Faculty

Catherine Karr

Adjunct Professor, Epidemiology
Professor, Pediatrics - General Pediatrics
Professor, Env. and Occ. Health Sciences
Director of the Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit, Env. and Occ. Health Sciences

206-616-4355

Education

PhD Epidemiology, University of Washington, 2004
MD Medicine, University of Washington, 1999
MS Toxicology, University of Washington, 1989

Contact

206-616-4355

UW DEOHS, 4225 Roosevelt Way NE, Suite 301
Seattle, WA 98105

Bio

Catherine Karr MD PhD (she/her) is an environmental epidemiologist and pediatric environmental medicine specialist. She has a primary appointment in the University of Washington Department of Pediatrics, Joint in Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences, and Adjunct in Epidemiology. Her studies focus largely on low resourced communities in the U.S. as well as other low and middle income nations (Kenya). Her work represents methods comprising merging of large datasets on environmental factors and pediatric health outcomes as well as small in depth research using community engaged research practice. Indoor and outdoor air pollution, lead and pesticide exposures are focus areas of her expertise. She also maintains a general pediatric practice at the UW Pediatric Clinic at Roosevelt and directs a UW based regional outreach and consultation service, the NW Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit (PEHSU).

Research Areas

Research Interests

Clean Air, Clean Water, Sustainable Communities, Agricultural health and safety, Chemical hazards, Children's Health, Community-engaged Research, Environmental Health, Environmental Justice, Pesticides, Pollution, Wildfires

DEOHS Biography

Recent Publications (PubMed)

Exposure to Organophosphate Ester Flame Retardants and Plasticizers during Pregnancy and Autism-Related Outcomes in the ECHO Cohort.
(2026 Aug 4)
Environ Health Perspect 134(4): 423-437
Ames JL, Ferrara A, Feng J, Alexeeff S, Avalos LA, Barrett ES, Bastain TM, Bennett DH, Buckley JP, Carignan CC, Cintora P, Ghassabian A, Hedderson MM, Hernandez-Castro I, Kannan K, Karagas MR, Karr CJ, Kuiper JR, Liang D, Lyall K, McEvoy CT, Morello-Frosch R, O'Connor TG, Oh J, Peterson AK, Quiros-Alcala L, Sathyanarayana S, Schantz S, Schmidt RJ, Starling AP, Woodruff TJ, Volk HE, Zhu Y, Croen LA, ECHO Cohort Consortium
Air Pollution Exposure in Infancy and Incidence of Atopic Dermatitis in Preschool-Aged Children.
(2026 Jul 29)
Epidemiology
Racciatti M, Dearborn LC, Casey JA, Szpiro AA, Carroll KN, Kaufman JD, LeWinn KZ, Zhao Q, Derefinko K, Sathyanarayana S, Karr CJ, Loftus CT
Prenatal Air Pollution Exposure and Autism Spectrum Disorder in the ECHO Consortium.
(2026 Jul 7)
Environ Health Perspect 134(3): 324-334
Ghassabian A, Dickerson AS, Wang Y, Braun JM, Bennett DH, Croen LA, LeWinn KZ, Burris HH, Habre R, Lyall K, Frazier JA, Glass HC, Hooper SR, Joseph RM, Karr CJ, Schmidt RJ, Friedman C, Karagas MR, Stroustrup A, Straughen JK, Dunlop AL, Ganiban JM, Leve LD, Wright RJ, McEvoy CT, Hipwell AE, Giardino AP, Santos HP Jr, Krause H, Oken E, Camargo CA Jr, Oh J, Loftus C, O'Shea TM, O'Connor TG, Szpiro A, Volk HE
Gestational Exposure to 10 Classes of Priority Chemicals and Birth Outcomes in the ECHO Cohort.
(2026 Jun 1)
JAMA Netw Open 9(6): e2618883
Buckley JP, Pacyga DC, Xun X, Barr DB, Barrett ES, Bastain T, Bennett DH, Braun JM, Breton CV, Carignan C, Croen LA, Dunlop AL, Farzan SF, Ferrara A, Gilliland FD, Herbstman JB, Karagas MR, Karr CJ, Kuiper JR, Meeker JD, Miller RL, Morello-Frosch R, O'Connor TG, Oh J, Perera FP, Porucznik CA, Romano ME, Sathyanarayana S, Schantz SL, Schmidt RJ, Sherris AR, Trasande L, Volk H, Watkins DJ, Zhao Q, Zhu Y, Li Z, Pellizzari E, Kannan K, Woodruff TJ, Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Cohort Consortium
Adapting, piloting, and evaluating a pediatric lead screening and risk-reduction intervention in Nairobi: A hybrid implementation-effectiveness trial protocol.
(2026)
PLoS One 21(6): e0349153
Onoh I, Mugo C, Riederer A, Maleche-Obimbo E, Were FH, Loftus C, Mukumbang F, Lumumba E, Richardson B, Edemba PW, Mutai BC, Karr C, Benki-Nugent S
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