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Elisa Bandera, M.D., Ph.D.
Rutgers University- School of Public HealthRutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey
Dr. Bandera earned an MD degree from the University of Málaga, Spain and a PhD in Epidemiology and Community Health from the State University of New York at Buffalo, where she also completed post-doctoral training in nutritional epidemiology of cancer. She is currently Professor and Chief, Cancer Epidemiology and Health Outcomes and Co-Leader, Cancer Prevention and Control Program, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey; Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and Rutgers School of Public Health.
Major research interests include the impact of obesity and body composition and related comorbidities on breast and ovarian cancer risk, treatment and survival outcomes and survivorship, with a focus on cancer health disparities. She has served as Principal Investigator in several epidemiologic studies, including the New Jersey Ovarian Cancer Study, which is a member of the Ovarian Cancer Association International Consortium, the Jersey Girl Study (a study evaluating factors affecting puberty in girls), the Women’s Circle of Health Study (a study of breast cancer in African American women, which is a member of the AMBER Consortium), the Women’s Circle of Health Follow-up Study (a cohort study of African American breast cancer survivors) and KP-ROCS (a cohort study evaluating the impact of obesity on ovarian cancer treatment and survival in which racial/ethnic disparities in treatment outcomes and survival were also evaluated). Her research has been funded by several grants from the National Cancer Institute.
Dr. Bandera has served in numerous advisory boards and expert panels for several organizations, including the American Cancer Society, the National Cancer Institute, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) and the World Cancer Research Fund International (WCRF). She is very involved in translating epidemiologic findings to public health action at the national and international levels. She was a member of the American Cancer Society’s 2006 Committee on Nutrition and Physical Activity Guidelines for Cancer Prevention. She also served as a member of the American Cancer Society’s 2012 and 2018 Guidelines on Nutrition and Physical Activity for Cancer Prevention and Survival Committee. Dr. Bandera led the Systematic Literature Review and meta-analysis on endometrial cancer in support of the 2007 WCRF/AICR Second Expert Report on Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity and the Prevention of Cancer. For more than 10 years she served as a member of the WCRF/AICR International Expert Panel for the Continuous Update Project and the WCRF/AICR Third Expert Report on Diet, Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Cancer: A Global Perspective, released in May 2018. She also served as Chair of the Lifestyle Behaviors, Energy Balance and Chemoprevention Special Interest Group of the American Society of Preventive Oncology (ASPO) and as a member of the ASPO Executive Committee (2016-2019). At the state level, Dr. Bandera led the Nutrition and Physical Activity Workgroup of the New Jersey Task Force on Cancer Prevention, Early Detection, and Treatment for more than ten years and served as Vice Chair of the Advisory Group for Cancer Prevention and Control of the New Jersey Commission on Cancer Research.
Grant Review Panels (selected)
- NIH Cancer, Heart and Sleep Epidemiology Study Section Panel B, CHSB
- National Cancer Institute Initial Review Group Subcommittee J for Population and Patient-Oriented Training
- National Cancer Institute Review Group Subcommittee G for Education
- National Cancer Institute Special Emphasis Panel Loan Repayment Program for Clinical Research
- Ovarian Cancer Research Program of the Department of Defense’s Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs
- American Institute for Cancer Research Grant Review Panel I
- World Cancer Research Fund International RFA on Biomarkers Research Panel.
Emily S Barrett, Ph.D.
George G. Rhoads Endowed Legacy Professor
Vice Chair, Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology – Epidemiology Concentration Director – Rutgers School of Public HealthEOHSI – Environmental and Population Health Biosciences Division
Dr. Barrett is an Associate Professor in the Rutgers University School of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology. She received an A.B. in Biology and English from Amherst College and a Ph.D. in Biological Anthropology from Harvard University. She completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of California-Los Angeles. Before coming to Rutgers, she was on the faculty at the University of Rochester, where she remains an Adjunct Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Public Health Sciences.
