Bio

Dr. Suzanne (Sue) Fenton earned her MS and PhD from the University of WI-Madison in the Endocrinology/Reproductive Physiology Program. Following her postdoctoral fellowship at the UNC-Chapel Hill Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, she led a research laboratory at the US EPA’s Reproductive Toxicology Division for 11 years before she joined the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS).  She led the Reproductive Endocrinology group at NIEHS, in what was known as the National Toxicology Program (now Division of Translational Toxicology) for 14 years. Dr. Fenton joined NC State as the Director of the Center for Human Health and the Environment in October 2023.

Dr. Fenton’s laboratory has developed, and enhanced methodology used in toxicologic mammary gland assessment, and has characterized windows of sensitivity for early life chemical exposures that lead to persistent developmental changes, altered function, or disease susceptibility in the breast over the life course. Recent work has focused on health effects resulting from placental and breast milk exposures to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in mice. Dr. Fenton is a member of SOT, US DOHaD, Society for Birth Defects Research & Prevention, and has served as an Associate Editor for Environmental Health Perspectives since 2017.  She has received the EPA’s Minority Mentoring and the NIH’s Graduate Mentoring Awards, as well as numerous institute-wide awards for her research on PFAS and other endocrine disruptors.

Research Impact Dashboard

Publications

• Longitudinal patterns of urinary biomarkers of placental and renal function in pregnancy and associations with early pregnancy exposure to phthalates and replacements , Reproductive Toxicology (2026)
• The association between PFAS exposure, menstrual cycle parameters, and reproductive hormones in adolescent girls , The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (2026)
• Transcriptomic Perturbations in Placental Gene Expression Following Developmental Exposure to Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA) or Hexafluoropropylene Oxide-Dimer Acid (HFPO–DA or GenX) in CD-1 Mice Are Consistent with Placental Insufficiency , Environment & Health (2026)
• Exposure to phthalates and replacements during pregnancy in association with gestational blood pressure and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy , Environmental Research (2025)
• Identifying the known and unknown health hazard information for chemical disasters: a phased scoping review of the East Palestine, Ohio train derailment , Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology (2025)
• Photodynamic priming overcomes platinum resistance from short‐term exposure to select perfluoroalkyl substances in endometrial cancer cell lines , Photochemistry and Photobiology (2025)
• Broadening the Environmental Lens to Include Social and Structural Determinants of Women’s Health Disparities , Environmental Health Perspectives (2024)
• Precision environmental health: Establishing the role of environmental exposures in personalized medicine for oncology , Environment International (2024)
• Whole mount preparation and analysis of rabbit mammary gland , Reproductive Toxicology (2024)
• A complex systems model of breast cancer etiology: The Paradigm II Model , PLOS ONE (2023)