10 Questions With… Veronica Irvin, Celia Strickland Austin and G. Kenneth Austin III endowed professor in public health. Irvin uses a community-engaged approach to develop, implement and evaluate behavior change programs across a list of health priorities, including breast cancer and environmental exposure. We’ll be providing a special focus on Integrated Health and Biotechnology, a research focus in Prosperity Widely Shared, throughout 2026.
What originally brought you to Oregon State and how long have you been here?
This is my 11th year at OSU in the College of Health as a behavioral scientist and implementation researcher. I came to OSU following a post-doctoral fellowship at the National Institutes of Health Office of Behavioral and Social Science Research. I was also coming to OSU with two small children and with a husband still actively serving and deploying with the military. After I interviewed, I felt that the college was supportive of faculty with children and that OSU would allow me to be a teacher, researcher and mom.
What do you see as the biggest obstacles currently for underserved communities to becoming and staying healthy?
More immediate and competing priorities. We recently interviewed people about their priorities to reduce environmental exposures. People do not want to be exposed to contaminants. But if they do not taste or smell the contaminant or do not notice any health symptoms, they will not be as worried about it. They will be more concerned about the immediate concern (such as paying their bills) or a more personal issue. For instance, people who work with children stated that they were more concerned with safety at schools than environmental contaminants.
What makes you passionate about higher education?
I enjoy learning. I become a better teacher, mentor and researcher when I learn something outside of my specialty or learn from someone with a different perspective. My research has benefited from interdisciplinary work where I took my experience in behavior change and cancer care and partnered with my colleagues in environmental health and OSU Extension to implement a program to help homeowners test and treat their well water for contaminants.
How do you see environmental health and personal health linked in your work?
Your environment clearly impacts your health. My work focuses on helping people make decisions to reduce their environmental exposures. With our well-water program, we work with well owners to understand the quality of their water and make decisions on installing a treatment system or switching to bottled water. We recently published on the relationship between air pollution and increased risk of breast cancer. Air pollution is tricky because it is difficult for someone to just pick up and move. But you or your school or workplace can take action to reduce exposure to wildfire smoke through installing air filters or staying indoors. Or you can advocate to maintain and support our clean air laws.
What advice would you give the younger version of yourself who was just starting college?
A rejection is not the end of your career. Originally I wanted to be a medical doctor and I knew nothing of public health. In my senior year, I applied to medical school, was interviewed, and waitlisted. As I was re-applying the next year, I temped at a university grants administration department and learned about public health research as I was filing their grant reports. I met with faculty in public health and moved over to a research job where I stayed for 10 years completing my MPH and Ph.D.
Women have been notoriously underrepresented and underserved by medical research. How are universities like OSU changing this?
Women are still underrepresented in medical research both as the subject of the study and the lead investigator of the study. I don’t think that these two data points are unrelated. Training and investing in more female researchers should lead to more medical research that matter to women’s health. Research in the College of Heath focuses on women’s health — for instance my work in breast cancer research and others in reproductive health or investigating gender-differences in health exposures and outcomes. The College of Health is supportive of faculty and students who also have a family, which can help keep women in higher education and research.
How are public health researchers dealing with changes in federal funding and support?
I serve on Oregon’s Public Health Advisory Board, and federal funding cuts are impacting local health departments and community organizations that work together to build trust in our public health system. For research dollars, there are drastic cuts not just to funding but to whole departments. This year, the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences’ evaluation department was shut down in a single day. All that data that researchers had been sending in was lost with no time for back-up-plans. I am part of a group that is pulling together at this time to re-gather and assess the data for this portfolio of research. Environmental health is still a priority — albeit studies that promote federal policy are not prioritized. Individual decision-making is the preferred line of research for the current federal government and those of us in behavioral science are hoping to continue our work.
What was your favorite course in college?
I like to learn from different disciplines. As an undergraduate I double-majored in chemistry and French. I got to work in a lab and study abroad (but not at the same time!).
What are some of the biggest challenges with breast cancer screenings?
Dense breasts can make it harder to see cancer on the screens and women with dense breasts may also have a higher chance of breast cancer. Another area of my research is in interval breast cancers which are cancers diagnosed after a negative mammogram, but before the next scheduled screening mammogram. They can be more aggressive and lethal than screen-detected cancers. In an upcoming paper, we talked with women who had been diagnosed with interval breast cancers and many waited to reach out to their provider when they noticed a lump. I think the biggest challenge is for women to prioritize their own health and not delay out of obligation to others or feeling that they would be a burden. Get that cancer screen, reach out immediately if you notice a lump or other symptoms, and do not delay treatment.
What is your favorite non-academic pursuit or passion?
I like being with my family at their events and activities.
