Health Equity

Maria Blancas, a UW PhD student and staff member in the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS), will receive the 2019 Bullitt Environmental Prize for her work with immigrant farmworkers in Washington.

DEOHS Associate Professor Jeremy Hess Researchers from the University of Washington are teaming up with the Swinomish Tribe to evaluate strategies the Swinomish are using to adapt to climate change.

The UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) is celebrating the 57 new graduates who received their degrees this weekend. DEOHS Chair Michael Yost presided over a Friday ceremony at Foege Auditorium honoring the students, who earned Bachelor of Science, Master of Public Health, Master of Science and PhD degrees.

Before she was a food systems and sustainability expert, Yona Sipos was a video jockey for MTV Canada.Between interviews with celebrities like Avril Lavigne and music videos for Outkast's Hey Ya!, Sipos talked to her teenage audience about science—everything from how to plant an urban garden to cool science experiments to do at home.

Two undergraduate students in the University of Washington School of Public Health are being honored as part of this year’s Husky 100 based on their work with the Pacific Northwest Agricultural Safety and Health (PNASH) Center at the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Science

Richard Fenske, PhD, MPH Associate Chair and Professor, UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences Proudest achievement: The contributions his students have made to the field of environmental health. Joined DEOHS faculty: 1991

There is a hidden cost to the fresh fruits and vegetables you buy at your local market.

“Growing up in Wenatchee, WA, I was exposed to a lot of agricultural workers. Learning about how the environment affects people’s health—and realizing that many people I knew growing up were exposed to health risks—really hooked me on environmental health.”

Christine Loftus is an environmental epidemiologist with over 15 years of research experience in prenatal and early-life exposures to chemical and nonchemical stressors associated with child health trajectories. She also studies the factors that may modify these relationships, such as prenatal nutrition or psychosocial stress.

Dr. Tzu-Hsin Karen Chen is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Urban Design and Planning and the Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences at the University of Washington, where she is also affiliated with the Data Science program. As a geographer, Dr. Chen finds great interest in the synergy of machine learning and satellite imagery analysis.

Dr. de Castro’s research focuses on population health inequities and inequalities by examining how employment opportunities, job conditions, and work organization contribute to chronic stress and occupational injury and illness risk; utilizing longitudinal analyses, biomarkers, large survey datasets, and engagement with minoritized groups.

Joan A. Casey received her doctoral degree from the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in 2014. Dr. Casey is an environmental epidemiologist who focuses on environmental health, environmental justice, and sustainability.

Resham Patel is an assistant teaching professor at the University of Washington, with 15 years of local and national experience as a public health professional. She serves as the Director of Practitioner Engagement for the UW Center for Disaster Resilient Communities (CDRC).

Dr. Diana Ceballos is an assistant professor in the University of Washington Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences. Her life’s passion is to address health disparities by identifying environmental factors that cause disease, injury or impairment.

Dr. Rachel M. Shaffer works on chemical assessments in the Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment in the U.S. EPA’s Office of Research and Development. Dr. Shaffer has a broad background in environmental health sciences, with graduate training spanning experimental toxicology and human epidemiological research as well as experience in science policy and risk assessment.

What would it look like to equitably nourish a growing global population? More importantly, how do we get there – which inputs have more leverage within complex systems, and what evidence do decision-makers need in order to support public health? Dr.

Esther Min (she/her) is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Washington. She is also part of the Northwest Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit (PEHSU).

Dr. Peckham is an environmental scientist in the Hazardous Waste Management Program in the King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks, where he designs and conducts environmental and occupational health research to help reduce toxic exposures to workers and residents of King County. Dr. Peckham earned his PhD, MS and MPA from the University of Washington.  

Sheldwin earned a doctorate degree in Exposure Science and a MS degree in Epidemiology at the University of Washington School of Public Health; prior he also received a MPH at the University of New Mexico School of

Michele Andrasik is a clinical health psychologist.

Anne M. Riederer, MS, MSFS, ScD is an environmental health scientist focused on assessing exposures of young children and pregnant women to heavy metals, pesticides, and other environmental neurotoxicants. Before moving to Seattle, she was: American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow (2010-2012) hosted by Dr.

Marguerite Pappaioanou, DVM, MPVM, PhD, is an Affiliate Professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health at the University of Washington in Seattle, where she contributes to the research, teaching, and outreach programs of the Center for One Health Research.

For 33 years Professor Emeritus John Garland worked at Oregon State University as Timber Harvesting Extension Specialist bringing new technologies, conducting research and providing educational programs and publications to Oregon’s forestry sector. He continues his OSU research on operators in steep slope logging.

Andrew L. Dannenberg, MD, MPH, is an Affiliate Professor in the Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences and in the Department of Urban Design and Planning at the University of Washington, where he teaches courses on health and built environment and on health impact assessment.

Dr. Takaro is a physician-scientist trained at the University of Washington, Occupational and Environmental Medicine Program. His work is directed primarily toward determining if linkages exist between occupational or environmental exposures and disease and finding public health based preventive solutions where such hazards exist.

Rod Hoff is working with faculty to expand the UW School of Public Health's research and training programs on emerging infectious diseases and on building capacity for global health security. He gives guest lectures courses of Dr Cangelosi.

Dr. Pooja Tandon is a pediatrician and researcher at the Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development at Seattle Children’s Research Institute and Assistant Professor at the University of Washington.  Dr.

Alison Cullen joined the Evans School faculty at University of Washington in 1995. Her research involves the analysis of risks to human health and the environment, decision making in the face of risks which are uncertain or vary across populations, and the application of value of information and distributional techniques. 

David Beck is Director of Research for Life Sciences with the eScience Institute, the UW’s nexus for Data Science and Research Assistant Professor in Chemical Engineering. He received his BS in Computer Science from Drexel University in 2000 and Ph.D. from the University of Washington in Biomolecular Structure & Design from Medicinal Chemistry in 2006.

Dr. van Belle holds a joint appointment in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health and the Department Biostatistics. He served as chair of the former from 1991 to 1998 at which time he returned to regular faculty status.