Headshot

Elaine Faustman, PhD

Professor
Email: faustman@uw.edu
Office: 208, Roosevelt One Building
Expertise: Clean Water, Safe Food, Sustainable Communities, Chemical hazards, Children's Health, Environmental Health, Health Equity, One Health, Risk Assessment, Toxicology

About

Dr. Elaine Faustman is a toxicologist and Professor in the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences and Director of the Institute for Risk Analysis and Risk Communication (IRARC).

She is also the Risk Analysis and Communication Resource Hub Lead for STOP Spillover, a USAID-funded project bringing together experts in human, animal and environmental health to understand and address risks posed by zoonotic viruses with the potential to spill over and affect humans. 

Dr. Faustman received the 2019 Merit Award from the International Union of Toxicology for her intellectual contributions to the field and a career dedicated to mentoring scientists around the world. She also was elected in 2019 to the Washington State Academy of Sciences, recognizing her work on risk assessment of chemical hazards and her contributions in neurodevelopmental toxicology. 

Education

  • PhD, Michigan State University
  • BA, Hope College (Michigan)

Affiliations

Adjunct Professor, Evans School

Mentorship

Available to mentor new master's and PhD students in autumn 2025. Please follow the instructions on the How To Apply page.

DEOHS Students Mentored

Sex-Specific Disruption of the Gut-Liver-Brain Axis: Developmental Programming and Behavioral Outcomes Following PCB Exposure
Youjun Park Suh | PhD | 2025 | View

Investigating Agricultural Exposures, Inflammation, and Child Respiratory Health in the Lower Yakima Valley of Washington
Hannah Cutler Dye | MS Thesis | 2025 | View

Investigating spermatogonial dynamics in vitro: Insights for reproductive and developmental toxicology
Brad Hansen | PhD | 2025 | View

Next Generation Risk Assessment of Phthalates: Integrating New Approach Methods and Exposomic Approaches using a Washington State Agricultural Community Cohort Study
Amy Leang | PhD | 2024 | View

A Risk Assessment of Coastal Nanoplastic Particles: Enzymatic Pre-Treatment and Analytical Approaches at the Nanoscale
Thomas Dugan | MS Thesis | 2023 | View

Additional Information

STOP Spillover project

Media Mentions

Pesticides and health in Washington’s fruit basket
| DEOHS HSM Blog | Featured: Elaine M. Faustman, Judit Marsillach | View
Our most-read stories of 2025
| DEOHS HSM Blog | Featured: Magali Blanco, Gerard A. Cangelosi, Joan Casey, Peter Rabinowitz, Diana Ceballos, Elaine M. Faustman, Catherine Karr, Esther Min, Judit Marsillach, Edmund Y. W. Seto, Jennifer Otten | View
In Memoriam: Steven Gilbert
| DEOHS HSM Blog | Featured: Elaine M. Faustman, Terrance J. Kavanagh, Gerald van Belle, Thomas M. Burbacher, Rachel Shaffer | View
Understanding children’s asthma in farming communities
| DEOHS HSM Blog | Featured: Judit Marsillach, Elaine M. Faustman | View
When workplace risks don’t end at work
| DEOHS HSM Blog | Featured: Diana Ceballos, Elaine M. Faustman, Judit Marsillach, Edmund Y. W. Seto, Catherine Karr, Esther Min | View
In Memoriam: Sharon Morris, Michael Silverstein, Barbara Silverstein
| DEOHS HSM Blog | Featured: Joel D. Kaufman, David L. Eaton, Nancy Simcox, Michael G. Yost, Janice E. Camp, Lucio G. Costa, Elaine M. Faustman, Catherine Karr | View
New UW research center on children’s environmental health in farming communities launches
| DEOHS HSM Blog | Featured: Elaine M. Faustman, Judit Marsillach, Edmund Y. W. Seto, Esther Min, Catherine Karr | View
Fishing for an autism cure
| DEOHS HSM Blog | Featured: Yijie Geng, Evan Gallagher, Elaine M. Faustman | View
Planning for disaster
| DEOHS HSM Blog | Featured: Nicole Errett, Tania M Busch Isaksen, Elaine M. Faustman, Jeremy J Hess, Joel D. Kaufman, Elizabeth Gribble (Walker), Michael G. Yost | View
Supporting toxic-site cleanup in the Pacific Northwest
| DEOHS HSM Blog | Featured: Elaine M. Faustman, Christopher D. Simpson | View