Her doctorate is in Epidemiology from the University of California Berkeley and her postdoctoral training was at Stanford University. Her research has been on the effects of ambient air pollution during pregnancy on adverse birth outcomes including preterm birth, low birth weight and birth defects. The projects have expanded to evaluate social factors, comorbidities during pregnancy and gene-environment interactions. Dr. Padula has an K99/R00 Transition to Independence Award from the National Institute of Environmental Health Science and las year was named one of the 20 Pioneers under 40 in Environmental Public Health by the Collaborative on Health and the Environment.