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photo of Lori Hoepner

Lori Hoepner, DrPH, MPH

Assistant Professor
Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences

Academic Qualifications:
  • DrPH: Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health
  • MPH: Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine
Background and Expertise:

Dr. Hoepner received her DrPH in Environmental Health Sciences from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health (2015), her MPH in Maternal and Child Health from Tulane University School of Public Health (1995), and her BA in Biology from Barnard College (1994). With over 50 co-authored publications, her research is primarily at the intersection of environmental effects and prenatal/early childhood development. In 2015, Dr. Hoepner received Columbia University’s I. Bernard Weinstein Award for Academic Excellence in Environmental Health Sciences for the DrPH. Her doctoral dissertation focused on the ubiquitous plasticizer bisphenol A (BPA): both its effects on a) adipogenesis in human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells in a laboratory setting and b) childhood obesity in an urban minority birth cohort using a molecular epidemiological study design. She has extensive research experience in exposures including BPA, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), phthalates, and pesticides, as well as the outcomes of asthma, neurodevelopment, and obesity. Her research efforts have included studies of the World Trade Center tragedy and HIV/AIDS behavioral research. In addition, Dr. Hoepner has over 20 years of organizational and analytical data management expertise involving complex health assessment and public health research datasets. With her background in health disparities research, Dr. Hoepner has the goal of understanding the intricacies of race/ethnicity, sex and socioeconomics as they pertain to environmental health from a global perspective, as well as from a community-wide perspective.

Awards:
  • 2015 – Columbia University’s I. Bernard Weinstein Award for Academic Excellence in Environmental Health Sciences for the DrPH
  • 2012 – American Thoracic Society’s David V. Bates Award for Promising Investigation in the Field of Environmental and Occupational Health: Lovasi GS, O’Neil-Dunne J, Lu JWT, Sheehan D, Perzanowski M, MacFaden S, King KL, Matte T, Miller R, Hoepner L, Perera F, Rundle A. Urban Tree Canopy and Development of Asthma, Wheeze, Rhinitis, and Allergic Sensitization to Tree Pollen in a Birth Cohort Study. Presented at the 2012 Conference of the American Thoracic Society, San Francisco, California. May 2012.
  • 2012 – Environmental Health Perspectives Paper of the Year: Rauh, V, Arunajadai S, Horton M, Perera F, Hoepner L, Barr DB, Whyatt R. 7-Year neurodevelopmental scores and prenatal exposure to chlorpyrifos, a common agricultural pesticide. Environmental Health Perspectives, 2011, 119(8):1196-1201
Research Interests:

Community-based environmental health, particularly with the goal of improving exposures and health outcomes in low income and/or minority populations with chronic illness.

The potential global role of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in the Anthropocene.

The emerging trend of digital social entrepreneurship as it relates to citizen science.

Harmonization and management of data for use in large scale environmental health and birth cohort research databases. In particular, the use of such data for pooled analyses.

Other research interests include health effects in relation to microbead water pollution, hydraulic fracturing, urban gardening, and urban sanitation efforts.

