Frederica P. Perera MPH, DrPH, PhD

Frederica P. Perera is a professor of Environmental Health Sciences and founder of the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health where she served as director from 1998- 2019. She now leads the Center's Program in Translational Research. Dr. Perera is internationally recognized for pioneering the field of molecular epidemiology, utilizing biomarkers to understand links between environmental exposures and disease. 

Frederica and her colleagues have applied advanced molecular and imaging techniques within longitudinal cohort studies of pregnant women and their children, with the goal of identifying preventable environmental risk factors for adverse birth outcomes, developmental and behavioral disorders, asthma, obesity, and other diseases in children. The exposures studied include toxic chemicals, pesticides, and air pollution, with a particular focus on the adverse effects of prenatal and early childhood exposures. Her current research addresses the multiple impacts on children's health and the development of climate change and air pollution due to fossil fuel emissions and the health and economic benefits of policies to reduce those emissions. She is the author of over 400 publications, including 350 peer-reviewed articles, and has received numerous honors.