Dr. Spector is a physician-scientist with a focus on the prevention and management of adverse health outcomes related to heat exposure in working populations.
Dr. Spector received her MD from Yale University School of Medicine in 2005 and completed her Internal Medicine residency training at Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in 2008. Following an MPH in biostatistics and epidemiology at Johns Hopkins and occupational & environmental medicine fellowship training and postdoctoral research training at the University of Washington, Dr. Spector joined the faculty in the Departments of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences and Medicine in 2012. She is the current Director of Occupational & Environmental Medicine at the University of Washington.
Health effects of exposure to hot conditions in working populations. Preventing adverse heat health effects and improving biological adaptation to heat.
Not available to mentor new PhD and Master's students.
Heat exposure, injury risk, and productivity in agricultural workers (CDC/NIOSH K01)
This project examines the association between heat exposure and traumatic injury risk in agricultural workers, assesses a potential mechanism for increased injury risk in crop workers exposed to heat stress and its relation to productivity, and examines the feasibility of using a biomarker of heat acclimation to detect workers at risk for heat-related illness (HRI) and injury. The project will: 1) estimate the association between heat exposure and injury risk in agricultural workers using established climate models and WA workers` compensation data; 2) estimate associations between heat stress, psychomotor performance, and productivity in adult outdoor crop workers in field harvest conditions; 3) assess the feasibility of using urinary 8-hydroxy-2`-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) as a biomarker of heat acclimation in field conditions; and 4) disseminate findings to the agricultural community and industry.
Characterization of potential heat-related illness risk factors and heat-associated injury risk in construction workers (DEOHS MA/AF Initiative)
This work aims to identify potential heat-related illness (HRI) risk factors in construction workers, using an existing HRI risk factors survey adapted to the construction industry, and to assess the relationship between heat stress and injury risk through measurement of heat stress and psychomotor performance in a sample of construction workers in the greater Seattle area. The results of this project are anticipated to provide valuable information about potential modifiable risk factors for HRI and its consequences that can ultimately be used to target prevention efforts.
ENV_H550 (Occupational & Environmental Disease), ENV_H 597 (Case Studies in Environmental and Occupational Health), ENV_H 596 (Current Issues in Occupational and Environmental Medicine)