Research Areas
Dr. Barrett’s primary research focus is on the early origins of health and disease and how exposures early in life shape our subsequent health and developmental trajectories. Because gestation is a particularly sensitive period when body systems are first forming, exposures during this period may have profound downstream effects. Dr. Barrett is particularly interested in how prenatal exposures to environmental chemicals and psychosocial stressors impact pregnancy and children’s development. She leads several ongoing NIH-funded pregnancy cohort studies and is actively involved in the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) program, the largest study of the health and well-being of United States children. Through these studies, Dr. Barrett and colleagues are currently investigating the placental, hormonal, immune, epigenetic, and microbial mechanisms by which early life exposures impact downstream health.
Dr. Barrett studies the early origins of health and disease, or how exposures early in life shape our subsequent health and developmental trajectories. Because gestation is a particularly sensitive period when body systems are first forming, insults or exposures during this period may have profound downstream effects. Much of Dr. Barrett’s research focuses on prenatal exposure to endocrine disruptors, agents which interfere with the normal activity of hormones in the body. Phthalates are a class of endocrine disrupting chemicals that are found widely in food and consumer products. Nearly 100% of Americans have measurable levels of phthalate metabolites in their bodies, yet our current understanding of how these chemicals affect our bodies is limited. In The Infant Development and the Environment Study (TIDES), Dr. Barrett and colleagues are studying how prenatal exposure to these chemicals impacts reproductive and neuro-development, and whether the effects may differ in boys and girls.
Other exposures, such as psychosocial stress, disrupt early development as well. Numerous studies have examined how stress during pregnancy may alter cortisol activity and “program” neurodevelopmental, metabolic, and immune outcomes. Much less is known about the extent to which prenatal stress (and related constructs, like anxiety) may also act through other pathways and mechanisms to affect the fetus. For example, evidence from animal models and humans suggests that prenatal stress may alter in utero androgen activity, thereby affecting sex-dependent development in the offspring. Dr. Barrett and collaborators are exploring this hypothesis in the Understanding Prenatal Signals and Infant Development (UPSIDE) Study, with an eye towards better understanding the early origins of sex differences. Concurrent work in this cohort will examine how maternal inflammation during pregnancy contributes to infant and child development. One of the major themes of this research is understanding the role of the placenta in communicating messages about stressors from mother to fetus (and vice versa).
In addition to her work on prenatal exposures, Dr. Barrett is also interested in factors that impact fertility in adulthood, particularly in women. She is involved in projects focused on how psychosocial stress and environmental chemical exposures affect reproductive hormone concentrations and pregnancy outcomes. Additional ongoing work examines possible biomarkers of the prenatal hormonal milieu that can be assessed postnatally, and their relationship to measures of adult reproductive health.
Dr. Barrett’s work is funded by the National Institutes of Health (R01HD083369; R01ES016863; UG3OD023349; UG3OD023271; P30ES001247) and the Mae Stone Goode Foundation.
Research Highlights
- Assessment of exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals during pregnancy in relation to reproductive and neurodevelopment in childhood
- Examination of maternal stress in relation to sex differences in the offspring
- Investigation of novel biomarkers of the prenatal hormonal milieu in humans
- Exploration of placental morphology and function in relation to prenatal exposures and postnatal outcomes
- Identification of factors contributing to reproductive health and ovarian function in fertile and infertile women
Scholarly Activities
- Editorial Board: Hormones and Behavior, Fertility and Sterility (Top 3 reviewer, 2015-2016)
- Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women’s Health (BIRCWH) Scholar (NIH K12; 2011-2014)
- Environmental Health News Science Communications Fellow (2009-2010)
- Community Advisory Board, URMC Environmental Health Sciences Center (2009-2016)
- Board of Directors, Healthy Baby Network (2015-2016)
Recent Publications
William Belden, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Rutgers UniversitySchool of Environmental and Biological Sciences- Department of Animal Science
Joan Bennett, Ph.D.
