Columbia's Dr. Frederica Perera to Receive $250,000 Heinz Award

Awards

Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health

Press Release

PITTSBURGH, April 23, 2015- A tireless champion of children's health whose research has revealed how prenatal and childhood exposures to common environmental toxicants can cause neurodevelopmental problems, cancer and other diseases was today named as a recipient of a prestigious Heinz Award for the Environment. The accolade was announced by the Heinz Family Foundation and includes an unrestricted cash award of $250,000.

Dr. Frederica Perera, DrPH, Ph.D., founder and director of the Columbia (University) Center for Children's Environmental Health (CCCEH) at the Mailman School of Public Health , is being recognized for pioneering the field of molecular epidemiology and for her decades-long research to illuminate the health consequences children suffer from prenatal and childhood exposures to hazardous chemicals, for the benefit of parents, health professionals and policymakers.

She is one of six winners of the 20 th Heinz Awards. The accolades honor the memory of the late U.S. Senator John Heinz by recognizing those who have made outstanding contributions in one of five critically important categories: Arts and Humanities; Environment; Human Condition; Public Policy; and Technology, the Economy and Employment.

Dr. Perera's team at CCCEH is renowned for its Mothers and Newborns Study, which tracks a large group of children in the United States, specifically in New York City, from womb through adolescence, and for its parallel studies in Poland and China. The research examines how environmental toxicants invade young bodies, causing changes at the molecular level that have been linked to cancer, asthma and neurobehavioral problems such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

About the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health

The Center strives to create a world in which every child has a healthy start. Grounding our work in extensive research and close partnerships with community organizations, we are ambassadors of preventive measures to protect children from environmental threats.

Founded in 1998, the Center, led by Dr. Frederica Perera, is conducting prospective research studies of pregnant women and their children in the United States, Europe, and Asia. We study the health effects of early life exposures to common environmental toxicants. The results of our work provide evidence in support of measures to protect children's environmental health, with potential to yield long-term benefits for future generations.

Communications Contact: Kimberly Burke, Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health, 212-304-7284, krb2160@columbia.edu.

Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health

Frederica P. Perera, DrPH

Professor of Public Health

Director, Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health

Department of Environmental Health Sciences

Mailman School of Public Health

Columbia University

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