Research
Targeted research to inform clinical decision making and public policy

Research: Maternal and fetal chemical exposures

Research in this area seeks to increase our understanding of fetal exposures to chemicals during key periods of prenatal development in order to improve the accuracy of health-based decision and policy-making as well as epidemiologic and clinical research.

Featured Studies:

Pregnancy Exposures to Environmental Contaminants: Formative Children's Center

Collaborators: Tracey Woodruff, Mike McMaster (UCSF), Susan Fisher (UCSF), Naomi Stotland (UCSF), Roy Gerona (UCSF), Jennifer Adibi (UCSF), and Ami Zota (UCSF).

Funding: NIEHS and US EPA.

Chemicals in Our Bodies Study

PRHE is collaborating with the California Environmental Contaminant Biomonitoring Program on a pilot biomonitoring study of pregnant women and their newborn infants. The pilot study will measure levels of over 100 chemicals or chemical metabolites in pregnant women and umbilical cord blood collected at birth. We are also administering an exposure assessment questionnaire and conducting a pilot study of reporting back biomonitoring results to study participants.

Collaborators: Tracey Woodruff, Rachel Morello-Frosch (UC Berkeley), and Rupali Das (Biomonitoring California).

Funding: Biomonitoring California, the California Wellness Foundation

Assessing Cumulative Burdens of Chemicals Nationally in Pregnant Women

PRHE is examining cumulative exposures to environmental chemicals among US pregnant women using NHANES survey data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Collaborators: Tracey Woodruff and Ami Zota.

Funding: Pew Charitable Trust and Passport Foundation Science Innovation Fund.

Research Evaluating Environmental Exposures from Everyday Living (REVEEL)

Collaborators: Tracey Woodruff, Ami Zota, and Roy Gerona.

Funding: Passport Foundation Science Innovation Fund