Rutgers UniversityPlant Biology and Pathology – School of Environmental and Biological Sciences
Joan Wennstrom Bennett has been a Distinguished Professor of Plant Biology and Pathology at Rutgers University since 2006. Prior to coming to Rutgers, she was on the faculty at Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, for over thirty years. The Bennett laboratory studies the genetics and physiology of filamentous fungi. In addition to mycotoxins and other secondary metabolites, research focuses on the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted by fungi. These low molecular weight compounds are responsible for the familiar odors associated with the molds and mushrooms. Some VOCs function as semiochemicals for insects while others serve as developmental signals for fungi. The Bennett lab has tested individual fungal VOCs in model systems and found that 1-octen-3-ol (“mushroom alcohol”) is a neurotoxin in Drosophila melanogaster and causes growth retardation in Arabidopsis thaliana. It also inhibits growth of the fungus that causes “white nose syndrome” in bat populations. In other studies, the Bennett lab has demonstrated that VOCs from living cultures of Trichoderma, a known biocontrol fungus, can enhance plant growth. Investigations on the mechanistic aspects of fungal VOC action are underway using a yeast knock out library. Dr. Bennett also has an active interest in fungal genomics and has been involved in genome projects for Aspergillus flavus, A. fumigatus, A. oryzae and Penicillium expansum.
Dr. Bennett was Associate Vice President for the Office for the Promotion of Women in Science, Engineering and Mathematics (“SciWomen”) at Rutgers from 2006-2014 and continues to serve as Senior Faculty Advisor to the group. She is a past Editor-in-Chief of Mycologia; a past Vice President of the British Mycological Society and the International Union of Microbiological Societies; as well as past President of the American Society for Microbiology and the Society for Industrial Microbiology & Biotechnology. She was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2005.
Title and Address:
Distinguished Professor
Department of Plant Biology
School of Environmental and Biological Sciences,
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Primary Focus Area: Fungal metabolism and fungal genetics
Secondary Focus Area: History of science, women in science and bioethics
Kathleen Black, Ph.D., MPH
Program Manager
Rutgers UniversityEOHSI – Clinical Research and Occupational Medicine
Martin J Blaser, M.D.
Porfessor – Director of CABM
Rutgers UniversityCenter for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine – Rutgers Behavioral Health Systems
Martin J. Blaser holds the Henry Rutgers Chair of the Human Microbiome at Rutgers University, where he also serves as Professor of Medicine and Microbiology, and as Director of the Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine. Previously, he served as Chair of the Department of Medicine at New York University. A physician and microbiologist, Dr. Blaser has been studying the relationships we have with our persistently colonizing bacteria. His work over 30 years focused on Campylobacter species and Helicobacter pylori, which also are model systems for understanding the interactions of residential bacteria with their hosts. Over the last 20 years, he has also been actively studying the relationship of the human microbiome with health and important diseases including asthma, obesity, diabetes, and cancer. Dr. Blaser has served as the advisor to many students, post-doctoral fellows, and junior faculty. He currently serves as Chair of the Presidential Advisory Council for Combating Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria (PACCARB). He holds 28 U.S. patents, and has authored over 600 original articles. He wrote Missing Microbes, a book targeted to general audiences, now translated into 20 languages.
Martin J. Blaser, MD
Brian Buckley, Ph.D.
