Beate Ritz

Beate Ritz is a Professor and Vice Chair of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Public Health Department of Epidemiology, with co-appointments in Environmental Health and Neurology. She co-directs the NIEHS-funded UCLA Center for Gene-Environment Studies of Parkinson’s disease and holds affiliations with the Center for Occupational and Environmental Health (COEH) and Southern California Environmental Health Science Center (SCEHSC).

• MD and PhD in Medical Sociology (University of Hamburg, 1983/1987)
• PhD in Epidemiology (UCLA, 1995)
• Research Fellow and Resident at Psychiatric University-Hospital Hamburg (1987-1989)

Her research bridges occupational/environmental toxins (pesticides, radiation, air pollution) and chronic diseases including neurodegenerative disorders, cancers, and pregnancy complications. Recent work uses GIS modeling to assess pesticide and traffic pollution impacts, with focus on gene-environment interactions in Parkinson’s disease. She directs NIH/DOD funded studies and implemented California's first Parkinson’s disease registry under new legislation.

Key article themes include air pollution's neurodevelopmental impacts (autism, cerebral palsy), epigenetic effects of pollutants, and agricultural pesticide risks. Her 2025 publications address multigenerational exposure effects and metabolic disruptions in neurodegenerative diseases.

• 2006: Robert M Zweig Memorial Award for air quality research

She collaborates with interdisciplinary teams including Michael J Fox Foundation and California Air Resources Board, focusing on exposure assessment, biomarker discovery, and policy translation through environmental epidemiology.