Kimberly Gray (EPI ‘98), told Pitt Public Health students she once sat where they are now — worried about exams, defending her dissertation and what job opportunity might come next.
Now, the Pitt epidemiology alumna leads national research programs at the Population Health Branch of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), part of the National Institutes of Health, and returned to campus April 2 to speak at the Department of Epidemiology Spring Seminar on translating science into action.
In her lecture titled, “From Research to Results: Leading Public Health Initiatives for Children,” Gray said that scientists must communicate findings beyond academia.
“We have to move science out of the lab, out of our data sets, out of our papers and into public health and clinical practice,” she said.
During the event, Gray also received a pin from Pitt Public Health dean Maureen Lichtveld, MD, MPH, recognizing her ties to the school and her leadership in environmental health research.
“It’s really good to be back,” Gray said. “I’m amazed at how the school has grown and am really encouraged by all the young, new investigators.”
Gray earned her doctorate in epidemiology from Pitt and now develops and manages major NIH-funded initiatives, including the NIEHS Collaborative Centers in Children’s Environmental Health Research and Translation and the Maintaining and Enriching Resource Infrastructure for Existing Environmental Epidemiology Cohorts program.
Her work focuses on understanding how environmental exposures — such as chemicals in air, water and consumer products — affect children’s health.
She also co-leads the President’s Task Force on Children’s Environmental Health and Safety subcommittee on chemical exposures and serves as the NIEHS liaison to the American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Environment and Climate.
When reflecting on her career path, Gray said while Pitt provided the foundation of public health training, her experiences after graduation shaped the application.
“This school gave me the ‘what’ of public health, but my experience afterwards taught me the ‘how,’” she said.
“Stay curious, stay collaborative, and keep pushing for science to save lives,” she added, concluding her lecture.
-Ava Dzurenda
