Research Summary

Dr. L. B. Zablotska is an epidemiologist specializing in radiation epidemiology, biostatistics, and risk modeling, with over two decades of experience in the field. Her research focuses on quantifying the health risks of radiation exposure in occupational and environmental settings. As principal investigator for several high-impact cohort and case-control studies, Dr. Zablotska has established a unique research niche by combining traditional epidemiological approaches with advanced statistical modeling and innovative methods for risk estimation and projection.

Throughout her academic career, Dr. Zablotska has worked extensively with communities affected by radiation fallout and environmental contamination, sharing her expertise. She has also developed accessible educational materials to help the public better understand the health effects of radiation.

Dr. Zablotska has been an elected member of the U.S. National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP) since 2020. In this role, she has led the Epidemiology Writing Group for several landmark NCRP reports. Dr. Zablotska served as a contributing writer and reviewer on several scientific reports for the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM). She currently serves on the Radionuclide Cancer Risk Coefficients Review Panel of the Science Advisory Board at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). She also serves as the lead epidemiology writer for the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) upcoming report on the risks of neurological diseases associated with radiation exposure.

Research Funding

  • June 1, 2023 - March 31, 2027 - Verification and Correction of early Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) doses in the National Dose Registry (NDR) and Updated Mortality (1950-2018) and Cancer Incidence (1969-2018) Analysis of Canadian Nuclear Energy Workers , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: Health Canada, Sponsor Award ID: 4500450974
  • June 1, 2024 - May 30, 2026 - Support for the international Pooled Analysis of Uranium Workers (iPAUW) study , Primary Investigator . Sponsor: U.S. Department of Energy, Sponsor Award ID: DE-AU0000052
  • September 1, 2018 - January 31, 2026 - The international Pooled Analysis of Uranium Processing Workers (iPAUW) , . Sponsor: Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, Sponsor Award ID: R705.1Contribution agreement
  • November 19, 2021 - December 31, 2024 - Pilot study of workers of the Siberian Group of Chemical Enterprises (SGCE) , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Sponsor Award ID: 601760
  • September 10, 2016 - April 30, 2022 - Developmental Epidemiological Study of Children born through Reproductive Technology (DESCRT) , Co-Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01HD084380
  • February 1, 2016 - January 31, 2021 - Canadian Fluoroscopy Cohort Study: Lifespan Mortality and Incidence Follow-Up , . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01CA197422
  • September 1, 2018 - August 31, 2020 - US and Canadian uranium processing cohorts: exposure, risk and relevance , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R21OH011452
  • September 5, 2014 - August 31, 2017 - Risk of hematologic cancers from repeated low-dose diagnostic radiation , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R03CA188614
  • August 9, 2010 - July 31, 2015 - Risk of Leukemia after Protracted Exposures to Low Doses of Ionizing Radiation , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: K07CA132918

Education

Minsk State Medical School, Belarus, MD, May 1993, Medicine
Askew School of Public Administration, Florida State University, MPA, August 1997, Public Policy and Health Administration/Policy
Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, PhD, May 2003, Epidemiology

Honors & Awards

  • 2013
    Alumni Board of the Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University
  • 2014
    Dean's Recognition for Excellence in Teaching, School of Pharmacy, UCSF
  • 2015
    Apple Teaching Award, Dean's Recognition for Excellence in Teaching, School of Pharmacy, UCSF
  • 2016
    Stephen Hulley Teaching Award, Training in Clinical Research Program, School of Medicine, UCSF
  • 2016
    Mentor Award for Exceptional Commitment to the Development of Early Stage Radiation Investigators, Conference on Radiation and Health and Radiation Research Society
  • 2019
    The Haile T. Debas Academy of Medical Educators at UCSF, Center for Faculty Educators, School of Medicine, UCSF
  • 2019
    Elected Member, National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP), Program Area PAC 1: Basic Criteria, Epidemiology, Radiobiology, and Risk
  • 2020
    Executive Council of the Radiation Research Society, Inaugural Councilor for Epidemiology

