Public workshop to examine effects of air contaminants on health

The Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, School of Public Health and Health Professions (SPHHP), will present a daylong public workshop next week that aims to increase awareness of air pollution-related research.

The workshop will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 26 in room 5019 in UB’s Clinical and Translational Center, 875 Ellicott St., Buffalo. The event is free but pre-registration is required.

The workshop will feature more than a dozen presenters from several fields, including several national figures in the field of public health. Their research examines the relationship between exposure to environmental contaminants — including ambient pollution and that provoked by hydro-fracking — and asthma, allergies, conjunctivitis, complications of pregnancy and childbirth, breast cancer, cardiovascular diseases, genetic alterations and other health problems.

They also will discuss current research into the mediation of related health issues.

Workshop conveners are Lina Mu, associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, and James Olson, UB Distinguished Professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

In addition to familiarizing the public with research in this field, Mu says the workshop aims to build connections among scientists in different disciplines, promote communication between scientists and communities, and generate ideas for possible collaborations in future multidisciplinary research.

UB supporters include the Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Development, School of Public Health and Health Professions, Office of Global Health Initiatives, the Civic Engagement and Public Policy Research Initiative and the UB RENEW (Research and Education in eNergy, Environment and Water) initiative.

Workshop speakers will include 10 noted UB epidemiologists, geographers, nurses, engineers, chemists and others involved in air pollution research. They will be joined by experts from Roswell Park Cancer Institute, the University of Rochester and the Clean Air Coalition of Western New York.

Featured speakers and panelists:

• David O. Carpenter, director, Institute for Health and the Environment, and professor of environmental health sciences, University at Albany School of Public Health.
• David Christiani, professor of medicine, Harvard Medical School, and Elkan Blout Professor of Environmental Genetics, Harvard School of Public Health. Christiani directs the Environmental and Occupational Medicine and Epidemiology Program at Harvard.
• David Diaz-Sanchez, chief, Clinical Research Branch, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA ORD). A former associate professor of medicine at UCLA, Diaz-Sanchez is the EPA ORD representative for the Intergovernmental Climate Change and Human Health Group.
• Pauline Mendola, investigator, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Epidemiology Branch. Mendola served as chief of the Infant, Child and Women’s Health Statistics Branch, National Center for Health Statistics, and headed the Epidemiology and Biomarkers Branch of EPA’s National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory.
• Gregory Wellenius, associate professor of epidemiology, Brown University School of Public Health, and associate director of Brown’s Center for Environmental Health and Technology. Wellenius co-authored the EPA’s 2009 Integrated Science Assessment for Particulate Matter and now focuses on the effects of multiple outdoor air pollutants on the risk of stroke.

Opening remarks will be presented by SPHHP Interim Dean Jean Wactawski-Wende, followed by presentations by UB researchers Mu and Olson; Matthew Bonner and Pavani Ram, both associate professors in the Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health.

Other UB presenters are Joseph Gardella Jr., SUNY Distinguished Professor and John and Frances Larkin Professor, Department of Chemistry; Eun-Hye Yoo, associate professor, Department of Geography; Deborah Chung, Niagara Mohawk Chair Professor of Materials Research, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering; John Atkinson, assistant professor, UB Department of Civil, Structural, and Environmental Engineering; and Jessica Castner, assistant professor, School of Nursing.

From outside UB, presenters include David Q. Rich, associate professor, University of Rochester; Erin Heaney, director, Clean Air Coalition of Western New York; and Mark Travers, assistant professor, Department of Health Behavior and Aerosol Pollution Exposure Research Laboratory, Roswell Park Cancer Institute.