View All Faculty

Primary faculty

Tracy Bastain

Professor

PhD, MPH

Theresa (Tracy) Bastain is an environmental health scientist whose research examines how chemical pollutants and social stressors during and after pregnancy affect maternal and child health. Her work focuses on identifying environmental health disparities and developing strategies to reduce risks for vulnerable populations.

At WashU, she brings expertise in environmental epidemiology and community-based research to advance public health solutions that address cumulative exposures and improve outcomes for mothers and children. Bastain’s funded work continues to follow the Maternal and Developmental Risks from Environmental and Social Stressors (MADRES) Cohort, a study of low-income, predominantly Hispanic communities in Los Angeles. She focuses primarily on the role of prenatal exposures to environmental and psychosocial stressors on mental health outcomes in mothers and neurodevelopmental (cognitive, behavioral, and emotional) outcomes in children.

Before joining WashU, Bastain co-directed the MADRES Center at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine. Through the MADRES Center, Bastain helped build research capacity, mentor emerging scientists, and translate findings into policy and clinical interventions aimed at reducing health inequities.

Areas of Focus:

  • Environmental health disparities
  • Maternal and child health
  • Chemical exposure and environmental impacts
  • Mental health and neurodevelopmental outcomes
  • Community-based research

Featured Publications