PhD in Environmental Health Sciences

About

The Department of Environmental and Occupational Health provides graduate training in environmental health sciences and offers the PhD in Environmental Health Sciences. The PhD program offers tracks in Environmental Toxicology and Environmental Epidemiology. Our program in Environmental Health Sciences provides students with the knowledge and skills necessary and appropriate to teach and/or conduct basic and applied research programs in inhalation/pulmonary toxicology, neurotoxicology, reproductive and developmental toxicology, chemical pathology, toxicokinetics, radiation toxicology, molecular carcinogenesis, exposure sciences, environmental and occupational epidemiology, risk assessment, injury and violence prevention, social stressors, environmental justice, and community-based participatory research.

Students entering the program have varied backgrounds, including chemistry, biology, physiology, environmental science/engineering/health, epidemiology, and public health. The curriculum is based on a foundation of basic and health sciences with applications of scientific principles to environmental exposures and their potential health effects. Formal course work is enriched by a strong commitment to student-professor interaction throughout the program. An important and integral part of the learning process is an early and intensive involvement of the student in ongoing original research projects in environmental health sciences. Research grants and contracts are available to support qualified doctoral students as research assistants.

The PhD in Environmental Health Sciences degree program participates in several special graduate training programs, including GPS-STEM, Ridge 2 Reef, and Environmental Racism and Health Equity.

Faculty Mentors in Environmental Health Sciences
Environmental Toxicology

Environmental Toxicology involves the scientific study of the entry, distribution, biotransformation and mechanism of the action of chemical and other agents that are harmful to the body. The graduate program interprets environmental toxicology as the study of the effects and mechanisms of action of hazardous chemicals and other agents in food, air, water and soil in the home, the workplace and the community. It considers experimentally and theoretically such diverse research problems as:

  • New scientific approaches to toxicological evaluation of environmental chemicals such as air and water pollutants, food additives, industrial wastes and agricultural adjuvants and physical agents such as radiation, extreme temperature at the molecular, cellular and organism levels
  • Mechanisms of action in the toxicity of chemical and physical environmental agents
  • The molecular pathology of tissue injury in acute and chronic toxicity
Environmental Epidemiology

Environmental Epidemiology involves the study of the effects of human exposures to broad environmental and occupational exposures on health outcomes. Human exposures cover social stressors, behavior factors, and chemical and physical exposures through different media such as air, water, food, and soil and via multiple routes including inhalation, ingestion, and dermal contact. Research in the Environmental Epidemiology Track includes:

  • Assessing individual and population level exposures to social, behavioral, and chemical and physical factors in environmental and occupational settings and examining associations of these exposures with health and disease outcomes
  • New approaches to evaluate human exposures and health risks to environmental and occupational agents, including measurement, modeling, and biomonitoring
  • Social and environmental justice and community-based participatory research to improve health equity

Learning Outcomes

  • Develop a broad knowledge of principles of environmental and occupational health sciences and apply these principles in the context of public health.
  • Conceive, develop, conduct, and interpret original research using a range of approaches, leading to advances in knowledge, methods, and practices in environmental and/or occupational health.
  • Develop and demonstrate written and oral communications skills by preparing papers, summaries, briefings and presentations regarding environmental and/or occupational health.

Time to Degree

For students enrolled full-time, the normative time to complete the PhD degree program is five (5) academic years.

Career Outcomes

The PhD in Environmental Health Sciences prepares graduates to initiate independent and collaborative research careers in academic institutions, to teach at advanced levels of instruction, and to lead research efforts at agencies dedicated to environmental health at all levels of organization. Graduates of the PhD in Environmental Health Sciences will gain employment at research universities, government agencies, industry including consulting companies, non-governmental organizations, community-based organizations, or private sector organizations.

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