Irva Hertz-Picciotto

Irva Hertz-Picciotto (born 1948) is an environmental epidemiologist best known for her studies of autism. She is Professor and Chief of the Division of Environmental and Occupational Health in the Department of Public Health Sciences, at the University of California, Davis (UC-Davis). In addition, she is on the Research Faculty of the MIND (Medical Investigation of Neurodevelopmental Disorders) Institute at UC-Davis; the Deputy Director of the UC-Davis Center for Children's Environmental Health; and on the faculty of the Center for Occupational and Environmental Health of the Universities of California at Berkeley, Davis, and San Francisco. Hertz-Picciotto serves on the advisory board of the anti-toxic chemical NGO Healthy Child, Healthy World.

Biography Hertz-Picciotto received four degrees from the University of California at Berkeley: a B.A. in Mathematics in 1970, an M.P.H. in Epidemiology in 1984, a M.A. in Biostatistics in 1985, and a Ph.D. in Epidemiology in 1989. She was on the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for 12 years before joining UC-Davis.

She has published over 170 scientific articles, including: In 2009, Hertz-Picciotto and Delwiche analyzed data on autism in California and concluded that "younger ages at diagnosis, differential migration, changes in diagnostic criteria, and inclusion of milder cases do not fully explain the observed increases." After publication of the article, she was quoted as saying that "It’s time to start looking for the environmental culprits responsible for the remarkable increase in the rate of autism in California." She was the senior author of a 2010 study that detected autism "clusters" in California associated with high levels of education among the children's parents. She was the senior author of another 2010 study using California data that showed that maternal age is associated with a higher risk of autism "regardless of the paternal age."

Selected research projects

Current research projects for which Hertz-Picciotto is principal investigator include: Childhood Autism Risks from Genetics and the Environment (CHARGE), a study begun in 2003. Markers of Autism Risk in Babies-Learning Early Signs (MARBLES), a study begun in 2006. It investigates biological and environmental exposures that may contribute to causing autism by following pregnant women who have a biological child with autism spectrum disorder.

Hertz-Picciotto also collaborates on the following studies, among others: National Children's Study to examine environmental influences on health and development, for which federal funding for the UC-Davis site was announced in 2007. Early Autism Risk Longitudinal Investigation (EARLI), a prospective study involving four sites that was launched in 2009 to elucidate risk factors and markers for autism spectrum disorder.

Selected awards, recognition, and service Abraham Lilienfeld Student Prize Paper, Society for Epidemiologic Research, 1988 Delta Omega Honorary Society in Public Health, inducted in 1998 Chair, Committee to Review the Health Effects in Vietnam Veterans of Exposure to Herbicides, Institute of Medicine, 2000 McGavran Award for Excellence in Teaching, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2001 Lifetime National Associate of the National Academies, National Academy of Sciences and National Research Council, 2002 President, International Society for Environmental Epidemiology, 2002−2003 President, Society for Epidemiologic Research, 2006 Chair, Committee on Breast Cancer and the Environment: The Scientific Evidence, Research Methodology, and Future Directions, Institute of Medicine, 2010- Editorial Board, Environmental Health Editorial Board, Epidemiologic Perspectives & Innovations Research Screening Committee, California Air Resources Board

Selected publications