Faculty

Background and Expertise:

Dr. Geer's research focuses on the use of exposure assessment methods to explore research questions ranging from maternal exposures and infant health outcomes to worker dermal exposure and underlying psychosocial determinants. With graduate training in environmental health engineering and risk assessment, Dr. Geer has been responsible for the design, conduct, and management of studies concerning occupational and environmental exposure to chemicals. Her work complements the current line of research in the consideration of behavioral influences on exposure.

Dr. Geer received her master's and doctoral degrees from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in the division of Environmental Health Engineering. During her master's program, she participated in community air pollution exposure study, and designed a risk communication strategy to share study results with the community. Her doctoral work involved the assessment of worker dermal exposure and underlying psychosocial factors. She also completed a certificate program in Risk Assessment and Communication through The Risk Sciences and Public Policy Institute at Johns Hopkins. After completing a post-doctoral position with the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) measuring worker dermal exposure through the use of biological monitoring and environmental sampling, she provided consultation for the US Environmental Protection Agency Exposure Measurements and Analysis Branch (EMAB) at the National Exposure Research Laboratory (NERL) where she examined the ethical issues associated with child participation in human exposure studies.

Dr. Geer's current research interests include the assessment of maternal and perinatal exposure to environmental chemicals, and infant morbidity and mortality outcomes. In her current research, she is assessing mercury levels in the urine and cord blood of mother/neonate pairs in Brooklyn in association with behavioral risk factors such as fish ingestion and cultural practices.

Research Interests

• The use of biological markers of exposure and effect to study maternal and perinatal exposures to chemicals. Epidemiologic study of the association between maternal environmental and occupational exposures and infant health outcomes.
• Other research interests include dermal exposure assessment in occupational and environmental settings, psychosocial risk factors of exposure, and risk assessment and communication.

Selected Publications

L.A. Geer, D. Anna, B.A. Curbow, M. Diener-West, C. Mitchell, B. van-Wendel-de-Joode, T.J. Buckley. 2007. Survey Assessment of Worker Dermal Exposure and Underlying Behavioral Determinants. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene. 4(11):809-820.

L.A. Geer, B.A. Curbow, D. Anna, P.S.J. Lees, T.J. Buckley. 2006. Development of a Questionnaire to Assess Worker Knowledge, Attitudes, and Perceptions Underlying Dermal Exposure. Scand J Work Environ Health. 32(3):209-18.

L.A. Geer, N. Cardello, M. Dellarco, T. Leighton, R.P. Zendzian, J.D. Roberts, T.J. Buckley. 2004. Comparative Analysis of Passive Dosimetry and Biomonitoring for Assessing Chlorpyrifos Exposure in Pesticide Workers. Annals of Occupational Hygiene. 48(8):383-95.

Recent Presentations/Posters

Triclosan and Triclocarban Levels in Urine and Cord Blood of Mother/Neonate Pairs. Poster presentation at NIEHS Superfund Basic Research Program: Innovative Science and Technology for Mitigating Human, Ecological and Environmental Risks, Pacific Grove, CA. December 7-9, 2008.

Assessment of Mercury Levels in Mother/Neonate Pairs in Brooklyn, Oral presentation in the Understanding and Assessing Hazardous Exposures session, 136th APHA Annual Meeting & Exposition, October 25-29, 2008, in San Diego, CA.

Survey Assessment of Worker Dermal Exposure and Underlying Behavioral Determinants. Occupational and Environmental Exposure of Skin to Chemicals Conference at the Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado. June 17-20, 2007.