The call featured Dr. Frederica Perera, who reviewed data from a longitudinal cohort study following mothers and children from pregnancy into adolescence. In this study, prenatal exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, combustion-related air pollutants, is associated with adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes as well as other disease endpoints. Prevention strategies were also discussed.
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Dr. Perera is a professor at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, where she serves as director of the Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health. Dr. Perera is internationally recognized for pioneering the field of molecular epidemiology, utilizing biomarkers to understand links between environmental exposures and disease. Currently, she and her colleagues are applying advanced molecular and imaging techniques within longitudinal cohort studies of pregnant women and their children, with the goal of identifying preventable risk factors for developmental disorders, asthma, obesity and cancer in childhood. Her areas of specialization include prevention of environmental risks to children, molecular epidemiology, disease prevention, environment-susceptibility interactions, and risk assessment. She is the author of more than 300 publications, including 260 peer-reviewed articles, and has received numerous honors, including First Irving J. Selikoff Cancer Research Award, The Ramazzini Institute (1995); The Century Club Award Newsweek (1997); First Children’s Environmental Health Award, The Pew Center for Children’s Health and the Environment (1999); Distinguished Lecturer, Occupational and Environmental Cancer, National Cancer Institute (2002); Doctoris Honoris Causa, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland (2004); Children’s Environmental Health Excellence Award, US Environmental Protection Agency (2005); and the Children’s Environmental Health Network (CEHN) Award (2008).
The call was moderated by Carol Kwiatkowski, executive director of The Endocrine Disruption Exchange (TEDX).
This half-hour teleconference call is one in a monthly series sponsored by the Collaborative on Health and the Environment’s EDC Strategies Group.The CHE EDC Strategies Group is chaired by Carol Kwiatkowski (TEDX), Sharyle Patton (Commonweal), and Genon Jensen (HEAL). To see a full list of past calls in the series and listen to the MP3 recordings please visit the CHE EDC Strategies Special Partnership webpage.