Ruthann Rudel

Rudel’s research has been conducted in collaboration with co-investigators at Harvard University, Brown University, Tufts University, University of California, Berkeley, University of Florida, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. She has an appointment as a Research Associate in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Brown and is currently serving on the US EPA’s Scientific Advisory Committee on Chemicals for TSCA.

Rudel leads the Silent Spring Institute’s exposure and toxicology research programs focusing on endocrine active chemicals and on mechanisms by which chemicals may influence breast cancer risk. Her work in toxicology includes a review of early life exposure to chemicals that alter mammary gland development and implications for testing protocols and risk assessment, published in Environmental Health Perspectives. She also directed a major review of animal mammary gland carcinogens—published in Cancer in 2007—that compiled existing research on these carcinogens, reviewed key issues in study design and animal models, and synthesized information on exposure opportunities. Building on these findings, her 2014 review in Environmental Health Perspectives identifies methods for detecting metabolites of 100 prevalent mammary carcinogens, for use in biomonitoring and in breast cancer cohort studies. She has published on toxicology and risk assessment for metals, indoor air pollutants, and endocrine disruptors.

Rudel earned her B.A. in chemistry and neuroscience from Oberlin College, and an M.S. in environmental management and policy from Tufts.