Departmental Affiliations
Center & Institute Affiliations
Megan Latshaw, PhD ’05, MHS ’01, translates environmental health science to policy and practice, with a focus on designing communities where the healthy choice is the easy choice.
Contact Info
Experiences & Accomplishments
Megan Latshaw works to improve health through changes in our environment. Her efforts focus on making science useful for:
• Lawmakers
• Those working in public health or environmental agencies
• The public
Examples of Dr. Latshaw’s efforts include creating the State Environmental Health Directors group, and providing a vision and groundwork for the National Biomonitoring Network. Current efforts focus on designing healthy communities, studying the impact of transit policies on health, and improving environmental health surveillance.
With a doctorate in Environmental Health Sciences from Johns Hopkins, she recently rejoined their faculty after working for more than a decade in the non-profit world. Following Michael Bloomberg’s recent $300 million gift to transform American health, Dr. Latshaw was asked to serve the co-lead for the Environmental Challenges focus area. She also serves as Director of the two Master’s Degree Programs, co-director of a third, and teaches at both the undergraduate & graduate levels. Her massive open online course on Chemicals & Health has enrolled over 35,000 students from all over the world.
Currently the Immediate Past Chair of the American Public Health Association’s Intersectional Council, she also served as a Past Executive Board member, Past Chair of the Environment Section, and a former Governing Councilor at APHA. she has participated on more than a dozen committees, presented at almost two dozen meetings and co-authored seven peer-reviewed articles (the first of which was published in JAMA).
Prior to Hopkins, Megan worked to strengthen environmental and public health laboratories as the Environmental Health Director at the Association of Public Health Laboratories. Her team focused on creating a national biomonitoring system, testing for agents of chemical terrorism, and building a home base for environmental laboratories. Before that, Megan served as the Senior Director for Environmental Health Policy at the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.
Select Publications
Spending a good deal of my career in the non-profit arena, most of my publications have been in the gray literature.
Latshaw MW, Degeberg R, Patel SS, Rhodes B, King E, Chaudhuri S, Nassif J. Advancing Environmental Health Surveillance in the US Through a National Human Biomonitoring Network. Int J Hyg Environ Health. 2016 Sep 17.
Latshaw MW, Mangal C, Barkey A, McNamara D, Kim D, Pierson JB. Public Health Laboratories and Radiological Readiness. Disaster Med Public Health Prep. 2011;5 213-217.
Latshaw, MW. Green Report: What Your Environmental Laboratory Can Do for You. Environmental Council of the States: May 2011. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/304538005_What_Your_Environmental_Laboratory_Can_Do_For_You
Latshaw, MW and B Schwartz. Lead. The Encyclopedia of Quantitative Risk Assessment. John Wiley & Sons. September 2008.
Weil M, Bressler J, Parsons P, Bolla K, Glass T, Schwartz B. Blood mercury levels and neurobehavioral function. JAMA. 2005;293:1875-1882.