Scientist Profiles

Rudolph Rull, Ph.D. Research Scientist, Northern California Cancer Center Consulting Assistant Professor, Division of Epidemiology, Dept. of Health Research & Policy, Stanford University School of Medicine Associate Member, Stanford Cancer Center

2001 Center Street, Suite 700
Berkeley, California 94704
E-mail: rrull@nccc.org
Phone: 510-608-5181
Fax: 510-666-0693

Research Interests:

• Environmental pollutants and cancer etiology
• Assessing and validating exposures to pesticides and air pollutants
• Geographic information systems (GIS)
• Biological markers of environmental exposure

Dr. Rull is an epidemiologist whose research focuses on assessing and validating exposures to hazards such as metals, pesticides, traffic emissions, and other pollutants and evaluating whether these exposures affect the risk of cancer. In his research, geographic information systems (GIS) and mapping technologies play a critical role in improving the quality of exposure assessment and linking exposures to health outcomes. Dr. Rull also employs complex statistical methods such as hierarchical regression models to estimate the effects of combinations of exposures and improve precision.

Prior to joining NCCC, Dr. Rull gained extensive experience in environmental epidemiology as a doctoral student and researcher at UCLA, where he developed a GIS-based model for assessing exposures to pesticides by linking residential locations with the locations of agricultural pesticide use and crops. His dissertation examined whether women residing near specific agricultural crop types or pesticide applications during early pregnancy increased the risk of neural tube defects.  In addition, he worked on studies assessing the effects of air pollutants on frequent and severe asthma symptoms in a population of asthmatic respondents to the 2001 California Health Interview Survey.

Dr. Rull is currently conducting a study examining the effect of cadmium, a carcinogenic metal that exhibits estrogen-like activity, on the risk of breast cancer in the California Teachers Study cohort.  The major sources of non-occupational exposure to dadmium include cigarette smoke, diet and inhalation of contaminated ambient air.  This study is one of the few studies that will use dietary intake, environmental exposure, and a biological marker (cadmium in urine) of exposure to develop a measure of total exposure from multiple sources.

Dr. Rull's other research activities include a Stanford Cancer Center pilot study to identify urinary biomarkers of environmental exposure to diesel exhaust, a carcinogenic pollutant.  In addition, Dr. Rull is conducting a study that will GIS to construct geographic areas within the nine-county Greater Bay Area Cancer Registry region that will allow for the mapping and analysis of cancer incidence in areas smaller than the county.  These newly defined areas will have a sufficiently large base populations that will allow for more reliable estimation of cancer incidence while preserving the confidentiality of cancer cases.  In collaboration with Dr. Peggy Reynolds, Dr. Rull is also working on the Northern California Childhood Leukemia Study, the largest and most comprehensive study to data of risk factors for leukemia in children, where they are using GIS to evaluate the impacts of exposures to agricultural pesticides, indoor and outdoor air pollution, and other environmental hazards. 

Selected Research Projects:

Urinary hydroxylated and nitrated aromatic compounds as markers of diesel exhaust exposure

Constructing geographic areas in GIS for cancer data analysis

Trends in cancer incidence by single year of age among the oldest-old (85+)

Selected Research Publications:

Rull RP, Gunier R, Von Behren J, Hertz A, Crouse V, Buffler PA, Reynolds P. Residential Proximity to Agricultural Pesticide Applications and Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Environ Res 2009; 109 (7): 891-99.

Meng YY, Wilhelm M, Rull RP, English P, Nathan S, Ritz B. Are frequent asthma symptoms among low-income individuals related to heavy traffic near homes, vulnerabilities, or both? Ann Epidemiol 2008; 18 (5): 343-50.

Ritz B, Rull RP. Assessment of environmental exposures from agricultural pesticides in childhood leukaemia studies: challenges and opportunities. Radiat Prot Dosimetry 2008; 132 (2): 148-55.

Wilhelm M, Meng YY, Rull RP, English P, Balmes J, Ritz B. Environmental public health tracking of childhood asthma using California health interview survey, traffic, and outdoor air pollution data. Environ Health Perspect 2008; 116 (9): 1254-60.

 Von Behren J, Reynolds P, Gunier RB, Rull RP, Hertz A, Urayama KY, Kronish D, Buffler PA. Residential traffic density and childhood leukemia risk. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2008; 17 (9): 2298-301.

Meng YY, Wilhelm M, Rull RP, English P, Ritz B. Traffic and outdoor air pollution levels near residences and poorly controlled asthma in adults. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol 2007; 98: 5: 455-63.

Rull RP, Ritz B, Shaw GM. Neural tube defects and maternal residential proximity to agricultural pesticide applications. Am J Epidemiol 2006; 163(8):743-53.

Rull RP, Ritz B, Shaw GM. Validation of self-reported proximity to agricultural crops in a case-control study of neural tube defects. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 2006; 16(2):147-55. 

Rull RP, Ritz B. Historical pesticide exposure in California using pesticide use reports and land-use surveys: an assessment of misclassification error and bias. Environ Health Perspect 2003; 111(13):1582-9. 

Education:

Professional Memberships, Professional Activities and Awards:
2002-present Member, International Society for Environmental Epidemiology

Web site Links:
Stanford website for Dr. Rull:
http://med.stanford.edu/profiles/Rudy_Rull/

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