Igniting Hope 2024: ‘Building an Environmentally Just Community’
Published August 21, 2024
Since its start in 2018, the annual Igniting Hope Conference has brought together community leaders, community members, University at Buffalo faculty, and trainees from multiple UB schools to address the social determinants of health. Past conferences have focused on topics like the pandemic and building healthy communities. In 2024, Igniting Hope highlights another critical area: environmental justice.
The seventh annual conference, titled “Building an Environmentally Just Community,” will be held from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, September 21, at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (955 Main Street). See the agenda and register to attend here.
The conference is co-sponsored by the Buffalo Center for Health Equity, the Erie County Department of Health, the UB Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI), and the UB Community Health Equity Research Institute. CTSI Director Timothy F. Murphy, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor and Director, UB Community Health Equity Research Institute, says the goals of Igniting Hope align with the CTSI’s vision to advance and accelerate clinical and translational science to reduce adverse health outcomes and improve the health of our community and the nation.
“We know that people who are participating in clinical research have better health outcomes, have more cost-effective care, and are more satisfied with their care than people who do not participate in clinical research,” Murphy says. “Clinical research can actually connect people to the healthcare system, and it exposes people to the latest advances in health and medicine.”
One way to improve healthcare is by exploring environmental issues. Rev. George Nicholas, MDiv, Convener, African American Health Equity Task Force, and Chair, Buffalo Center for Health Equity, believes the theme of environmental justice connects strongly with social determinants of health.
“When you look at data, we find that African Americans are more likely to live in communities that have challenges around air and water quality, and that a lot of communities have been built in urban areas where there was heavy industrialization,” Nicholas explains. “We want to make sure that people understand how issues related to the environment have a deleterious impact upon health outcomes.”
Murphy says there are examples in Buffalo — including the 2022 blizzard, cases of lead poisoning, and contaminated drinking water — that make it clear that environmental issues are social determinants of health.
“The policymakers and the leaders need to think about these,” Murphy says. “This is a timely topic, and the conference will bring attention to a social determinant of health that is likely to become increasingly important.”
“We want to make sure that the community is aware of these challenges, and then to talk about potential remedies,” adds Nicholas. “Policy decisions and investment decisions could have a positive impact on the environment, and we need to be intentional and conscious about improving the air and water quality in all communities, but especially in these communities where you already have high levels of chronic disease.”
Highlights of the 2024 Igniting Hope Conference include:
- Keynote addresses from Hanaa Hamdi, PhD, Visiting Scholar at FRBNY, and Kizzy Charles-Guzman, Chief Executive Officer, Center for Environmental Justice in Oakland, California. (See speaker bios here.)
- Breakout sessions exploring housing and green construction; food systems; environmental advocacy and policy; and maternal health and environment.
- Remarks from UB President Satish K. Tripathi and Allison Brashear, MD, MBA, Vice President for Health Sciences and Dean, Jacobs School.
“We are going to have an opportunity at this year's conference to hear from people in the community that are doing some very important work around environmental justice,” says Nicholas. “There are many partner institutions at the table, but we need to hear the voice of people from the community to help guide us and come alongside us so that we are creating a community that is going to be healthy. Interaction and dialogue, and then a plan for moving forward, will bring real change.”
See the conference agenda for additional details and updates.
Updated September 23, 2025