Past research experiences
As a senior (2007/2008), I participated in a research project, whose goal was to track national attention towards climate change and in addition, assess if attention to other environmental issues had changed in the last decade. As part of the project I traced all of the climate change and environmentally related U.S. Congressional bills that have been proposed and their evolution in the last decade. I also traced the number of NSF grants funded and the monetary amounts awarded to climate change and environmentally focused research projects.
Over the 2008/2009 academic year, I was at Johns Hopkins, at the School of Public Health. I wrote my master's thesis on polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), a type of flame retardant, and breast milk contamination. This past summer (2009), I continued my research on PBDEs here at UT Southwestern. My summer research concerned serum PBDE levels in flight attendants and pilots, and PBDE residues in different food products.

Current research/areas of interest
I'm very interested in environmental health and epidemiology, specifically how environmental exposure to persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and their health effects in infants and children. The developmental effects of POPs are of specific interest.

Professional trajectory
In the future I hope to be able to practice medicine and pursue research at an academic institution.

Words of wisdom
Don't be afraid to ask questions; it's always worth it in the long run.

Meetings and abstracts
1. Schecter, A, Colacino, J, Kannan, K,Yun, SH, Haffner, D, Harris, TR, Päpke, O, Birnbaum, L. Polybrominated diphenyl ether levels in food from three locations in the United States. Presented at Dioxin 2009, Beijing, China, August 23-28, 2009.

2. Schecter, A, Colacino, J, Haffner, D, Opel, M, Päpke, O, Birnbaum, L.Chemical contamination of composite samples of United States food. Presented at Dioxin 2009, Beijing, China, August 23-28.

Publications
1. Schecter, A, Colacino, J, Haffner, D, Opel, M, Päpke, O. Discussion of "Polybrominated diphenyl ethers in aircraft cabins - A source of human exposure?" by Anna Christiansson et al. Chemosphere. 2010 Jan; 78(2): 206-208.

2. Schecter, A, Colacino, J, Kannan, K,Yun, SH, Haffner, D, Harris, TR, Päpke, O, Birnbaum, L. Polybrominated diphenyl ether levels in foodstuffs from three locations in the United States. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol. 2009 Oct 14. [Epub ahead of print].

3. Schecter, A, Haffner, D, Colacino, J, Opel, M, Päpke, O, Birnbaum, L. Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and hexabromocyclodecane (HBCD) in Composite U.S. Food Samples. Envir Health Persp. 28 October 2009.

4. Schecter, A, Colacino, J, Haffner, D, Opel, M, Päpke, O, Birnbaum, L. Perfluorinated compounds, polychlorinated biphenyls, and organochlorine pesticide contamination in composite food samples from the United States. Under Review.