Epidemiology: Open Access
Open Access

Biography

Pam Factor-Litvak, PhD is Associate Professor of Clinical Epidemiology and Environmental Health Sciences in the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University. She is a life course epidemiologist with special interests in environmental exposures. Her current research interests concern in utero and early childhood environmental exposures to heavy metals (e.g. lead, mercury, arsenic, manganese) and endocrine disrupting compounds (e.g., PCBs, organohalogen pesticides, brominated compounds and fluoridated compounds) and developmental, growth and reproductive outcomes in late childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Most of her work utilizes birth cohorts born at particular times, in particular places. An example of this work is the Yugoslavia Study of Environmental Lead, Pregnancy, and Child Development. This is a prospective cohort of mother-infants pairs, tracking the adverse association between lead exposure, IQ, growth, renal function and cardiovascular function. A second cohort study traces the now adult offspring of women who participated in the Child Health and Development Studies to examine whether early exposures are associated with adults in the cohort to ascertain whether perinatal exposure to endocrine disrupting compounds is associated with persistent neurobehavioral problems and reproductive disorders in males. She has completed two studies initiated due to public concerns, one, a study of the possible associations between mercury derived from dental restorations (silver-mercury fillings) and neuropsychological, neurological and psychiatric symptoms in adults, and second, an ecologic study of the relations between residential proximity to hazardous waste sites and school district based special education classifications of autism. Dr. Factor-Litvak has served on numerous NIH review committees, serves on an international committee to investigate the etiology of autistic spectrum disorders, a NIEHS/CDC committee to investigate thimerosol in the etiology of autism, and on a World Health Organization expert panel on endocrine disrupting chemicals. Dr. Factor-Litvak received her PhD in epidemiology from Columbia University and Master’s degrees from both the Harvard School of Public Health and Yale University.

Research Interest

Dr. Pam Factor-Litvak′s current research interests concern the biological relationships between environmental exposures and development. She is particularly interested in in utero and early childhood exposures to heavy metals (e.g. lead, mercury), endocrine disrupting compounds (e.g. PCBs, organohalogen pesticides), and developmental and reproductive outcomes in late childhood, adolescence and adulthood.

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