Alexa F
- Research Program Mentor
PhD at Boston University
Expertise
Projects understanding the impact of chemicals on health and projects in the following topic areas: Public Health, Environmental Health, Epidemiology, Pubic Health, Biostatistics, Clean Chemistry, Maternal and Child health
Bio
My research expertise is at the intersection of public health, maternal and child health, and environmental health. My work is intended to drive awareness and change to reduce exposures to harmful chemicals and improve human health. I have years of experience in writing research proposals and analysis plans, writing and executing code to run statistics and build data visualizations, and conducting literature reviews. My undergraduate degree was a self-designed major at UConn where I combined the studies of physiology and human development to study the intersection of how our bodies interact with our environment. I conducted my undergraduate thesis on understanding infection response in fruit flies. In graduate school, I completed my PhD in Environmental Health, studying the impact of metal exposure on children's development. I have also worked on other projects, including estimating the exposure to noise in communities in Boston, understanding the impacts of military deployment on later life health effects, and quantifying the impact of personal care products on birth. In my free time, I am an avid reader and am learning to crochet.Project ideas
What chemicals are lurking in our clothing?
Clothing and textile products often contain potentially hazardous chemicals ,but this is generally an understudied topic. Many certifications exist that try to promote that products are made safely, but what does it all mean? A student could conduct a review to synthesize the available information about chemicals in clothing and present findings in a research blog post or write a paper they submit to a publication.
Do doulas improve the birth experience?
Doulas are trained professional who provides physical and emotional support to a birthing parent before, during and after birth. Many studies and people say that doulas have a huge impact on positive birth outcomes. But what are those benefits? A possible project would be looking into research that have studied the positive impacts of doulas on care. If the student is interested, this project could also have a policy aspect and the student could research how does maternal or doula care differ by state.