Selected Publications

  1. Villeneuve PJ, Frangione B, Talarico R, Prendergast T, Yu C, Gill G, Zablotska L. Occupational Exposure to Low Dose Ionizing Radiation and the Incidence of Surgically Removed Cataracts and Glaucoma in a Cohort of Ontario Nuclear Power Plant Workers. Radiat Res. 2025 04 01; 203(4):271-283.  View on PubMed
  2. Liu JY, Hu R, Lustig RH, Huang D, Adeleye AJ, Rinaudo P, Cedars MI, Zablotska LB. Analysis of Tanner stage in children conceived after the diagnosis of infertility: the DESCRT study. J Assist Reprod Genet. 2025 Apr; 42(4):1265-1274.  View on PubMed
  3. Hamada N, Matsuya Y, Zablotska LB, Little MP. Inverse dose protraction effects of high-LET radiation: Evidence and significance. Mutat Res Rev Mutat Res. 2025 Jan 14; 795:108530.  View on PubMed
  4. Hamada N, Matsuya Y, Zablotska LB, Little MP. Inverse dose protraction effects of low-LET radiation: Evidence and significance. Mutat Res Rev Mutat Res. 2025 Jan 13; 795:108531.  View on PubMed
  5. John D. Boice, Elizabeth D. Ellis, Ashley P. Golden, Lydia B. Zablotska, Michael T. Mumma, Sarah S. Cohen. Sex-specific lung cancer risk among radiation workers in the Million Person Study and among TB-fluoroscopy patients. The Million Person Study of Low-Dose Radiation Health Effects. 2024 Oct 24; 299-310.  View on PubMed
  6. Milder CM, Bellamy MB, Howard SC, Ellis ED, Golden AP, Cohen SS, Mumma MT, French B, Zablotska LB, Boice JD. Mortality follow-up of Fernald Feed Materials Production Center workers exposed to uranium from 1951 to 1985. Occup Environ Med. 2024 Oct 08; 81(9):439-447.  View on PubMed
  7. Derek Song, David Huang, Jennifer Qin, Amanda Adeleye, Paolo Rinaudo, Lydia Zablotska, Marcelle I. Cedars. HYPERTENSIVE DISORDERS OF PREGNANCY (HDP) IN PATIENTS WITH UNDERLYING INFERTILITY. Fertility and Sterility. 2024 Oct 1; 122(4):e393-e394.  View on PubMed
  8. David Huang, Derek Song, Jennifer Qin, Amanda Adeleye, Lydia Zablotska, Paolo Rinaudo, Marcelle I. Cedars. PREGNANCY-INDUCED HYPERTENSION (PIH) AND THE NUMBER OF CORPUS LUTEA IN EARLY PREGNANCY. Fertility and Sterility. 2024 Oct 1; 122(4):e3.  View on PubMed
  9. Little MP, Bazyka D, Berrington de Gonzalez A, Brenner AV, Chumak VV, Cullings HM, Daniels RD, French B, Grant E, Hamada N, Hauptmann M, Kendall GM, Laurier D, Lee C, Lee WJ, Linet MS, Mabuchi K, Morton LM, Muirhead CR, Preston DL, Rajaraman P, Richardson DB, Sakata R, Samet JM, Simon SL, Sugiyama H, Wakeford R, Zablotska LB. A Historical Survey of Key Epidemiological Studies of Ionizing Radiation Exposure. Radiat Res. 2024 08 01; 202(2):432-487.  View on PubMed
  10. Zablotska LB, Little MP, Hamada N. Revisiting an Inverse Dose-Fractionation Effect of Ionizing Radiation Exposure for Ischemic Heart Disease: Insights from Recent Studies. Radiat Res. 2024 07 01; 202(1):80-86.  View on PubMed
