Dr. Irva Hertz-Picciotto has led a pioneering program of research on the environmental factors that influence the risk or severity of autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders and has published widely on prenatal exposures to air pollutants, pesticides, maternal metabolic conditions, infections, nutrition, endocrine disrupting chemicals and more. Dr. Hertz-Picciotto is the Director of the NIH-funded UC Davis Environmental Health Sciences Center encompassing faculty from six colleges and schools, with the mission to foster research is advancing our understanding of: environmental causes of disease or disability, the mechanisms through which they operate, and the translation of this knowledge into policies and practices that can reduce exposures or mitigate their impacts on human health. Currently, Dr. Hertz-Picciotto is leading the Task Force to establish the UC Davis Institute on Climate Change and Health.