Focus on Faculty With Erin Haynes, DrPH

Erin Haynes, DrPH, spends a lot of time on the road. In addition to commuting to UC from her Clermont County home, she makes frequent trips to eastern Ohio in connection with her research. An assistant professor in the Department of Environmental Health, Haynes is also director of the Community Outreach and Engagement Core within the Center for Environmental Genetics. Here she talks about her research and other interests.

When did you come to UC, and what brought you here?

I grew up in Adams and Brown counties in Ohio, and Cincinnati has always been my hometown city. I was recruited to direct the MS in Clinical and Translational Research training program, but my history with UC goes back to when I was an MS student in the Environmental Genetics and Molecular Toxicology program in the Department of Environmental Health.  After a brief departure to the University of Michigan's School of Public Health, I returned to UC as a postdoctoral fellow in the Molecular Epidemiology in Children's Environmental Health training program.

Tell us about your current research focus and what attracted you to it.

My research focus is exploring the potential impacts of the environment on the health of rural Appalachians in eastern Ohio.  My research hypotheses are based on community environmental health concerns, such as exposure from a ferromanganese refinery, environmental tobacco smoke, lead and waste generated from unconventional natural gas development. 

 What keeps you motivated to do your research?

My motivation is based on providing rural populations with science-based knowledge about exposures and potential health effects from those exposures.  Citizens need to know if their exposures result in harmful health effects or not. 

What keeps you busy in your spare time?

My family!  I have three children (two boys and one girl) ages 12, 9 and 6 who provide me numerous opportunities to enjoy life outside of the office!