  11. Cahoon EK, Grimm E, Mabuchi K, Mai JZ, Zhang R, Drozdovitch V, Hatch M, Little MP, Peters KO, Bogdanova TI, Shelkovoy E, Shpak VM, Terekhova G, Zamotayeva G, Pasteur IP, Masiuk SV, Chepurny M, Zablotska LB, McConnell R, O'Kane P, Tronko MD, Brenner AV. Prevalence of Thyroid Nodules in Residents of Ukraine Exposed as Children or Adolescents to Iodine-131 from the Chornobyl Accident. Thyroid. 2024 Jul; 34(7):890-898.  View on PubMed
  12. Elizabeth Khaykin Cahoon, Eric Grimm, Kiyohiko Mabuchi, Jim Zhiming, Rui Zhang, Vladimir Drozdovitch, Maureen Hatch, Mark P. Little, Kamau O. Peters, Tetiana I. Bogdanova, Evgeniy Shelkovoy, Viktor M. Shpak, Galyna Terekhova, Galyna Zamotayeva, Ihor P. Pasteur, Sergii V. Masiuk, Mykola Chepurny, Lydia B. Zablotska, Robert McConnell, Patrick O’Kane, Mykola D. Tronko, Alina V. Brenner. Prevalence of Thyroid Nodules in Residents of Ukraine Exposed as Children or Adolescents to Iodine-131 from the Chornobyl Accident. VideoEndocrinology. 2024 Jun 17.  View on PubMed
  13. Little MP, Boerma M, Bernier MO, Azizova TV, Zablotska LB, Einstein AJ, Hamada N. Effects of confounding and effect-modifying lifestyle, environmental and medical factors on risk of radiation-associated cardiovascular disease. BMC Public Health. 2024 Jun 15; 24(1):1601.  View on PubMed
  14. Little MP, Hamada N, Zablotska LB. A generalisation of the method of regression calibration and comparison with Bayesian and frequentist model averaging methods. Sci Rep. 2024 03 19; 14(1):6613.  View on PubMed
  15. Little MP, Hamada N, Zablotska LB. A generalisation of the method of regression calibration and comparison with Bayesian and frequentist model averaging methods. ArXiv. 2024 Mar 13.  View on PubMed
  16. Milder CM, Howard SC, Ellis ED, Golden AP, Cohen SS, Mumma MT, Leggett RW, French B, Zablotska LB, Boice JD. Third mortality follow-up of the Mallinckrodt uranium processing workers, 1942-2019. Int J Radiat Biol. 2024; 100(2):161-175.  View on PubMed
  17. McConnell RJ, Kamysh O, O'Kane PL, Greenebaum E, Rozhko AV, Yauseyenka VV, Minenko VF, Drozdovitch V, Yarets Y, Kukhta T, Mabuchi K, Little MP, Cahoon EK, Zablotska LB. Radiation Dose Does Not Affect the Predictive Value of Thyroid Biopsy for Diagnosing Papillary Thyroid Cancer in a Belarusian Cohort Exposed to Chernobyl Fallout. Acta Cytol. 2024; 68(1):34-44.  View on PubMed
  18. Thariat J, Little MP, Zablotska LB, Samson P, O'Banion MK, Leuraud K, Bergom C, Girault G, Azimzadeh O, Bouffler S, Hamada N. Radiotherapy for non-cancer diseases: benefits and long-term risks. Int J Radiat Biol. 2024; 100(4):505-526.  View on PubMed
  19. Kreuzer M, Sommer M, Deffner V, Bertke S, Demers PA, Kelly-Reif K, Laurier D, Rage E, Richardson DB, Samet JM, Schubauer-Berigan MK, Tomasek L, Wiggins C, Zablotska LB, Fenske N. Lifetime excess absolute risk for lung cancer due to exposure to radon: results of the pooled uranium miners cohort study PUMA. Radiat Environ Biophys. 2024 03; 63(1):7-16.  View on PubMed
  20. Little MP, Hamada N, Zablotska LB. A generalisation of the method of regression calibration and comparison with the Bayesian 2-dimensional Monte Carlo method. Res Sq. 2023 Dec 05.  View on PubMed

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