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Milken Institute School of Public Health

 

David Goldsmith

David Goldsmith

David Goldsmith

M.P.H., Ph.D.

Professorial Lecturer

Part-time Faculty

School: Milken Institute School of Public Health

Department: Environmental and Occupational Health

Contact:

Office Phone: 202-994-2392
Fax: 202-994-0011

Professor Goldsmith is an occupational and environmental epidemiologist who taught environmental and occupational health in the School's graduate and undergraduate programs from 1999 to 2009. He is an expert on environmental health, with a particular interest in fracking, silica, silicosis and cancer risks; respiratory illnesses and exposure to paints and welding fumes; and the chronic health effects, including cancer, associated with pesticide exposure. Other areas of expertise include the legal aspects of occupational and environmental health research, and chronic illness and agriculture. Dr. Goldsmith has also worked with Native American communities on the issue of the health risks of repatriating sacred artifacts that have been treated with pesticides and other chemical preservatives.

Dr. Goldsmith has organized three international symposia on silica, silicosis and cancer, and other chronic diseases.  He was a consultant to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) as it revised the U.S. national silica dust standard, and in 2014 testified at hearings focusing on the impacts of OSHA’s new silica regulation.  He has been a consultant to the Washington DC Departments of Health and Environmental.

From 2009 to 2011 Dr. Goldsmith was detailed to the Veterans Administration via an Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) Exchange

In 2014 Dr. Goldsmith was Fulbright Visiting Research Chair in Science, Technology, Engineering or Math, Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Faculty of Medicine, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

EDUCATION: 

Bachelor of Arts (Sociology), Antioch College, 1972

Master of Science Public Heath (Epidemiology), University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, School of Public Health,  1977

Doctor of Philosophy (Epidemiology), University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill School of Public Health, 1983

 

TEACHING: 

PubH 6199-Veterans, Deployment and Environmental Conditions

PubH 6004-Environmental and Occupational Health, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health

PubH 3132-Health and Environment, Undergraduate course in the public health program

PubH 209.41-Introduction to Native American Health and Public Health Issues & Native Americans/Alaskan Natives

 

COMMUNITY SERVICE: 

Professor Goldsmith is a board member of the Association of Occupational and Environmental Clinics (AOEC), and has served as an expert witness on a number of medical-legal cases in state and federal courts. He consulted for the University of Maryland's Environmental Law Clinic and was a member of NIH Study Section, "Infectious Disease, Reproductive Health, Asthma, and Pulmonary Epidemiology."  He has chaired review panels for the EPA and the US Agency for International Development.

RESEARCH: 

In addition to his work on the national silica dust standard, Dr. Goldsmith was a consultant to the Environmental Protection Agency on pesticide health hazards among selected Indian nations. He has been involved with studies of lead in Washington DC drinking water, and Washington DC citizen perceptions of pesticides.  Recently he has focused on policy research related to fracking and silica dust exposures.

PUBLICATIONS: 
  • ​Hydraulic Fracturing--Industry Response to the Publication of Study Regarding Excessive Occupational Exposure to Respirable Crystalline Silica. Drecksel D and Goldsmith DF. Epidemiology 26 (supplement), 2014
  • ​An Update of the Shymkent, Kazakhstan Lead Contamination Story. Goldsmith DF and Korchevskiy A. Epidemiology 26 (Supplement), 2014.
  • Silica Dust is a Serious Fracking Hazard. Goldsmith DF. Epidemiology 25 (supplement), 2013.
  • Bedbug, mice and rat complaints and pesticide use among Washington DC residents by neighborhood: GIS analysis. Goldsmith DF and Rury K. Epidemiology 22 (supplement), 2011
  • Are silicosis and silica-related illnesses becoming diseases with ethnic disparities? Goldsmith DF and Reindel R. Epidemiology 22, 2011.
  • Pests and Pesticides in the City: Washington DC Survey. Goldsmith DF, Davidson P,  Paulson J.  Epidemiology 20 (Supplement), S221, 2009
  • DC Water and Sewer Authority and lead in drinking water: a case study in environmental risk management Guidotti TL, Moses MS, Goldsmith DF, Ragain L. Journal of Public Health Management Practice, 14: 33-41, 2008.

  • Risks and Precautionary Policies Related to Naturally Occurring Asbestos. Goldsmith DF and Dellarco M.  Epidemiology 18 (Supplement) S 154, 2007.

  • Estimating possible bias in occupational epidemiology studies of silicosis and lung cancer using meta-analysis Goldsmith DF and Cromwell JL.  American Journal of Epidemiology 163 (Supplement):S217, 2006

  • Occupational and environmental education for museum professionals.
    Hawks CA, Goldsmith DF. Occupational and environmental education for museum professionals. In: Williams SL, Hawks CA, editors. Museum Studies: Perspectives and Innovations. Walnut Creek (CA): AltaMira Press. 2006.

 

  • Hormone replacement therapy and invasive and borderline epithelial ovarian cancer risk. Mills PK, Riordan DG, Cress RD, Goldsmith DF. Hormone replacement therapy and invasive and borderline epithelial ovarian cancer risk. Cancer Detect Prev 2005;29:124-32.
  • Mills PK, Riordan DG, Cress RD, Goldsmith DF. Hormone replacement therapy and invasive and borderline epithelial ovarian cancer risk. Cancer Detect Prev 2005;29:124-32.
  • Silicosis and lung function decrements among female ceramic workers in Italy.
    Forastiere F, Goldsmith DF, Sperati A, Rapiti E, Miceli M, Cavariani F, Perucci CA. Silicosis and lung function decrements among female ceramic workers in Italy. Am J Epidemiol 2002;156:851-6.

  • Forward to Third International Symposium on Silica, Silicosis, Cancer and Other Diseases.  Goldsmith DF, Forastiere F, Merlo F. Forward to Third International Symposium on Silica, Silicosis, Cancer and Other Diseases. La Medicina del Lavoro Suppl 2002;93:S3.

  • Establishing causation with epidemiology. Goldsmith DF, Rose SG. In: Guidotti TL, Rose SG, editors. Science on the Witness Stand: Evaluating Scientific Evidence in Law, Adjudication and Policy. Beverly Farms (MA): OEM Press; 2001. p. 57-78.