Barbara Materna, PhD

Barbara Materna is the chief of the Occupational Health Branch in the California Department of Public Health (CDPH). She was previously chief of CDPH's Occupational Lead Poisoning Prevention Program.

Dr. Materna's primary work has been as an industrial hygienist within local and state public health agencies. She has worked on research and education projects on a range of occupational health topics including work-related coccidioidomycosis (Valley fever), lead poisoning, lung disease among flavor-manufacturing workers, respiratory protection for health care workers, toxic exposures of wildland firefighters, prevention of pesticide illness in agriculture, and perchloroethylene exposure of dry cleaners.

Dr. Materna holds a doctorate in environmental health sciences from the University of California at Berkeley. She obtained her master's degree in environmental health sciences at Hunter College, City University of New York, and bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of Rochester.