Can you first tell us a little about yourself, where you went to school, how and why you became involved with Chinatown?

Dr. Brugge: I am currently an associate professor of public health at Tufts University School of Medicine.  I went to Washington University in St. Louis for undergraduate and Harvard for graduate school.  When I was in graduate school I met other students who were working in Chinatown and on other progressive political causes.  Amazingly, I maintained these friendships and associations over 25 years and became increasingly involved in Chinatown following the Parcel C struggle.

Blogger: What other previous studies have you done on Chinatown? What conclusions did you gather from those studies?

DB: I have led a number of student research projects in Chinatown.  Most of the studies have focused on asthma, but we have also studied violence, traffic injuries, research ethics with elder Chinese immigrants and other topics.  Until the start of our NIH funded project this year, all our research has been relatively small scale.  Nonetheless, most of it has been published in academic journals and several times we have been the first to publish new findings about Asian Americans and asthma.

Blogger: How would you describe Chinatown as compared to, say other neighborhoods in the City, or other Chinatowns in the U.S?

DB: Chinatown is definitely unique.  It is very dense and, until recently, more homogenous than most neighborhoods.  It is a low-income community, but has some strengths as well, including relatively strong social organization.  The approach of the Chinese Progressive Association (CPA) to organizing and political change is also rare elsewhere from my experience… in that CPA is true to its organizing and advocacy mission and links this work to broader issues of social change.

Blogger: Tell us about the NIH grant. How or who got the idea to do this project? What is the purpose of the project?

DB: Community members from Somerville, especially a guy named Wig Zamore, originally approached me with the idea of studying health impacts of pollution next to highways.  I was a little skeptical at first, but over time became more and more interested.  We pulled together a broader coalition to write the grant which included CPA and the Chinatown Residents Association.  It took over 2 years from starting work on the grant to getting funded.  Now that the project is underway, the main objective is to measure pollution in communities next to highways in the Boston area and to test the hypothesis that this pollution is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular (heart) disease as well as asthma.

 Blogger: How do you plan on conducting the research? What conclusions do you think you will draw from the research?

 DB: It is too early in the process to draw any conclusions.  It will take several years of collecting and analyzing data to do that.  The study will measure air pollution in each target community using a van that we are currently in the process of developing that will be outfitted with multiple monitoring devices.  We will also interview and take blood samples from residents who are willing to participate.

Blogger: If someone was living in Chinatown or say, the Leather District, how would the data affect the residents living nearby?

DB: Good question.  Maybe after we have finished measuring pollution in several communities we will have a better idea how similar or different they are.

End of interview.