Executive Director – Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute
Rutgers UniversityEOHSI – Central Administration
Dr. Buckley’s Complete List of Publications (PDF)
Recent Publications
- Kinkade, CW, Brinker, A, Buckley, B, Waysack, O, Fernandez, ID, Kautz, A, Meng, Y, Shi, H, Brunner, J, Ohman-Strickland, P et al.. Sociodemographic and dietary predictors of maternal and placental mycoestrogen concentrations in a US pregnancy cohort. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol. 2024; :. doi: 10.1038/s41370-024-00722-6. PubMed PMID:39363096
- Taylor, R, Basaly, V, Kong, B, Yang, I, Brinker, AM, Capece, G, Bhattacharya, A, Henry, ZR, Otersen, K, Yang, Z et al.. Effects of Therapeutically Approved Individual Bile Acids on The Development of Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatohepatitis a Low Bile Acid Mouse Model. Toxicol Sci. 2024; :. doi: 10.1093/toxsci/kfae110. PubMed PMID:39302723
- Wren, M, Robson, M, Buckley, B. A Novel Biomonitoring Method to Detect Pyrethroid Metabolites in Saliva of Occupationally Exposed Workers as a Tool for Risk Assessment. Hum Ecol Risk Assess. 2024;30 (3-4):269-288. doi: 10.1080/10807039.2024.2329625. PubMed PMID:39221113 PubMed Central PMC11360145
- Wen, X, Doherty, C, Thompson, LE, Kim, C, Buckley, BS, Jaimes, EA, Joy, MS, Aleksunes, LM. Determination of unbound platinum concentrations in human plasma using ultrafiltration and precipitation methods. J Pharmacol Toxicol Methods. 2024;128 :107535. doi: 10.1016/j.vascn.2024.107535. PubMed PMID:38955285 PubMed Central PMC11551886
- Kinkade, CW, Aleksunes, LM, Brinker, A, Buckley, B, Brunner, J, Wang, C, Miller, RK, O’Connor, TG, Rivera-Núñez, Z, Barrett, ES et al.. Associations between mycoestrogen exposure and sex steroid hormone concentrations in maternal serum and cord blood in the UPSIDE pregnancy cohort. Int J Hyg Environ Health. 2024;260 :114405. doi: 10.1016/j.ijheh.2024.114405. PubMed PMID:38878407 PubMed Central PMC11441442
- Chow, MD, Otersen, K, Wassef, A, Kong, B, Yamarthy, S, Rizzolo, D, Yang, I, Buckley, B, Lu, A, Crook, N et al.. Effects of intestine-specific deletion of FGF15 on the development of fatty liver disease with vertical sleeve gastrectomy. Hepatol Commun. 2024;8 (6):. doi: 10.1097/HC9.0000000000000444. PubMed PMID:38780301 PubMed Central PMC11124683
- Taylor, R, Yang, Z, Henry, Z, Capece, G, Meadows, V, Otersen, K, Basaly, V, Bhattacharya, A, Mera, S, Zhou, P et al.. Characterization of individual bile acids in vivo utilizing a novel low bile acid mouse model. Toxicol Sci. 2024;199 (2):316-331. doi: 10.1093/toxsci/kfae029. PubMed PMID:38526215
- Kozlosky, D, Doherty, C, Buckley, B, Goedken, MJ, Miller, RK, Huh, DD, Barrett, ES, Aleksunes, LM. Fetoplacental Disposition and Toxicity of Cadmium in Mice Lacking the Bcrp Transporter. Toxicol Sci. 2023;197 (2):132-46. doi: 10.1093/toxsci/kfad115. PubMed PMID:37941438 PubMed Central PMC10823776
- Zhang, R, Walker, L, Wen, X, Doherty, C, Gorczyca, L, Buckley, B, Barrett, ES, Aleksunes, LM. Placental BCRP transporter reduces cadmium accumulation and toxicity in immortalized human trophoblasts. Reprod Toxicol. 2023;121 :108466. doi: 10.1016/j.reprotox.2023.108466. PubMed PMID:37660740 PubMed Central PMC10591833
- Rivera-Núñez, Z, Hansel, M, Capurro, C, Kozlosky, D, Wang, C, Doherty, CL, Buckley, B, Ohman-Strickland, P, Miller, RK, O’Connor, TG et al.. Prenatal Cadmium Exposure and Maternal Sex Steroid Hormone Concentrations across Pregnancy. Toxics. 2023;11 (7):. doi: 10.3390/toxics11070589. PubMed PMID:37505555 PubMed Central PMC10384739
See complete list of Dr. Buckley’s publications in PubMed
Joanna Burger, Ph.D.
