Patricia Hunt

Meyer Distinguished Professor, School of Molecular Biosciences, Washington State University

Patricia Hunt is the Meyer Distinguished Professor in the School of Molecular Biosciences at Washington State University, Pullman, WA. She started her research career studying human chromosome abnormalities. Her goal was to understand the high incidence of chromosomally abnormal eggs produced by human females and why the incidence is so strongly impacted by advancing maternal age. She remains fascinated by this complex problem, but the accidental exposure of her mice to bisphenol A (BPA) in 1998 focused her attention on the effects of common environmental contaminants on reproduction. Her current research focuses on chemical mixtures and transgenerational effects of exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals. Dr. Hunt was named one of the top 50 researchers of the year by Scientific American in 2007, was elected to the Washington State Academy of Sciences in 2015 and received the Society for the Study of Reproduction’s highest honor, the Hartman Award, in 2018. Her research has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health for over 25 years. She participates in professional activities at the local, national, and international level, including service on the editorial boards, NIH review panels and strategic planning groups, organizing and chairing international conferences, and teaching, co-directing, and serving as a member of the Board of Directors for the Frontiers in Reproduction summer course at the MBL, Woods Hole, MA.