Wendie Robbins, PhD, RN, FAAN, FAAOHN

Dr. Robbins is a professor in the School of Nursing and Environmental Health Sciences Department in the Fielding School of Public Health. She holds faculty appointments with the UCLA Center for Occupational and Environmental Health, UCLA Molecular Toxicology IDP, and Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. Her research focuses on the relationships between work, environment, and health. This includes a focus on reproductive health. She has conducted laboratory based, and epidemiologic field studies nationally and internationally. In addition to expertise in environmental and occupational health, she brings over a decade of clinical expertise as a Nurse Practitioner  in medically underserved areas where health is often affected by environmental pollution. Current funded projects explore work as a social determinant of health, and health of communities following disasters. She is Program Director of the Occupational and Environmental Health Nursing Program within the CDC NIOSH funded Southern California Education and Research Center training grant. The training grant provides financial and research support for PhD and Masters level trainees at UCLA and UC Irvine.

Areas of Scholarly Expertise and Interest

Work as a social determinant of health; relationships between work, environment, and health, with a focus on reproductive health.

Education

University of California, Berkeley, Ph.D., 1994, Epidemiology
University of Washington, Seattle, M.S., 1990, Epidemiology    
University of Arizona, Tucson, M.S.N., 1981, Nursing
Arizona State University, Tempe, B.S.N., 1978, Nursing

Selected Publications

Matthews TA, Guardiano M, Omidakhsh, N, Robbins W, Hong O, Li J (2023) Associations of COVID-19 Related to Work Stressors with Psychological Distress: Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Californian Workers. International Journal Environmental Research and Public Health, 20,144. https://doi.org.10.3390/ijerph20010144

Matthews TA, Zhu, Y., Robbins, W., Rezk-Hanna, M., Macey, P. M., Song, Y., & Li, J. (2022). Adulthood Psychosocial Disadvantages and Risk of Hypertension in US Workers: Effect Modification by Adverse Childhood Experiences. Life (Basel, Switzerland), 12(10), 1507–. https://doi.org/10.3390/life12101507

Guardiano MAP, Boy PR, Shapirshteyn G, Dobrozdravic L, Chen L, Yang H, Robbins WA, Li J. (2022) A Comparison of Working Conditions and Wellbeing among Prison Nurses and Community Nurses During the COVID-19 Pandemic, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19, 10955.    https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191710955 BC

McNamara K, Robbins WA. Shiftwork and sleep disturbance in the oil industry. Workplace Health and Safety, in press.

Barajas AL, Bush NJ, Cadogan M, Mentes JC, Robbins W (2022) Inferior Vena Cava Filters: Aligning Practice with Evidence to Improve Patient Outcomes, Journal of Radiology Nursing, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jradnu.2022.03.002

Massotta HC, Robbins WA, Tsai C (2022) An Analysis of Prenatal Exposure Factors and Offspring Health Outcomes in Rodents from Synthesized Nanoparticles. Reproductive Toxicology. 110:60-67. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.reprotox.2022.03.014

Matthews TA, Robbins W, Preisig M, von Känel R, Li J. (2021) Associations of job strain and family strain with risk of major depressive episode: A prospective cohort study in U.S. working men and women. Journal of Psychosomatic Research. 147: 110541. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores

Samuel-Nakamura, Hodge, F. S., Sokolow, S., Ali, A.-M. S., & Robbins, W. A. (2019). Metal(loid)s in Cucurbita pepo in a Uranium Mining Impacted Area in Northwestern New Mexico, USA. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(14), 2569–.  https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16142569  PMID: 31323819 PMCID: PMC6679051

Stone, D. S., Pavlish, C. L., Ganz, P. A., Thomas, E. A., Casillas, J. N., & Robbins, W. A. (2019). Understanding the Workplace Interactions of Young Adult Cancer Survivors With Occupational and Environmental Health Professionals. Workplace Health & Safety, 67(4), 179–188. https://doi.org/10.1177/2165079918812482

Wargo-Sugleris M, Robbins WA, Lane CJ, Phillips LR. (2017) Job satisfaction, work environment, and successful aging: determinants of delaying retirement among acute care nurses. Journal of Advanced Nursing: 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.13504