Tewodros Rango Godebo, PhD

Assistant Professor

Director of MSPH Program
Phone
(504) 988-2767
Prof. Tewodros Godebo

Education & Affiliations

Postdoctoral Fellow, Duke University
PhD, Ferrara University, Italy
MSc, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia

Biography

Tewodros Rango Godebo received his PhD in Environmental Geochemistry and Isotope Hydrology from Ferrara University, Italy. Prior to joining Tulane, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University. His research interest aims to identify the origins and mechanisms of water-soil-food contaminations (fluoride, arsenic, cadmium, lead, and others), as well as develop and apply elemental and isotopic biomarkers to understand the links between exposure to contaminants and human health. These methods use mass spectrometric techniques traditionally rooted in geochemistry to study how chronic diseases disrupt elemental and isotopic balances in the human body. Included in his work is understanding the role of other non-chemical factors (such as socio-demographic, nutrition, and lifestyle) on health outcomes. Dr. Godebo’s NIH grant research focuses on developing biomarkers to understand the health effects of fluoride and metals on teeth, joint, cartilage, and bone. His works also include characterizing health effects of toxic metals in developing countries and the U.S., as well as understanding the links between climate change, water resources, agriculture, and health. His research integrates epidemiologic and biostatistical methods, and uses Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to represent the distribution of environmental contaminants and health outcomes.

Research Areas

  • Environmental geochemistry/water quality and human health
  • Biomarker development
  • Elements and stable isotopes in environmental studies

 

Major Lab Facilities

  • Agilent 7900 ICPMS for trace elements and selected isotope analysis
  • Hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDS)-facilitated diffusion method for fluoride analysis

Honors & Awards

Research Awards

  • NIH Pathway to Independence Award (K99-R00).
  • Carol Lavin Bernick Faculty Grant, Tulane University.
  • Louisiana Clinical and Translational Science Center (LA CaTS).

 

Selected Media Coverages

Publications

Selected Publications:
* = student and postdoc.

1.    Rango TG, Stoner H*, Kodsup P*, Bases B, Marzoni S, Weil J, Frey M, Daley P, Earnhart A, Ellias G, Friedman T, Rajan S, Murphy N, Miller S. 2024. Occurrence of heavy metals coupled with elevated levels of essential elements in chocolates: Health risk assessment, Food Research International, 187, 114360. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2024.114360
2.    Rango TG, Jeuland M, Tekle-Haimanot R, Ayele B, Shankar A, Wolfe A, Phan N*. 2023. Association between fluoride exposure in drinking water and cognitive deficits in children: A pilot study. Journal of Neurotoxicology and Teratology. 100, 2023, 107293. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ntt.2023.107293.
3.    Sanders AE, Divaris K, Rango TG, Slade GD. 2024. Effect of bottled fluoridated water to prevent dental caries in primary teeth: study protocol for a phase 2 parallel-group 3.5-year randomized controlled clinical trial (waterBEST). Trials 25, 167. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-024-08000-4.
4.    Rango TG, Stoner H*, Pechilis M, Taylor-Arnold H, Ashmead J, Claman L, Guest L, Consolati W, DiMatteo O, Johnson M, Cowden K, Shaferman D, Gordon E, Dillman H, Phan N, Tegegn A, Garrido SV, Heard E. 2023. Toxic metals and essential elements contents in commercially available fruit juices and other non-alcoholic beverages from the United States. Journal of Food Composition and Analysis. 119, 105230. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfca.2023.105230.
5.    Nyachoti S*, Rango TG, Kodsup P*, Okowori F*, TatahMentan M*. 2023. Occurrence and spatial distribution of lead, arsenic, cadmium, and uranium in soils of southern Louisiana, Journal of Water, Air, and Soil Pollution. 234, 708 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-023-06716-8.
6.    Rango TG, Stoner H, Kodsup P, Stoltzfus M, Nyachoti S, Atkins S, Jeuland M. 2023. Selenium in drinking water and cereal grains, and biomarkers of Se status in urine and fingernails of the Main Ethiopian Rift population. J Trace Elem Med Biol. 26; 77:127137. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtemb.2023.127137.
7.    Nyachoti S*, Rango TG, Okwori F*, Jeuland M, Manthrithilake H. 2022. Dietary Exposures to Metals in Relation to Chronic Kidney Disease of Unknown Cause (CKDu) in Sri Lanka. Journal of Exposure and Health.14, 63–73. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12403-021-00418-4. 
8.    Rango TG, Jeuland M, Whitford GM, Tekle-Haimanot D, Alemayehu B, Assefa G, Wolfe A., 2020. Bone quality in fluoride-exposed populations: A novel application of the ultrasonic method. Bone Reports 12. 100235. PMID: 31890757 PMCID: PMC6933268. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bonr.2019.100235.
9.    Rango TG, Paul CJ, Jeuland M, Tekle-Haimanote R., 2019. Biomonitoring of metals and trace elements in urine of central Ethiopian populations. Int J Hyg Environ Health, 222 (3) 410-418. PMID: 30612877 PMCID: PMC6440854. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheh.2018.12.007.
10.    Rango TG, Vengosh A, Jeuland M, Whitford GM, Tekle-Haimanot D. 2017. Biomarkers of chronic fluoride exposure in groundwater in a highly exposed population. Sci Total Environ. 596–597,15: 1–11. PMID: 28411405 PMCID: PMC5528157. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.04.021.
11.   Rango TG, Vengosh A, Dwyer G, Bianchini G. 2013. Mobilization of arsenic and other naturally occurring contaminants in groundwater of the Main Ethiopian Rift aquifers. Water Research Journal; 47, 5801–5818. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2013.07.002. 

Courses

-SPHU 3100 (3-credit): Environmental Pollution and Health Biomarkers
-ENHS 7550 (3-credit): Human Biomonitoring and Health

Co-Teach:
-ENHS 8200 (3-credit): Environmental Health Methods.
-ENHS 8100 (3-credit): Advanced Environmental Health.