Contested Illnesses Research Group
Brown University , Providence RI

Rachel Morello-Frosch is an associate professor in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management and the School of Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley. Previously she held a joint appointment between the Department of Community Health at Brown Medical School and the Center for Environmental Studies. Dr. Morello-Frosch completed her bachelor’s degree in development studies, a master of public health degree in epidemiology and biostatistics, and her Ph.D. in environmental health sciences at the University of California, Berkeley.

Dr. Morello-Frosch’s research examines race and class determinants of environmental health among diverse communities in the United States. A focus of her current work is on the relationship between segregation and environmental health inequalities, community-based health research, children’s environmental health, and the intersection between economic restructuring and community environmental health. Dr. Morello-Frosch has published articles on the theoretical and methodological issues for elucidating links between community and individual level stressors and environmental health disparities. She also conducted the first study to examine the relationship between racial residential segregation and the estimated cancer risks associated with ambient air toxics exposures in the United States. Dr. Morello-Frosch is also a co-principal Investigator, with the Silent Spring Institute in Newton MA and Communities for a Better Environment in Northern California, on a household exposure study in Richmond California that examines indoor and outdoor sources of exposure to probable endocrine-disrupting chemicals and particulates. As part of this work, Dr. Morello-Frosch is examining the scientific challenges and bioethical considerations associated with exposure assessment and chemical biomonitoring research in economically and racially marginalized communities. This work is funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Science Foundation.

Dr. Morello-Frosch is also working on a research collaborative with academic colleagues in Southern California, and Communities for a Better Environment on “Air Pollution, Toxics and Environmental Justice” funded by the California Endowment. She is co-PI on a project entitled: Air Pollution and Environmental Justice: Integrating Exposure, Demographics, and Land Use into Regulatory Decision-making and Preventive Screening funded by the California Air Resources Board to examine the environmental justice implications of cumulative exposures and socioeconomic vulnerability to air pollution among diverse communities..

Rachel is a co-founder and former chair of the board of trustees of the Environmental Leadership Program, a national non-profit center for leadership and professional development within the environmental field (www.elpnet.org) and sits on the scientific advisory board of Breast Cancer Action in San Francisco (www.bcaction.org).

Brown University, Center for Environmental Studies
Brown University, Department of Community Health
Brown University, Initiative in Spatial Structures in the Social Sciences
Brown University, Environmental Change Initiative

Contact information:

Rachel Morello-Frosch, Ph.D., M.P.H.

Associate Professor

Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management & School of Public Health

University of California, Berkeley

137 Mulford Hall

Berkeley, CA 94720-3114

E-mail: [email protected]

Phone: 510-643-6358