Dr. Dietrich is Professor of Environmental Health and Director of the Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Department of Environmental Health. Dr. Dietrich has also served as Associate Director of the Cincinnati Children’s Center for Environmental Health and Disease Prevention at the Children’s Hospital Medical Center of Cincinnati.
Dr. Dietrich has served as a consultant to numerous local, state, national and international agencies and organizations concerned with the impact of environmental chemical exposures on the health and development of young children. These agencies and political entities have included the National Institutes of Health, National Academy of Sciences, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the United States Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, Health and Welfare Canada, the European Economic Community, the Australian Government, the World Health Organization, the United States White House Office of Science and Technology, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Sierra Club, and Environmental Defense Fund. Dr. Dietrich currently serves as a chartered member of the NIH/CSR study section NAME - Neurological, Aging, and Musculoskeletal Epidemiology.
Dr. Dietrich’s research has focused on the developmental effects of prenatal and early postnatal exposure to lead in infants, toddlers, school-age children, adolescents, and young adults. He is presently examining the relationship between early exposure to lead and adult criminality in a longstanding prospective longitudinal birth cohort study. His other studies include an examination of the developmental benefits of chelation therapy with succimer in a multi-center clinical trial and an investigation of the effects of prenatal exposure to prevalent developmental toxicants including lead, manganese, pesticides, mercury, PCBs, tobacco smoke, drugs and alcohol in several birth cohorts. He is also examining the relationship between environmental factors that may determine pathways through puberty in girls as a risk factor for early developmental psychopathology and later pre- and post-menopausal breast cancer.
Dr. Dietrich uses a wide range of neuroassessment tools and biomarkers in his studies. Neurodevelopmental assessments include standardized psychometrics, measures of neuromotor functions, and advanced neuroradiological techniques including volumetric and functional magnetic resonance imaging, magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and diffusion tensor imaging. Biomarkers of environmental exposure have included analyses of a wide range of metals, persistent organic pollutants, and other environmental toxicants in a variety of tissues including blood, bone, meconium, urine, and hair.
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