Dr. Haberzettl's research has been focused on the mechanisms by which air pollution exposure affects pulmonary and cardiovascular health. After her initial work on the pulmonary toxicity of respirable particles during her doctoral training, she developed a strong research interest on the cardiovascular toxicity of air pollution. Currently, she investigates how inhalation of polluted air induces vascular and cardiometabolic injury. Her previous research has demonstrated that the exposure to either particulate (fine particulate matter, PM2.5) or volatile (acrolein) air pollution induce vascular inflammation, decrease vascular insulin/VEGF sensitivity and impair the VEGF-mediated mobilization of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs). Treatment with insulin sensitizer or antioxidants and pulmonary overexpression of extracellular superoxide dismutase (ecSOD) protected against the vascular toxicity of PM2.5. Her studies also showed that PM2.5 exposure induces these vascular effects in the absence of other metabolic defects, but exacerbates diet-induced systemic insulin resistance.The goal of her ongoing research is to determine the underlying mechanisms by which PM2.5 exposure induces vascular inflammation and the suppression of vascular signaling, and to test whether these PM2.5-induced vascular effects contribute to the progression of systemic insulin resistance in susceptible states such as diet-induced obesity or circadian dyssynchrony. Her group also investigates the mechanism by which PM2.5 inhalation impairs EPC mobilization and function and whether this compromises the ability of EPCs to maintain a healthy endothelium that could heighten the cardiovascular disease risk due to air pollution exposure.