We’re global leaders in environmental health sciences research who aim to make a difference in the well-being of California’s diverse communities. We work with local groups and governments to identify new approaches in science and develop real-world solutions to the environment’s most challenging health problems. From innovative toxicological studies on Alzheimer’s to pioneering research on the epigenetics of autism, we’re front and center breaking new ground in understanding how the environment interacts with human health.

Pamela Lein, PhD is a neurotoxicologist and developmental neurobiologist who studies the interaction between genes and environment that can lead to a variety of complex disorders from asthma to autism and Alzheimer’s.

Dr. Lein’s work focuses on the way environmental stressors like pesticides and near-roadway exposures—which include car exhaust and particles from tire wear and tear—can both change the structure of nerve cells and disrupt how they communicate with each other and with other tissues throughout the body.