Julia E. Rager

Julia E. Rager, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering at the University of North Carolina's Gillings School of Global Public Health. Her research focuses on understanding environmental exposures, particularly complex mixtures like wildfire smoke and PFAS, and their health impacts. She leads the Rager Lab, which integrates computational methods, molecular toxicology, and systems biology to evaluate environmental mixtures and translate findings into policy.

Education: PhD in Environmental Sciences and Engineering (UNC Chapel Hill, 2013), MS in Environmental Engineering (UNC Chapel Hill, 2010), BS in Civil and Environmental Engineering (University of Texas, 2008).

Research interests include mixtures modeling, extracellular vesicles as disease mediators, and computational toxicology training. She co-leads initiatives like the TAME toolkit and teaches ENVR 730: Computational Toxicology. Her lab collaborates with the Institute for Environmental Health Solutions and the UNC Superfund Research Program.

Notable awards include the NIEHS Outstanding New Investigator Award (2024), Gillings Research Excellence Award (2023), and multiple NIEHS Paper of the Month recognitions. Her work bridges exposure science, toxicology, and policy to address global environmental health challenges.