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Heather M. Stapleton

Ronie-Richele Garcia-Johnson Distinguished Professor
Environmental Sciences and Policy
Box 90328, Durham, NC 27708-0328
9 Circuit Drive, Box 90328, LSRC Room A207, Durham, NC 27710

Research Interests


  • Human exposure in indoor environments
  • Use of silicone wristbands to measure human exposure
  • Chemical exposures and cancer risk
  • Targeted & Nontargeted mass spectrometry methods applied to environmental samples
  • Effects of halogenated organic contaminants (e.g. BFRs, PFAS) on thyroid hormone regulation

Selected Grants


Duke University Program in Environmental Health

Inst. Training Prgm or CMEMentor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2019 - 2029

An integrated and diverse genomic medicine program for undiagnosed diseases

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2014 - 2028

The 10,000 Families Cohort: a new study to understand the environmental causes of cancer

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by University of Minnesota · 2023 - 2027

Duke University Superfund Research Center - Developmental Co-Exposures: Mechanisms, Outcomes, and Remediation

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2000 - 2027

Impact of Early-life Exposure to Semi-Volatile Organic Compounds (SVOCs) on Neonatal and Early Childhood Immune Function

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases · 2022 - 2027

Testing Silicone Wristbands as a Tool to Monitor Healthcare Workers' Exposure to Antineoplastic Drugs

ResearchMentor · Awarded by Oncology Nursing Society Foundation · 2025 - 2027

The North Carolina Firefighter Cancer Cohort Study (NC-FCCS): Investigating PFAS & Chemical Exposures as Cancer Risks

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by NC Policy Collaboratory · 2024 - 2026

Extent of PFAS Contamination Resulting from a Fire at a Hazardous Waste Incinerator in East Liverpool, Ohio

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by University of Kentucky · 2023 - 2026

Flame retardant effects on thyroid hormone regulation at the fetal-maternal interface of the placenta

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences · 2020 - 2026

Customized Approaches for Evaluating and Reducing Chemical Exposures from Home Building Materials

ResearchCo-Principal Investigator · Awarded by Department of Housing and Urban Development · 2022 - 2025

Wildland Firefighters: Expanded Exposure Measurement and Exposure Reduction Interventions

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by University of Arizona · 2023 - 2025

Multimedia Measurement of PFAS in the Residential Environment: Evaluating Human Exposure Pathways

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by Environmental Protection Agency · 2022 - 2025

Duke Environmental Analysis Laboratory

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2019 - 2025

18th International Congress on Combustion By-Products and their Health Effects

ConferencePrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences · 2024 - 2025

PFAS-Related Research Equipment

EquipmentPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by NC Policy Collaboratory · 2023 - 2024

Levasseur Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Scholar Award

FellowshipPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation · 2020 - 2024

The placenta: a novel target of sex specific neurotoxicity by fire retardants

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by North Carolina State University · 2017 - 2024

Characterizing PFAS Exposure in NC Communities and Improving Estimates of Exposure from Indoor Air

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill · 2022 - 2024

PFAS UNITEDD: U.S. National Investigation of Transport & Exposure from Drinking Water & Diet

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by North Carolina State University · 2019 - 2024

Feasibility Assessment for Silicone Dog Tags in the Dog Aging Project

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by University of Washington · 2023 - 2023

A Canine Model for Human High-Risk Non-Muscle Invasive Human Bladder Cancer-Molecular and Environmental Considerations

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by North Carolina State University · 2019 - 2023

The 10,000 Families Cohort: a new study to understand the environmental causes of cancer

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by University of Minnesota · 2022 - 2023

CFN PFAS Exposure

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Community Foundation for Nantucket · 2022 - 2023

Developmental Toxicity of Organophosphate-based Flame Retardants

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by University of California - Riverside · 2017 - 2023

The Racial/Ethnic and Geographical Connection Between Cognitive Function and Environmental Chemicals in Older Adults

ResearchMentor · Awarded by University of Southern California · 2021 - 2022

Univ. of Washington Wristband Analyses

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by University of Washington · 2021 - 2022

MRI: Acquisition of a GC Hybrid Orbitrap High Resolution Tandem Mass Spectrometer for Environmental Science

EquipmentPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Science Foundation · 2018 - 2021

Mechanisms of Environmental-Mixture Induced Metabolic Disruption

ResearchMentor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2019 - 2020

An Investigation of Elemental Coal Ash Contamination of Soils in Iredell County, NC

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill · 2020 - 2020

Children Exposure to SVOC Mixtures Indoors and Associations with Obesity

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2017 - 2020

Exposomics Reserach Project

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Wallace Genetic Foundation · 2017 - 2019

Duke University Program in Environmental Health

Inst. Training Prgm or CMEMentor · Awarded by National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences · 2013 - 2019

Development of affinity-directed isolation methods to identify novel hormonally active chemicals

FellowshipPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2017 - 2019

Maternal and Paternal Flame Retardant Exposure, Impact on Fertility and Pregnancy

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Harvard University · 2014 - 2019

Residential Exposure of Young Children to SVOCs

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Environmental Protection Agency · 2014 - 2018

Prenatal Exposure to Organophosphates and Associations with Child Growth

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill · 2014 - 2017

Analysis of Flame Retardant Chemicals in Furniture Barriers

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Bureau of Electronic and Appliance Repair, Home Furnishings and Thermal Insulation · 2016 - 2017

Developmental Toxicity of Organophosphate-based Flame Retardants

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by University of California - Riverside · 2014 - 2017

Evaluation of Changes in Flame Retardant Exposure in NYC

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Columbia University · 2015 - 2016

Urinary Concentrations of Flame Retardant Metabolites in Mothers and Children

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Environmental Working Group · 2015 - 2016

Toxicokinetics and Metabolic Disrupting Actions of the Flame Retardant Mixture Firemaster 550

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by North Carolina State University · 2014 - 2016

Exposure to Halogenated Aromatic Compounds and Risk of Thyroid Cancer

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Yale University · 2016 - 2016

Evaluating Human Exposure to Triphenyl Phosphate from Nail Polish Applications

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Environmental Working Group · 2015 - 2015

Developmental Toxicity of Organophosphate-based Flame Retardants

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by University of South Carolina · 2014 - 2015

Deiodinase Activity as a Biomarker of Response to Brominated Flame Retardants

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2011 - 2015

Current-Use Flame Retardants: Maternal Exposure and Neurodevelopment in Children

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by University of California - Berkeley · 2013 - 2015

Duke University Superfund Research Center (P42 ES010356)

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences · 2000 - 2014

Fate of Biosolid Derived Organic Contaminants in Soils and Effects on Soil Microbial Communities

ResearchCo-Principal Investigator · Awarded by National Science Foundation · 2009 - 2013

Fellowships, Gifts, and Supported Research


Reckoning with Race, Racism, and the History of the American South Initiative: Making bonds, breaking bonds: Chemical industries, environmental justice, and the global history of race in the American South · 2021 Co-Lead · Awarded by: Duke Office of the Provost https://facultyadvancement.duke.edu/new-faculty-research-explore-race-south-diverse-angles

External Relationships


  • San Francisco Estuary Institute

This faculty member (or a member of their immediate family) has reported outside activities with the companies, institutions, or organizations listed above. This information is available to institutional leadership and, when appropriate, management plans are in place to address potential conflicts of interest.