Joseph Braun, PhD
RGSS Assistant Professor of Public Health

Assistant Professor of Epidemiology

Brown University

 

The fetus, infant, and child may be more sensitive to environmental toxicant exposures than adults because of their immature detoxification pathways, increased sensitivity to environmental inputs, and rapid growth and development. Using a prospective pregnancy and birth cohort of 389 mothers and their children from Cincinnati, OH to examine the relationship between child health and early life exposure to numerous environmental chemicals, Dr Braun will present results describing the patterns and predictors of early life exposure to triclosan and perfluoroalkyl substances, as well as association of these exposures with fetal growth, adiposity, cognition, and biological intermediates that may underlie these associations. Dr. Braun will conclude by discussing research that could link the seemingly unrelated phenotypes of adiposity and neurodevelopment in an effort to understand how environmental chemicals may affect both of these outcomes.  

Dr. Braun is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Epidemiology in the School of Public Health. He was formerly a school nurse in Milwaukee, WI before going on to receive his master's and doctoral degrees in Epidemiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Braun is interested in studying the patterns, determinants, and health consequences of early life environmental chemical exposures in pregnant women, infants, and children.  He has a special interest in studying obesity and neurodevelopmental disorders like ADHD and autism. He is also interested in identifying modifiable sources of environmental chemical exposures in pregnant women and children.