Rutgers University – School of Arts and SciencesEOHSI – Environmental and Population Health Bio-Sciences
Research Areas
Main research interests are behavior and ecology of communities, behavioral eco-toxicology, ecological risk, environmental monitoring and assessment, human health effects of fish consumption, ecological implications of environmental justice, ecological impacts of energy alternatives, and stakeholder involvement in environmental decisions. My research involves understanding the effects and interactions of animals and people with respect to environmental degradation, chemical and radionuclide contamination, habitat destruction, and the disproportionate burden on some populations. One focus is on the levels and effects of pollutants on eco-receptors and on humans, especially from mercury in fish. This involves not only examining levels of contaminants, but assessing consumption patterns, perceptions of the public, and management of those risks.
Another significant research area is working with The Department of Energy on ecological health and risk at their facilities as part of the Consortium for Risk Evaluation with Stakeholder Participation.
Research Highlights
- Understanding contaminant levels in salt water fish from New Jersey, consumption patterns of fishers, perceptions of risk from contaminants in these fish, and resultant risk from mercury.
- Development of a conceptual model for unique exposures of low-income, minority and other environmental justice communities.
- Development of a template for fate and transport, ecological, and human health information needed to assess safety of contaminated sites or new nuclear facilities.
- Assessment of the relationship between selenium and mercury in salt water fish (selenium is thought to be protective for mercury exposure).
- Biomonitoring of mercury, lead and cadmium in eggs of Common Terns in NJ from 1971 to the present.
Development of a Conservation Plan for Pine Snakes in the NJ Pine Barrens.
Scholarly Activities
- Participate (and present papers) in EPA conference on Environmental Justice
- Organizing and eiting a book on Science and Stakeholders: Finding Solutions to Environmental and Energy-related Problems.
- Participate and present papers in EPA Fish Forum conference.
- Work with the Department of Energy (through CRESP) on ensuring ecological and human health around current nuclear facilities, with implications for commercial nuclear.
- Serve on the Altamont, California Scientific Review Committee for wind energy.
- Provide ecological advice to BP and others concerning the recent Gulf Oil Spill.
Recent Publications
- Burger, J, Feigin, S. Trace element contamination in three shorebird species migrating through Delaware Bay, New Jersey: arsenic, mercury and selenium are increasing. Ecotoxicology. 2024; :. doi: 10.1007/s10646-024-02816-1. PubMed PMID:39472415
- Burger, J, Gochfeld, M, Brown, KG, Cortes, M, Ng, K, Kosson, D. Using the National Land Cover Database as an indicator of shrub-steppe habitat: comparing two large United States federal lands with surrounding regions. J Toxicol Environ Health A. 2024; :1-19. doi: 10.1080/15287394.2024.2412659. PubMed PMID:39396151
- Burger, J. Sliding scales for assessing and communicating human and ecological risks and complexities for restoration, remediation crises, and decisions. J Risk Res. 2024;27 (1):108-123. doi: 10.1080/13669877.2023.2299829. PubMed PMID:39185022 PubMed Central PMC11343492
- Burger, J, Jeitner, C, Zappalorti, RT, Bunnell, JF, Ng, K, DeVito, E, Schneider, D, Gochfeld, M. Snake Fungal Disease in Free-Ranging Northern Pine Snakes (Pituophis melanoleucus melanoleucus) in New Jersey: Lesions, Severity of Sores and Investigator’s Perceptions. J Fungi (Basel). 2024;10 (2):. doi: 10.3390/jof10020125. PubMed PMID:38392797 PubMed Central PMC10889963
- Burger, J, Feigin, S, Fojtik, A, Dey, A, Ng, K. Bioaccumulation of Some Metals and Metalloids in Laughing Gulls (Leucophaeus atricilla): Increases in Mercury and Decreases in Selenium from 2019 to 2022/2023. Toxics. 2023;11 (12):. doi: 10.3390/toxics11121007. PubMed PMID:38133408 PubMed Central PMC10748039
