Principal Investigator
Eileen McNeely, PhD, MS, RNC
While working as a family nurse practitioner in Appalachia in the early 1980’s, Dr. McNeely became increasingly aware of the central role of work in individual and family life and health. She became the first nurse practitioner hired by the U.S. Postal Service and later led the Occupational Health Nurse Practitioner program at Simmons College. She obtained a doctoral degree in Health Policy from the Brandeis Heller School in MA and was an Assistant Professor at Boston University School of Public Health where she studied the health impacts of organizational downsizing. In Washington DC, she completed an internship at the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) evaluating the impact of hazard communication regulations. Currently, she is a faculty member in the Environmental and Occupational Health and Epidemiology program at the Harvard School of Public Health. She studies and teaches about the broader political, economic and social arrangements that affect work, productivity, health, and the quality of life. Since 2006, she has been a part of the Federal Aviation Administration’s Center of Excellence in Airliner Cabin Environment Research. Besides her involvement in the 2007 national study of flight attendant health, she completed a number of studies of aircraft exposures including research about cabin air quality, pressure, noise, and flame retardant dust. Dr. McNeely is working to build a cohort of flight attendants to follow over time in order to understand their health, similar to the knowledge created by following nurses in the Harvard Nurses’ Health Study. Currently, she is also conducting a study to evaluate the body burden of flame retardant chemicals in crew and possible effects on the endocrine system. Please contact her at fahealth@hsph.harvard.edu.