Linda Morris Brown

Linda Morris Brown, MPH, DrPH, FACE, is an internationally recognized epidemiologist with more than 40 years' experience in the design and analysis of epidemiologic data for large-scale, multisite epidemiologic studies in the United States and internationally that involve human health issues. This includes analyzing data collected from case-control, cohort, cross-sectional, and intervention studies; randomized clinical trials; medical records; and descriptive data from administrative and research databases and cancer registries. She also has considerable experience in designing, conducting, and analyzing environmental health studies including investigating the role of environmental pollutants and chemical exposure in the etiology of specific cancers and examining respiratory health effects from PM_2.5 exposure. Her efforts in health disparities research has contributed to the understanding of disparate incidence and mortality rates in racial and ethnic subgroups.

Presently, Dr. Brown is the Principal Investigator (PI) for the Pennsylvania site of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)/Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR)’s Multi-Site Study of Health Implications of Exposure to Per- and Polyfluorinated Substances (PFAS)-Contaminated Drinking Water. She is also serving as a quality assurance auditor of the health data for several Health Effects Institute-sponsored studies of air pollution and various health effects in children and adults. In addition, she served as the Project Director for collaborative COVID-19 manuscripts with Pfizer on Herd Immunity and Vaccine Effectiveness.

Dr. Brown also directs data coordinating center (DCC) projects for National Institutes of Health (NIH) Networks that conduct multisite clinical trials and epidemiologic and basic science studies. She led the Obstetric-fetal Pharmacology Research Units (OPRU) Network DCC that evaluated the pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics and health effects in mothers and their children of therapeutic drugs used during pregnancy to treat preeclampsia, premature birth, and diabetes mellitus. Currently, Dr. Brown is the PI for a DCC that is studying clinical and biological factors and “omics” related to myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), a debilitating disease that lacks a universally accepted case definition, cause, diagnosis, or treatment. She is also serving as Co-Investigator for a Scientific DCC that is studying the etiology and progression of chronic kidney disease of uncertain etiology (CKDu) in agricultural communities (CURE) in India and Central America. 

Dr. Brown joined RTI after serving for 30 years as a Commissioned Officer in the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS). She reached the rank of Captain at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) at the NIH and was Assistant Chief of the Biostatistics Branch in the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics (DCEG) for her last 10 years there. While at NCI, Dr. Brown was the PI on a number of research projects that involved the collection of clinical and epidemiological data and biospecimens in both U.S. and international settings.

She was the recipient of more than 30 government awards including the NIH Director’s Award, the Surgeon General’s Exemplary Service Medal, and the PHS Distinguished Service Medal.  She has authored more than 170 publications in scientific and medical journals, including invited book chapters, and has served as a scientific reviewer for the Department of Defense, NIH, and European Union grants. She is a fellow of the American College of Epidemiology and is sought after for her expertise in both chronic and infectious disease epidemiology.