- Burger, J, Gochfeld, M, Brown, KG, Ng, K, Cortes, M, Kosson, D. The importance of recognizing Buffer Zones to lands being developed, restored, or remediated: on planning for protection of ecological resources. J Toxicol Environ Health A. 2024;87 (4):133-149. doi: 10.1080/15287394.2023.2285511. PubMed PMID:37997947 PubMed Central PMC10843829
- Burger, J, Feigin, S, Ng, K, Jeitner, C, Tsipoura, N, Niles, L, Gochfeld, M. Some metals and metalloids in the blood of three species of shorebirds increase while foraging during two-week migratory stopover in Delaware Bay, New Jersey. Environ Res. 2023;238 (Pt 2):117194. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2023.117194. PubMed PMID:37748669 PubMed Central PMC10841762
- Burger, J. Metal Levels in Delaware Bay Horseshoe Crab Eggs from the Surface Reflect Metals in Egg Clutches Laid beneath the Sand. Toxics. 2023;11 (7):. doi: 10.3390/toxics11070614. PubMed PMID:37505579 PubMed Central PMC10386046
- Burger, J, Gochfeld, M, Giffen, N, Brown, KG, Cortes, M, Ng, K, Kosson, DS. Comparing land cover and interior forests on contaminated land and the surrounding region: Oak Ridge Reservation as a case study. J Toxicol Environ Health A. 2023;86 (15):501-517. doi: 10.1080/15287394.2023.2223231. PubMed PMID:37335075
- Burger, J, Gochfeld, M, Zappalorti, R, Bunnell, J, Jeitner, C, Schneider, D, Ng, K, DeVito, E, Lorch, JM. Prevalence of Ophidiomyces ophidiicola and epizootiology of snake fungal disease in free-ranging Northern Pine Snakes (Pituophis melanoleucus melanoleucus) in New Jersey. Environ Monit Assess. 2023;195 (6):662. doi: 10.1007/s10661-023-11259-w. PubMed PMID:37169998
See complete list of Dr. Burger’s publications
Stephen K Burley, M.D.
Professor and Henry Rutgers Chair
Rutgers UniversityCenter for Integrative Proteomics Research
Awards & Honors
- Director, Center for Integrative Proteomics Research (CIPR)
- Director, Research Collaboratory for Structural Bioinformatics Protein Data Bank (RCSB PDB)
- Founding Director, Institute for Quantitative Biomedicine at Rutgers (iQB@R)
- Senator, Rutgers University Senate
- Distinguished Professor, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology
- Member, Cancer Institute of New Jersey
Research Summary
Stephen Burley currently serves as Henry Rutgers Chair and University Professor, Founding Director of the Institute for Quantitative Biomedicine, and Director of the RCSB Protein Data Bank at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. He is also a Member of the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, where he Co-Leads the Cancer Pharmacology Research Program. Burley is an expert in structural biology, proteomics, bioinformatics, structure/fragment based drug discovery, and clinical medicine/oncology.
From 2008 to 2012, Burley was a Distinguished Lilly Research Scholar in Lilly Research Laboratories. Prior to joining Lilly, Burley served as the Chief Scientific Officer and Senior Vice President of SGX Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a publicly traded biotechnology company that was acquired by Lilly in 2008. Until 2002, Burley was the Richard M. and Isabel P. Furlaud Professor at The Rockefeller University and an Investigator in the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
He has authored/coauthored more than 280 scholarly scientific articles. Following undergraduate training in applied mathematics and physics, Burley received an M.D. degree from Harvard Medical School in the joint Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology Program and, as a Rhodes Scholar, received a D.Phil. in Structural Biology from Oxford University. He trained in internal medicine at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, and did post-doctoral work with Gregory A. Petsko at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Nobel Laureate William N. Lipscomb, Jr. at Harvard University. With William J. Rutter and others at the University of California San Francisco and Rockefeller, Burley co-founded Prospect Genomics, Inc., which was acquired by SGX in 2001. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and of the New York Academy of Sciences, and recipient of a Doctor of Science (Honoris causa) from his alma mater the University of Western Ontario.
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