Dr. Yoshira “Yoshi” Ornelas Van Horne is an exposure scientist and environmental justice scholar. She is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at the University of California Los Angeles. Her research focuses on addressing unequal exposures to harmful contaminants that affect structurally marginalized communities. Her active projects are focused on utilizing novel methods for source apportionment of air pollution, characterizing exposures to volatile organic compounds with community partners in Louisiana, and evaluating the impact of federal environmental settlements on population exposures and health outcomes. Her research is currently funded by the JPB Environmental Health Fellowship through Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, the HEI Rosenblith New Investigator award, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
She is committed to building health equity through community-driven research and is passionate about research translation and communication. To this end, her work not only characterizes inequities in cumulative exposures but also supports community-driven solutions and training efforts.