Dr. Natalia (Natasha) Shilnikova
MD, PhD
Senior Health Risk Analyst
Joined RSI in 2011
- 20 years studying late health effects of radiation in workers of the Russian nuclear complex Mayak
- Member of IARC Working Group on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans (2000)
Dr. Natalia (Natasha) Shilnikova is a Senior Health Risk Analyst at Risk Sciences International (RSI), where she has contributed since 2011 to some of the organization’s most analytically demanding and policy-relevant projects. With a background in medicine and a PhD in medical sciences, Dr. Shilnikova specializes in the synthesis of epidemiological evidence, human health risk assessment, toxicology, and critical literature reviews—applying her expertise across a spectrum of regulatory and public health priorities.
At RSI, she has served as a lead or contributing analyst on projects for Health Canada, the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta, the Workplace Safety Insurance Board, and numerous international clients. Her work has included:
- Synthesis of scientific information on methodological approaches for derivation of health-based air quality objectives for particulate matter;
- Evidence syntheses on cannabis and cancer risk, abnormal call rates in breast cancer screening, and cognitive screening of older physicians;
- Critical reviews of toxicological profiles for priority substances under Canada’s Domestic Substances List (DSL);
- Hazard assessments of metals such as aluminum and manganese, including international work on biomarkers of exposure for the International Manganese Institute;
- Support for ethical frameworks in risk assessment through commissioned background papers and workshops.
Dr. Shilnikova has also contributed to RSI’s internal and client-facing report development, serving as both content expert and co-author on over a dozen high-impact technical documents and scientific literature reviews between 2012 and 2025. Her capacity to navigate between population-level epidemiology and molecular toxicology gives her work rare depth—particularly when distilling uncertainty into actionable risk decisions.
Pre-RSI
Dr. Shilnikova began her scientific career in Russia, earning her MD from Perm State Medical Institute (now Perm State Medical Academy), followed by a PhD in Medical Sciences from the State Research Center Institute of Biophysics, part of the Federal Medico-Biological Agency (FMBA) of the Russian Federation.
She spent many years as a researcher at the Southern Ural Biophysics Institute in Ozyorsk (Chelyabinsk region), where she conducted epidemiological analyses on mortality and cancer incidence in workers at the Mayak nuclear facility—one of Russia’s nuclear complexes—and among populations residing near the plant. Her research contributed to long-term health studies funded by the U.S. National Cancer Institute and the U.S. Department of Energy, and resulted in landmark publications in radiation epidemiology and low-dose health effects.
In 2000, Dr. Shilnikova served as a member of IARC Working Group on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans (Lyon, June 14-21, 2000). Together with Dr. Nina Koshurnikova, she prepared section 2.4.3 “Plutonium. Russian Federation” for volume 78 “Ionizing Radiation, Part 2: Some Internally Deposited Radionuclides” of the IARC Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans. IARC Press, Lyon, France, 2001.
After moving to Canada in 2007, she joined the McLaughlin Centre for Population Health Risk Assessment at the University of Ottawa, where she worked on projects involving the health impacts of chemical, physical, and biological agents, setting the stage for her transition to RSI in 2011.
Her body of academic work includes extensive contributions to peer-reviewed literature on topics such as:
- Radiation carcinogenesis and cardiovascular disease in exposed occupational cohorts;
- Hormesis and low-dose risk;
- Risk management for transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (e.g., BSE and vCJD);
- Systematic reviews of talc and ovarian cancer, and other agent–disease associations.
Her unique training—combining clinical, regulatory, and population health lenses—equips her to work at the interface of science and policy, with particular strength in complex exposure-disease modeling and structured expert elicitation.
Natasha Shilnikova at the international expert panel workshop organized by RSI and the International Manganese Institute (IMnI)
Case studies associated with Natalia (Natasha) Shilnikova
Publications associated with Natalia (Natasha) Shilnikova
Lung cancer mortality among male nuclear workers of the Mayak facilities in the former Soviet Union.
Liver cancers in Mayak workers.
Bone cancers in Mayak workers.
Characteristics of the cohort of workers at the Mayak nuclear complex.
Lung cancer risk due to exposure to incorporated plutonium.
Mortality among workers with chronic radiation sickness.
Mortality among personnel who worked at the Mayak complex in the first years of its operation.
Verification of occupational doses at the first nuclear plant in the former Soviet Union.
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RSI News associated with Natalia (Natasha) Shilnikova
Aging and cognitive decline
Outside RSI
Outside of her professional work, Dr. Shilnikova maintains a quiet profile, though her intellectual curiosity and cultural range are evident in her scholarly pursuits and scientific collaborations. Known to her colleagues as deeply thoughtful, rigorous, and committed to public health, she brings not only a wealth of experience but a transnational perspective informed by careers on two continents.
She regularly contributes to international panels and expert working groups, including RSI’s long-standing collaborations with academic and regulatory bodies across Canada, Europe, and the United States. Her publications and reports are widely cited in the fields of epidemiology, toxicology, environmental health, and evidence synthesis.
Though details of her personal interests are not publicly shared, Dr. Shilnikova’s legacy of scientific contribution, intellectual integrity, and commitment to evidence-based decision-making is well established. At RSI, she continues to exemplify the best of applied public health science: disciplined, humane, and always grounded in the pursuit of clarity in uncertainty.
