The Collaborative on Health and the Environment (CHE), a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating people on the ways in which the environment impacts human health and well-being, will feature the work of the next generation of environmental health scientists and advocates in a new webinar series beginning on Oct. 4. Ten webinars, running monthly through June, will feature cutting-edge work in topics of relevance and concern including climate change and health, chemicals linked to adverse birth outcomes and obesity, and disparities in toxic exposures between different social and racial groups.
These 20 pioneering researchers and advocates were nominated by a committee of senior leaders and luminaries in environmental public health including Linda S. Birnbaum, Ph.D., director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Toxicology Program, Dick Jackson, MD, MPH, Professor at the Fielding School of Public Health at UCLA, and Jeanne Conry, MD, President of The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Chosen for exceptional levels of accomplishment in work that is rigorous, dynamic, and builds critical knowledge, their work promises to drive environmental health science and advocacy in new directions that will demonstrate the many links between the environment and public health and catalyze policies and actions that will protect the health of children, families, and communities.
The 20 speakers for the series will be:
- Brooke Anderson, PhD, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology at Colorado State University
- Simona Balan, PhD, Senior Environmental Scientist at California Department of Toxic Substances Control
- Joseph Braun, PhD, MSPH, RGSS Assistant Professor of Public Health, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology at Brown University
- Courtney Carignan, PhD, Assistant Professor, Food Science and Human Nutrition, Pharmacology and Toxicology at Michigan State University
- Joan Casey, PhD, Postdoctoral Scholar at UC Berkeley
- Cynthia Curl, PhD, MS, Assistant Professor, Department of Community and Environmental Health at Boise State University
- Kelly Ferguson, PhD, MPH, Investigator of Perinatal and Early Life Epidemiology at NIEHS
- Nourbese Flint, MA, Program Manager at Black Women for Wellness
- Vanessa Galavíz, PhD, MPH, Scientific Advisory, Associate Toxicologist, and Environmental Justice Liaison at California Environmental Protection Agency
- Allan Just, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health at Mount Sinai
- Megan Latshaw, PhD, Assistant Scientist in the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
- Ana Mascareñas, MPH, Assistant Director for Environmental Justice at California Department of Toxic Substances Control
- Ana Maria Mora, MD, PhD, Associate Professor at Central American Institute for Studies on Toxic Substances at Universidad Nacional, Costa Rica
- Amy Padula, PhD, Assistant Professor at UCSF School of Medicine
- Samantha Malone Rubright, DrPH, Manager of Communications and Partnerships at Fractracker Alliance
- Seth Shonkoff, PhD, MPH, Executive Director at Physicians, Scientists and Engineers for Healthy Energy (PSE)
- Laura Vandenberg, PhD, Assistant Professor and Graduate Program Director at the School of Public Health and Health Sciences at University of Massachusetts Amherst
- Todd Whitehead, PhD, Career Development Investigator at The Center for Integrative Research on Childhood Leukemia and the Environment (CIRCLE) at University of California, Berkeley
- Sara Wylie, PhD, Assistant Professor Sociology and Health Science at Northeastern University
- Ami Zota, ScD, MS, Assistant Professor Environmental and Occupational Health at George Washington University School of Public Health
"I believe that scientists have a responsibility to share their research as often as possible, especially when it relates to public health," said nominator Linda S. Birnbaum, Ph.D. "These young scientists are doing exciting, innovative work that will influence how we address environmental challenges to our health in the future. Their webinars promise to be both interesting and informative."
Each 45-minute webinar will feature the complementary work of two pioneers, and include an opportunity for participants to ask questions. The first webinar on Oct. 4 at 10 a.m. PDT / 1 p.m. EDT is Chemicals in Consumer Products: Exposure Science at the Forefront of Regulation, featuring Simona Balan, Ph.D., Senior Environmental Scientist at the California Department of Toxic Substances Control, and Todd Whitehead, PhD, Career Development Investigator at The Center for Integrative Research on Childhood Leukemia and the Environment (CIRCLE) at the University of California, Berkeley. Participants may RSVP here. More information on the webinars is available on the CHE website, and interested parties may also sign up for a newsletter announcing future webinars.