David Goldsmith, MSPH, PhD

David F. Goldsmith is an Associate Research Professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health.

• Phone: (202) 994-1734 / (202) 994-2392 (direct line)
• Fax: (202) 994-0011
• Email: eohdfg@gwumc.edu

Professor Goldsmith is an occupational and environmental epidemiologist who teaches environmental and occupational health in the School's graduate and undergraduate programs. He is an expert on environmental health, with a particular interest in silica, silicosis and cancer risks; respiratory illnesses and exposure to wood dust, paints and welding fumes; risk assessment and risk communication; 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, museum health and safety 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.

Prior to joining the School in 1999, Dr. Goldsmith was a senior scientist at the Public Health Institute (PHI) in Berkeley, where he focused on pesticides and risk assessment for airborne silica dust. His work at PHI involved collaborations with Spanish- and Hmong-speaking immigrant groups in Central California on community cancer prevention. Continuing in the silica and health field, he has organized three international symposia on silica, silicosis and cancer, most recently in 2002 in Italy, and he remains a consultant to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) as it revises the U.S. national silica dust standard.

Education

Bachelor of Arts (Sociology), Antioch College, 1972
Master of Science (Public Heath), Chapel Hill School of Public Health, University of North Carolina, 1977
Doctor of Philosophy, Chapel Hill School of Public Health, University of North Carolina, 1983

Teaching

PubH 204-Environmental and Occupational Health, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health
PubH 172-Health and Environment, Undergraduate course in the public health program
Professor Goldsmith also organizes the EOH Department's weekly seminars.

Research

In addition to his work on the national silica dust standard, Dr. Goldsmith is a consultant to the Environmental Protection Agency on pesticide health hazards among selected Indian nations, and co-investigator examining the link between triazine herbicides and the risk of ovarian cancer.

Community Service

Professor Goldsmith is a board member of the Association of Occupational and Environmental Clinics and the Society for Occupational and Environmental Health, 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 is a member of NIH Study Section, "Infectious Disease, Reproductive Health, Asthma, and Pulmonary Epidemiology." He has also been a commentator for the NIH's "Science in Cinema" film series.

Departments

• Environmental and Occupational Health

Institutes & Centers

• Center for Risk Science and Public Health

Research Activities

• Silica-related disease

Community Activities

• Infrastructure Advisory Team, Department of Homeland Security
• Pesticides on Tribal Lands

Publications

• 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.
• Proceedings of the Third International Symposium on Silica, Silicosis, Cancer and Other Diseases
  Goldsmith DF, Merlo DF, editors. Proceedings of the Third International Symposium on Silica, Silicosis, Cancer and Other Diseases; 2001 Sept 8-13; Genoa, Italy. In press 2005.
• Review of occupational risk assessments of respirable crystalline silica exposure to support a revision of OSHA's silica dust standard.
  Goldsmith DF. Review of occupational risk assessments of respirable crystalline silica exposure to support a revision of OSHA's silica dust standard. Drafts submitted to Occupational Safety and Health Administration 2004 and 2005.
• 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. In press 2005.
• 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.
• Estimating bias in the silicosis and lung cancer association using meta-analysis
  Goldsmith DF, Bonangelino P, Stoto M. Estimating bias in the silicosis and lung cancer association using meta-analysis [abstract]. Epidemiology 2002;13:S231.
• Establishing causation with epidemiology. In: Guidotti TL, Rose SG, editors. Science on the witness stand: evaluating scientific evidence in law, adjudication and policy.
  Goldsmith DF, Rose SG. Establishing causation with epidemiology. 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.
• Disease risks related to pesticide exposure/crop protection activities. In: Cost-benefit analysis of crop protection
  Goldsmith DF. Disease risks related to pesticide exposure/crop protection activities. In: Cost-benefit analysis of crop protection, Kuhl M, Schmitz PM, Wiegand S, editors. 2001. Proceedings of an international workshop; 1999 Sept. 7-9; Leipzig, Germany. p. 152-7.
• Linking environmental cancer with occupational epidemiology research: the role of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).
  Goldsmith DF. Linking environmental cancer with occupational epidemiology research: the role of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). J Environ Pathol Toxicol Oncol 2000;19(1,2):171-5.