Dr Hauser’s research interests are in the field of reproductive and developmental epidemiology. His research focuses on the impact of environmental and occupational chemicals on fertility and pregnancy. He is currently conducting a NIH funded study on the effects of chemicals classified as endocrine disruptors on male and female reproductive health endpoints. Specific chemicals of interest include persistent chlorinated compounds (i.e., polychlorinated biphenyls and DDT/DDE), pesticides, phthalates and bisphenol A. Maternal endpoints of interest include infertility and pregnancy outcomes such as early pregnancy loss, stillbirth, and measures of fetal growth. Male endpoints of interest include biological measures of fertility such as semen quality and sperm DNA damage, as well as the paternal contribution to adverse pregnancy outcomes. The study is being conducted in collaboration with physicians from the Massachusetts General Hospital.
Dr. Hauser is also conducting a prospective cohort study on children in Chapaevsk, Russia, where he is investigating the relationship of exposure to dioxins and dioxin-like compounds with growth and pubertal development. Children in Chapaevsk are exposed to high levels of dioxins as a result of environmental contamination from a large complex of chemical plants in the city. The study is being conducted in collaboration with Russian investigators from the Chapaevsk Medical Association and scientists from the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow. He plans to follow these children to adulthood and assess reproductive function.
Other research activities include studying the relationship between maternal exposure to phthalates and fetal growth and placental function in collaboration with researchers from Columbia University. He recently began a two-state study in Connecticut and Massachusetts on genetic and environmental risk factors for testicular germ cell cancer. He is collaborating with researchers from Yale University and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center.
He is the course leader for environmental and occupational epidemiology, which is a methods based course that teaches students how to critically evaluate research studies. The culminating experience in the class is a group project in which students are required to synthesize epidemiologic data on select topics of interest.