Dr. Verónica Vieira is an environmental epidemiologist interested in spatial analysis methods and exposure modeling.  She earned a MS in Environmental Engineering from Stanford University and a DSc in Environmental Health from Boston University School of Public Health.  Dr. Vieira has an extensive knowledge of GIS, groundwater modeling, cluster detection methods, and on persistent environmental contaminants including tetrachloroethylene (PCE, a dry-cleaning solvent), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA, a perfluorinated compound (PFC) involved in the manufacturing of Teflon), and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs, a common class of flame retardants).  

As part of a multi-university community health project , Dr. Vieira collaborates on a large historical reconstruction of PFOA exposures among residents of the mid-Ohio valley to study potential health effects.  These communities are located near a large chemical plant that emitted PFOA into the local air and water for several decades.  Components of this work include improving methods for geocoding rural addresses using GIS and examining the relationship between PFOA serum levels and drinking water concentrations.  Dr. Vieira’s work also includes method development for spatial epidemiology such as disease mapping, cluster detection, and space-time interactions.  She is currently a researcher with the Boston University Superfund Research Program and collaborates with researchers at BUSPH and Harvard University to apply disease mapping to various health outcomes including cancer, birth outcomes, and rheumatoid arthritis.