Rena Jones

Rena Jones, PhD, MS is an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Environmental Health Sciences department at Yale School of Public Health. Her research focuses on applying GIS and innovative methodologies to assess environmental exposures, particularly air and water pollutants, and their health impacts through epidemiologic studies. Her work addresses spatial variability in exposure-disease relationships, exposure misclassification, and long-term environmental carcinogen effects.

• Education: PhD and MS in Epidemiology from SUNY Albany School of Public Health
• Postdoctoral Training: National Cancer Institute (Cancer Epidemiology)

Dr. Jones’ research interests span several critical areas in public health:

• Environmental exposure assessment using geospatial tools
• Cancer risk tied to pollutants (air, water)
• Health disparities linked to industrial and agricultural exposures
• Methodological rigor in spatial error and exposure modeling
• Long-term impact of mixed contaminant exposure

Her recent publications (2024-2025) analyze associations between industrial emissions, water contaminants, and cancers (lung, endometrial, ovarian, breast) using large U.S. cohorts. Collaborative work explores COPD risk from ozone, greenspace effects on sleep, and wildfire exposure patterns. Key keywords include environmental epidemiology, GIS, exposure science, and health equity.

Dr. Jones collaborates with researchers like Nicole Deziel, Ning Sun, and Vasilis Vasiliou on interdisciplinary projects. She has no listed scientific awards in the provided text but contributes to advancing environmental health policy through data-driven insights.