Full Publication List on Pubmed

  • Hoepner LA. Bisphenol a: A narrative review of prenatal exposure effects on adipogenesis and childhood obesity via peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma. Environ Res, 2019, 173: 54-68. Link »
  • Hoepner LA, Whyatt RM, Widen EM, Hassoun A, Oberfield SE, Mueller NT, Diaz D, Calafat AM, Perera FP, Rundle AG. Bisphenol A and adiposity in an inner-city birth cohort. Environ Health Perspect, 2016, 124:1644–1650. Link ».
  • Engel SM, Bradman A, Wolff MS, Rauh VA, Harley KG, Yang JH, Hoepner LA, Barr DB, Yolton K, Vedar MG, Xu Y, Hornung RW, Wetmur JG, Chen J, Holland NT, Perera FP, Whyatt RM, Lanphear BP, Eskenazi B. Prenatal organophosphorous pesticide exposure and child neurodevelopment at 24 months: an analysis of four birth cohorts. Environ Health Perspect, 2015, http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1409474
  • Maresca MM, Hoepner LA, Hassoun A, Oberfield SE, Mooney SJ, Calafat AM, Ramirez J, Freyer G, Perera FP, Whyatt RM, Rundle AG. Prenatal exposure to phthalates and childhood body size in an urban cohort. Environ Health Perspect, 2015, http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1408750.
  • Widen E, Whyatt R, Hoepner L, Mueller N, Ramirez-Carvey J, Oberfield S, Hassoun A, Perera F, Gallagher D, Rundle A. Gestational weight gain and obesity, adiposity and body size in African American and Dominican children in the Bronx and Northern Manhattan. Maternal and Child Nutrition, 2015; doi: 10.1111/mcn.12174.
  • Mueller N, Whyatt R, Hoepner L, Oberfield S, Dominguez-Bello M, Hassoun A, Widen E, Perera F, Rundle A. Prenatal exposure to antibiotics, cesarean section, and risk of childhood obesity. International Journal of Obesity, 2014, doi: 10.1038/ijo.2014.180.
  • Hoepner LA, Whyatt RM, Just AC, Calafat AM, Perera FP, Rundle AG. Urinary Concentrations of Bisphenol A in an Urban Minority Birth Cohort in New York City, Prenatal Through Age 7 Years. Environmental Research, 2013, 122:38-44.
  • Donohue KM, Miller RL, Perzanowski MS, Just AC, Hoepner LA, Arunajadai S, Canfield S, Resnick D, Sheares BJ, Calafat A, Perera FP, Whyatt RM. Prenatal and Postnatal Bisphenol-A Exposure and Asthma Development among Inner-city Children. J Allergy Clin Immunol, 2013, 131(3):736-742.e6.
  • Rundle A, Hoepner L, Hassoun A, Oberfield S, Freyer G, Holmes D, Reyes M, Quinn J, Camann D, Perera F, Whyatt R. Association of Childhood Obesity With Maternal Exposure to Ambient Air Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons During Pregnancy. American Journal of Epidemiology, 2012, 175(11):1163-1172.
  • Rauh, V, Arunajadai S, Horton M, Perera F, Hoepner L, Barr DB, Whyatt R. 7-Year neurodevelopmental scores and prenatal exposure to chlorpyrifos, a common agricultural pesticide. Environmental Health Perspectives, 2011, 119(8):1196-1201.
  • Rosa MJ, Divjan A, Hoepner L, Sheares BJ, Diaz D, Gauvey-Kern K, Perera FP, Miller RL, Perzanowski MS. Fractional exhaled nitric oxide exchange parameters among 9-year-old inner-city children. Pediatric Pulmonology, 2011, 46(1):83-91.
  • Patel MM, Hoepner L, Garfinkel R, Chillrud S, Reyes A, Perera F, Miller RL. Ambient metals and elemental carbon in fine particulate matter predict wheeze and cough in very young urban children, American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 2009, 180:1107-1113.
  • Whyatt RM, Garfinkel R, Hoepner LA, Andrews H, Holmes D, Williams MK, Reyes A, Diaz D, Perera FP, Camann DE, Barr DB. A Biomarker Validation Study of Prenatal Chlorpyrifos Exposure within an Inner-City Cohort during Pregnancy. Environmental Health Perspectives, 2009, 117(4):559–567.
  • Perera FP, Li Z, Whyatt R, Hoepner L, Wang S, Camann D, Rauh V. Prenatal Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Exposure and Child IQ at Age 5. Pediatrics, 2009; 124(2):e195-e202.
  • Narvaez RF, Hoepner L, Chillrud SN, Yan B, Garfinkel R, Whyatt R, Camann D, Perera FP, Kinney PL, Miller RL. Spatial and Temporal Trends of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Other Traffic-Related Airborne Pollutants in New York City. Environmental Science & Technology, 2008, 42(19):7330-5.
  • Whyatt, R, Garfinkel R, Hoepner L, Holmes D, Borjes M, Williams M, Rauh V, Perera F, Camann D. Within- and between- home variability in indoor-air insecticide levels during pregnancy among an inner-city cohort from New York City. Environmental Health Perspectives, March 2007, 115(3):383-389.
Recent Presentations / Posters
  • Hoepner, LA. Environmental Health Awareness Through An Interprofessional Education Lens. Professional Development From a Global Health Perspective Roundtable Presentation at the 2019 Society for Public Health Education Annual Conference. March 2019.
  • Hoepner LA, Whyatt R, Diaz D, Calafat A, Perera FP, Rundle AR. Bisphenol A and Childhood Body Size Outcomes in an Inner-City Cohort. Oral presentation at the 2014 Conference of the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology, Seattle, Washington. August 2014.
  • Hoepner LA, Whyatt R, Diaz D, Calafat A, Perera FP, Rundle AR. Prenatal Bisphenol A and Birth Weight in an Urban Minority Birth Cohort. Presented at the 2013 Joint Conference of the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology & International Society of Exposure Sciences & International Society of Indoor Air Quality, Basel, Switzerland. August 2013.
  • Lovasi GS, O’Neil-Dunne J, Lu JWT, Sheehan D, Perzanowski M, MacFaden S, King KL, Matte T, Miller R, Hoepner L, Perera F, Rundle A. Urban Tree Canopy and Development of Asthma, Wheeze, Rhinitis, and Allergic Sensitization to Tree Pollen in a Birth Cohort Study. Presented at the 2012 Conference of the American Thoracic Society, San Francisco, California. May 2012.

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