Dr. Sweeney named to EPA advisory panel

(COLLEGE STATION, TX) — Anne Sweeney, Ph.D., professor at the Texas A&M Health Science Center School of Rural Public Health, has been appointed to a review panel to advise the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on health risks from dioxin and related compounds.

Dr. Sweeney is also currently serving on a review panel advising the EPA on national air quality standards for carbon monoxide.

“The association between dioxin exposure and a range of adverse health effects in humans has been highly debated over the past several years,” Dr. Sweeney said. “This review marks a significant step forward in assessing the EPA’s draft dioxin reassessment, incorporating the most recent research findings and methods for critically reviewing this important public health issue.”

Dr. Sweeney served as a member of the Institute of Medicine’s Gulf War and Health Study Committee on the expert panel assessing the health effects of pesticides. She was a member of the Fertility and Early Pregnancy Committee, assigned to the National Longitudinal Cohort Study Planning Committee, sponsored by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the EPA.

Dr. Sweeney served as a member of the EPA Science Advisory Board Environmental Health Committee from 2002-2008. She is currently the principal investigator for the Longitudinal Investigation of Fertility and the Environment (LIFE) study’s Texas site, funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.