Veronica J. Berrocal

Veronica J. Berrocal is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biostatistics at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. Her work focuses on developing statistical methods for spatial, spatio-temporal, and longitudinal data with applications in environmental health, atmospheric sciences, and medical fields including rheumatology and reproductive endocrinology, contributing to public health protection through research and EPA advisory roles.

Her educational background includes:

• PhD in Statistics from the University of Washington (2007)
• MSc in Statistics from Michigan State University (2002)

Dr. Berrocal specializes in creating statistical models for dependent data structures, particularly spatial and spatio-temporal frameworks. Her research addresses environmental determinants of health such as air pollution, weather patterns, built environment, and socio-economic factors, with direct applications in atmospheric sciences, environmental epidemiology, and medical domains like rheumatology and reproductive health. She develops hierarchical models for environmental risk prediction, calibrates geophysical models, and leverages complex data sources including social media for exposure assessment.

Her recent publications (2016-2019) demonstrate consistent methodological innovation in spatial statistics applied to critical public health challenges. Key themes include nonstationary spatial prediction for environmental resources, distributed lag modeling of pollutant interactions, and advanced spatio-temporal frameworks for fMRI and urban pollution mapping. Her work bridges statistical theory with practical health impact assessments across atmospheric science, environmental epidemiology, and medical imaging domains.