Tracey Woodruff
Tracey Woodruff, PhD, MPH, has been named as director of the Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment (PRHE) and associate professor in residence in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at UCSF.
The mission of the PRHE is to advance scientific inquiry, professional training, public education and health policies that reduce the impacts of environmental contaminants on reproductive and developmental health.
PRHE is a unique program designed to pioneer a transdisciplinary model in environmental reproductive health that will integrate basic, translational and health policy research with education, health care and health policy. PRHE is housed within the UCSF National Center of Excellence in Women's Health.
"We are delighted to have Tracey Woodruff lead this innovative program, and are excited about PRHE's potential to expand our understanding of environmental impacts on reproductive health. It is an important endeavor for women, children, and families and will truly transform health and improve lives", Nancy Milliken, MD, director, UCSF National Center of Excellence in Women's Health.
"Tracey Woodruff's arrival positions UCSF to address the rising awareness that environmental contaminants can have profound influences on the reproductive and developmental health of women, men and children," says Linda Giudice, MD, PhD, chair of the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences. "With Tracey's direction of PRHE, UCSF will bring science to the clinic, to policy and to the community and will lead the way in reducing the impacts of environmental contaminants on fertility and reproduction."
Woodruff comes to PRHE from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), where she was a senior scientist and policy adviser. She brings considerable scientific and policy experience on the implications of exposure to environmental contaminants and the effects on child health and development. Woodruff has worked on a number of high-profile environmental health issues, including air pollution, children's health, interpreting biomonitoring data and cancer policy.
Woodruff recently co-led an international workshop on air pollution and its effects on perinatal health at the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology meeting in Mexico City. The workshop was attended by leading experts from around the world, where participants identified key research priorities and the next steps toward developing an international, collaborative effort to advance research in this field.
Woodruff has been working at the PRHE over the past year while she was on sabbatical from the EPA. Woodruff helped lead the UCSF-Collaborative on Health and the Environment Summit on Environmental Challenges to Reproductive Health and Fertility in January 2007 at the UCSF Mission Bay campus.
Related Links:
Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment
