Work

As Air Quality Specialist for the greater Houston area, Elena will formulate and implement outreach strategies to promote adoption of measures to reduce air pollution, particularly emissions from diesel vehicles and equipment, and industrial air toxic emissions.

She will seek support from local government, civic, business and other influential groups, and work with Environmental Defense Fund staff in Austin and other offices to design a suite of solutions to air quality challenges: regulatory, voluntary, legislative, contractual and technical.

Background

Previously Elena did scientific consulting and research on human health risk assessment. Her research, which uses a variety of molecular biological techniques, has been published in peer-reviewed publications and presented at professional scientific symposia.

Published Works

• Craft, ES, Donnelly, KC, Neamtiu, I, McCarty, KM, Bruce, E, Surkova, Kim, D, Uhnakova, I, Gyorffy,E, Tesarova, E, Anderson, B. "Prioritizing Environmental Issues around the World: Opinions from an International Central and Eastern European Environmental Health Conference" (2006) Environmental Health Perspectives 114(12) 1813-1817.
• Crofton, K.M., Craft, E.S., Hedge, J.M., Gennings, C., Simmons, J.E., Carchman. R.A., Carter, W.H., DeVito, M.J. "Thyroid-Hormone-Disrupting Chemicals: Evidence for Dose-Dependent Additivity or Synergism" (2005) Environmental Health Perspectives 113(11).
• Craft, E.S., Abu-Qare, A.W., Flaherty, M.M., Garofolo, M.C., Rincavage, H.L., Abou-Donia, M.B. "Depleted and Natural Uranium: Chemistry and Toxicological Effects" (2004) Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part B, 7:297-317.
• Craft E.S., Crofton K.M., DeVito M.J. "Comparative Responsiveness of Hepatic Enzyme Induction and Hypothyroxenemia in Long Evans Rats versus C57BL/6J Mice Exposed to TCDD-like and PB-like Polychlorinated Biphenyl (PCB) Congeners" (2002) Toxicological Sciences, 68(372-380).

Degrees and awards

• Ph.D. in toxicology from Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth and Ocean Sciences.
• Intramural Research Training Associate (IRTA) Fellow at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS).
• Karen Wetterhahn memorial award for research in metals from the Superfund Basic Research Program in 2002.
• Young Scientist Award at the Fifth International Meeting on Metallothionein in Beijing, China in 2005.