Education
PhD, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2014
MPH, George Washington University, 2007
AB, Bowdoin College, 2002
Overview
As an environmental and pediatric/perinatal epidemiologist, my goal is to conduct innovative and high impact research to inform environmental policies targeted at improving children’s health. My research is grounded in the developmental origins of health and disease framework and focuses on determining effects of early life exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals on child physical growth and development. Using molecular epidemiology and advanced statistical approaches, I have conducted several studies evaluating the role of environmental chemical exposures in the development of childhood obesity. I have also assessed the utility of biomarkers of exposure to several classes of environmental chemicals that have widespread human exposure, including phthalates and environmental phenols.
As an NIEHS Outstanding Environmental Scientist (ONES) awardee, I am currently investigating whether chemicals hypothesized to be environmental obesogens also impact bone health, a significant but understudied component of child well-being. Additional projects include studies assessing exposure and health effects of alternative flame retardant chemicals among pregnant women and children in Baltimore and a project examining the impact of metals in well water on birth defects in North Carolina. I’m also collaborating on the development of approaches for examining effects of complex mixtures, such as Bayesian and causal inference methods, with the aim of evaluating potential public health interventions using observational data. Finally, as a Co-Investigator for the Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Data Analysis Center, I serve on the planning team of the Chemical Exposures Working Group and collaborate on several multi-cohort studies aimed to elucidate the impact of early life environmental chemical exposures on child health.
Honors and Awards
NIEHS Pediatric Loan Repayment Program Award (2020)
NIEHS Outstanding New Environmental Scientist (ONES) award (2019)
Advancing Green Chemistry Science Communication Fellowship (2017)
Barbara Sorenson Hulka Dissertation Award, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (2015)
Delta Omega, the National Honorary Society in Public Health, Omega Chapter (2006) & Theta Chapter (2015)
Marilyn and Al Tyroler Endowed Scholarship in Epidemiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (2014)
Society for Epidemiologic Research, Student Dissertation Workshop (2012)
Nancy A. Dreyer Endowed Scholarship in Epidemiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (2011)
NICHD Reproductive, Perinatal, and Pediatric Epidemiology Predoctoral Training Grant (2012-2013)
6th Annual NICHD-IHDCYH Summer Institute in Reproductive and Perinatal Epidemiology (2010)
NIEHS Environmental Epidemiology Predoctoral Training Grant (2008-2011)