Over the past several years, there have been a number of young infants (most under 6 months old), in the eastern neighborhoods of Cleveland, who have been coughing up blood due to bleeding in their lungs. Some infants have died and more infants continue to to get ill. This bleeding, a disorder called Pulmonary Hemorrhage appears to be caused by something in their home environments, most likely toxins produced by an unusual fungus called Stachybotrys chartarum or similar fungi.

The current major focus of the Mary Ann Swetland Center for Environmental Health is the environmental health problems of the Cleveland community especially those related to toxic exposures of children and their families.


Director , Dorr G. Dearborn Ph.D., M.D.
Education Director , Cynthia Bearer, M.D., Ph.D.
Clinic Director , Kathleen Fagan, M.D.
Laboratory Director , Iwona Yike, Ph.D.
Research Assistant , Jody Gower,
Nurse Coordinator , Margaret Pizzi, R.N.
Secretary , Ariann Richner