Judy S. LaKind

Judy S. LaKind, PhD is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and President of LaKind Associates, LLC. She also holds a courtesy fellowship with the Department of Applied Mathematics and Statistics at Johns Hopkins University. With expertise spanning exposure science, biomonitoring, and risk assessment, Dr. LaKind has established herself as a leading figure in environmental health research and practice.

Dr. LaKind earned her PhD in Geography and Environmental Engineering from Johns Hopkins University (1988), an MS in Geology from the University of Wisconsin, Madison (1984), and a BA in Earth and Planetary Sciences from Johns Hopkins University (1982). Her educational background provides a strong foundation for her interdisciplinary work at the intersection of environmental science and public health.

Her research focuses on exposure science, biomonitoring, systematic reviews, and risk assessment, with particular emphasis on children's exposures to environmental chemicals, uncertainty in risk assessment processes, chemical use risk-benefit analyses, environmental chemicals in human milk, and time-dependence of exposure. She has pioneered methods for translating exposure data into meaningful risk assessments and has developed frameworks like the Matrix for bridging epidemiology and risk assessment gaps.

Dr. LaKind's recent publications reveal a strong focus on PFAS contamination in breast milk and infant formula, biomonitoring methodologies, NHANES data interpretation, and the evolving relationship between epidemiological findings and regulatory risk assessment. Her work consistently addresses critical gaps in understanding how environmental chemicals affect vulnerable populations, particularly infants and children.

Among her notable recognitions, Dr. LaKind served as President of the International Society of Exposure Science. She currently serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, the Journal of Environmental Exposure Assessment, and Environment International, where she also serves as a Special Issues editor.

Dr. LaKind has advised numerous research projects through her leadership roles and editorial positions. She has developed and managed scientific workshops, contributed to systematic review methodologies, and provided expert guidance on exposure science applications in regulatory contexts. Her work with LaKind Associates, LLC focuses on assessment of exposure data in epidemiology studies, critical evaluation of environmental chemical science, and evaluation of biomonitoring data databases like NHANES.

As President of LaKind Associates, LLC, she leads a human health risk science firm specializing in exposure science and evaluation of scientific data for regulatory decision-making. Her firm has developed innovative approaches including the Biomarker Reliability Assessment Tool (BRAT) and contributed to the development of the HB2GV Dashboard for interpreting biomonitoring data.