Molly Kile

Academic interests

I am an environmental epidemiologist focused on understanding the health impacts related to early life exposure to chemical contaminants. I am also interested in identifying social and host factors (e.g. genetics, epigenetics, and microbiome) that can mediate these exposure-response relationships. A large portion of my research involves biomonitoring to assess personal exposure to chemical contaminants at different life stages. In addition to conducting studies that inform risk assessment and environmental policy, I also engage in community-based health research that engages communities in environmental health research in order to identify control measures that are acceptable to the impacted community. Currently, I am working on a prospective birth cohort in Bangladesh examining the effect of early life exposure to metals on children’s health outcomes including reproductive health outcomes, immunological functioning, and neurocognitive behavior. I am also working with Native American Tribes to investigate air quality and chemical contamination in First Foods. I am helping to develop a new study in Oregon that will investigate the association between flame retardant chemical exposure and children’s neurocognitive and behavioral outcomes. Finally, I am helping to develop and assess well water safety programming that will motivate homeowners to mitigate environmental hazards detected in their home’s well water.

Biography

Dr Molly Kile received her doctorate from Harvard School of Public Health in Environmental Health. She continued her postdoctoral training at Harvard in molecular epidemiology

Spotlight

NIH 2022 Grantee Highlight

Molly Kile, Sc.D. – Conducting Community Participatory Research Across Continents

Molly Kile, Sc.D., resolutely uncovers threats to populations most vulnerable from environmental exposures, including children and families living in areas with limited resources.

An environmental epidemiologist at Oregon State University (OSU), Kile works with communities in rural, low-resource, and primarily minority regions in the U.S. and abroad to understand and address their needs.

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Research Highlight:

Molly is the Principle Investigator of two NIEHS-funded research projects “Developmental exposure to arsenic and immune function in children”  which is actively following up children in Bangladesh to:

  • Determine the relationship between prenatal arsenic exposure and infectious diseases morbidity,
  • Determine the relationship between prenatal arsenic exposure and development of humoral immunity against human pathogens, and
  • Explore the association between prenatal arsenic and changes in immune profiles in peripheral leukocytes in paired cord-infant blood samples.

She is also the director of the Community Engagement Core of OSU’s Superfund Research Center. In this role, she works with Native American Tribes in the Pacific Northwest to investigate their concerns about environmental pollution.

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