To speak with Dean Melissa Perry, please contact Michelle Thompson mthomp7@gmu.edu or 703-993-3485.
Melissa J. Perry, ScD, MHS, MBA, Dean, College of Public Health, George Mason University.
In the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling limiting Roundup cancer lawsuits, a leading epidemiologist with 20+ years of research says the real issue is that U.S. pesticide policy still hasn’t caught up to decades of scientific evidence.
Comments on U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Monsanto Co. v. Durnell
by Melissa J. Perry, ScD, MHS, MBA, Dean, College of Public Health, George Mason University
“Today’s decision resolves a legal dispute, but it should not be interpreted as a scientific conclusion about pesticide exposure and health. Courts answer legal questions; science answers questions about risk, exposure, and disease.
For more than two decades, researchers have documented measurable pesticide exposures and associations with adverse health outcomes, including cancer, endocrine disruption, and neurological disease. That body of evidence remains unchanged.
Regardless of the outcome of this case, policymakers and regulators still face the challenge of ensuring that public health protections keep pace with current science, particularly around chronic and cumulative exposures.”
MEDIA INQUIRIES: For reporters who wish to speak to Dr. Perry about pesticides, please email media contact Michelle Thompson at mthomp7@gmu.edu.
Dean Perry can speak to:
- What 20+ years of epidemiological evidence tells us about pesticide exposure and disease risk
- Why current regulatory frameworks may not reflect modern science (especially around chronic, low-dose exposure)
- How increasing pesticide use and resistance are shaping long-term public health risks
- What policy changes could better align regulation with current evidence
“For more than two decades, the science on pesticide exposure has been consistent and compelling. We can measure exposure in real time, and we have a large and growing body of evidence linking these exposures to cancer, endocrine disruption, and neurological disease. The gap is no longer in the science—it’s in the policy. Regulatory frameworks still rely on outdated models that don’t fully account for chronic, low-dose, and cumulative exposures. It’s time for policy to catch up with what the evidence has been telling us for years,”
Melissa J. Perry, ScD, MHS, MBA
epidemiologist and dean of the College of Public Health at George Mason University.
Dean Perry stories about pesticides
June 25, 2026Video interview in "US Supreme Court ruling could change how chemical companies are held accountable."-
January 12, 20266 foods that can kill your sperms.
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January 1, 2026My Grocery Produce May Not Be So Innocent ...Why I'm Rethinking How I Buy.
November 5, 2025Research by George Mason alumna, student, and faculty in the colleges of public health and science highlights compelling evidence that neonicotinoid pesticides, insect killers commonly used in farming, may reduce sperm quality.
June 20, 2025A comprehensive carcinogenicity study on the world’s most used herbicide, glyphosate, involving scientists from Europe and the U.S., has found that low doses of the controversial weed killer cause multiple types of cancer in rats.
December 19, 2023Plastics, pesticides and pills: how chemical exposures affect sperm health
November 15, 2023Comprehensive systematic review of 25 studies over 25 years reveals consistent evidence of associations between insecticide exposure and lower sperm concentration.