Marcela Tamayo-Ortiz, ScD

  • Associate Professor of Environmental Health Sciences
212-304-7273

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Overview

Marcela Tamayo-Ortiz, DSc, studies how environmental exposures and social conditions shape health across the life course. As an Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, she investigates the health impacts of lead and other toxic metals, air pollution, contaminated drinking water, weather- and climate-related exposures, and psychosocial stress, with a particular focus on children’s health and healthy aging in women.

Dr. Tamayo-Ortiz is based at the Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health (CCCEH), where she leads and collaborates on projects that connect research with action. She is a principal investigator of the Pregnancy to Aging Through Health and Wellbeing Assessment across the Years (PATHWAY) initiative that is following midlife women from the CCCEH’s cohorts to study healthy aging, including bone health. Her work combines epidemiology and community partnerships to better understand environmental health challenges and identify practical solutions that improve health outcomes. Through her research, she advances scientific understanding while strengthening community engagement and research translation in Northern Manhattan, the South Bronx, and other US communities as well as in Mexico.

Dr. Tamayo-Ortiz is actively involved in international efforts to promote environmental health. She serves on the Executive Council of the International Society for Children’s Health and Environment (ISCHE) and is the former Chair of the Latin America and Caribbean Chapter of the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology (ISEE). In 2024, she was named an ISEE Fellow in recognition of her contributions to environmental health research, leadership, and public engagement.

Office Location: 722 West 168th Street, ARB 1217

Academic Appointments

  • Associate Professor of Environmental Health Sciences

Credentials & Experience

Education & Training

  • BID, 2002 Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
  • MS, 2009 Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, México
  • ScD, 2014 Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Committees, Societies, Councils

Past Chair, Latin America and the Caribbean Chapter, International Society of Environmental Epidemiology

Research

Research Interests

  • Bone health
  • Climate Change
  • Community Health
  • Environmental Health

Selected Publications

Cathey, A., Tamayo-Ortiz, M., Tamayo-Orozco, J., Meeker, J. D., Peterson, K. E., Trejo-Valdivia, B., Téllez-Rojo, M. M., & Watkins, D. J. (2023). Calcium supplementation and body mass index modify associations between prenatal phthalate exposure and perinatal bone ultrasound measures among pregnant women. Environmental Research, 116513. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2023.116513

McGuinn, L. A., Rosa, M. J., Osorio-Valencia, E., Gutiérrez-Avila, I., Martinez-Medina, S., Harari, H., Kloog, I., Wright, R. J., Téllez-Rojo, M. M., Wright, R. O., & Tamayo-Ortiz, M. (2023). Urban stress and its association with symptoms of depression, fatigue, and sleep disruption in women in Mexico City. Cities & Health, 0(0), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1080/23748834.2023.2218159

Estévez-García, J. A., Farías, P., & Tamayo-Ortiz, M. (2022). A review of studies on blood lead concentrations of traditional Mexican potters. International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health, 240, 113903. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheh.2021.113903

Hernandez-Avila, M., Tamayo-Ortiz, M., Vieyra-Romero, W., Gutierrez-Diaz, H., Zepeda-Tello, R., Barros-Sierra, D., Velasco-Reyna, R., Ramirez-Polanco, E., & Ortega-Alvarez, M. (2022). Use of Private Sector Workforce Respiratory Disease Short-Term Disability Claims to Assess SARS-CoV-2, Mexico, 2020. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 28(1), 214–218. https://doi.org/10.3201/eid2801.211357

Tamayo-Ortiz, M., Riojas-Rodríguez, H., Téllez-Rojo, M. M., Boischio, A., Mañay, N., Menezes-Filho, J. A., Queirolo, E. I., Cortés, S., & Kordas, K. (2022). A Call for Biomonitoring Systems in Latin America and the Caribbean: Considerations for Potentially Toxic Metals/Metalloids. Annals of Global Health, 88(1), 80. https://doi.org/10.5334/aogh.3637

Osorio-Yáñez, C., Sanchez-Guerra, M., Solano, M., Baccarelli, A., Wright, R., Sanders, A. P., Tellez-Rojo, M. M., & Tamayo-Ortiz, M. (2021). Metal exposure and bone remodeling during pregnancy: Results from the PROGRESS cohort study. Environmental Pollution (Barking, Essex: 1987), 282, 116962. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2021.116962

Téllez-Rojo, M. M., Bautista-Arredondo, L. F., Trejo-Valdivia, B., Cantoral, A., Estrada-Sánchez, D., Kraiem, R., Pantic, I., Rosa-Parra, A., Gómez-Acosta, L. M., Romero-Martínez, M., Cuevas-Nasu, L., Shamah-Levy, T., Fuller, R., & Tamayo-Ortiz, M. (2019). [National report of blood lead levels and lead-glazed ceramics use in vulnerable children.]. Salud Publica De Mexico, 61(6), 787–797. https://doi.org/10.21149/10555

Pantic, I., Tamayo-Ortiz, M., Rosa-Parra, A., Bautista-Arredondo, L., Wright, R. O., Peterson, K. E., Schnaas, L., Rothenberg, S. J., Hu, H., & Téllez-Rojo, M. M. (2018). Children’s Blood Lead Concentrations from 1988 to 2015 in Mexico City: The Contribution of Lead in Air and Traditional Lead-Glazed Ceramics. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15(10), 2153. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15102153

Tamayo-Ortiz, M., & Navia-Antezana, J. (2018). Reduced Lead Exposure Following a Sensitization Program in Rural Family Homes Producing Traditional Mexican Ceramics. Annals of Global Health, 84(2), 285–291. https://doi.org/10.29024/aogh.916

Tamayo y Ortiz, M., Téllez-Rojo, M. M., Hu, H., Hernández-Ávila, M., Wright, R., Amarasiriwardena, C., Lupoli, N., Mercado-García, A., Pantic, I., & Lamadrid-Figueroa, H. (2016). Lead in candy consumed and blood lead levels of children living in Mexico City. Environmental Research, 147, 497–502. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2016.03.007

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