UB faculty, Lead Safe Task Force host mini-conference

Lead poisoning remains one of the most urgent and persistent public health challenges in Buffalo and Western New York, disproportionately affecting children and families in older housing stock and historically underserved neighborhoods. Buffalo and Erie County continue to face a crisis of childhood lead poisoning, with more than 580 children diagnosed with an elevated blood lead level in 2024.

To address this, UB and the Buffalo and Erie County Lead Safe Task Force will host a mini-conference, “Building a Lead-Safe and Healthy Future in Western New York.”

It will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Oct. 25 in Hayes Hall, South Campus.

The event will include the debut of a new film, a panel on rental inspections with representatives from the Erie County Health Department and the city of Buffalo Department of Permit and Inspections, short presentations by UB researchers working on lead issues, remarks from state Sen. Sean Ryan, D-Buffalo, and a panel discussion on early intervention with representatives of LEAD716 and state Sen. April Baskin, D-Buffalo.

Breakfast, lunch and child care will be provided. The event is free and open to the public, though space is limited. Register online.

The Lead Safe Task Force, led by UB alumna Anna Falicov, is a coalition of local government agencies, community organizations, universities and health partners. It advocates for increasing lead testing, improving remediation efforts and policy change to protect residents.

“The Buffalo and Erie County Lead Safe Task Force remains steadfast in its mission to end childhood lead poisoning in our region,” says Falicov. “Each year, hundreds of children have their life potential cut short due to exposure to toxic lead in our environment. Our growing partnership with the University at Buffalo strengthens our capacity to achieve our goals, while simultaneously providing real-world challenges for students to understand and address community needs in their research and study."

The mini-conference, which coincides with International Lead Poisoning Prevention Week, will bring together more than 60 researchers, policymakers, health professionals and community advocates from Buffalo, Rochester and surrounding communities.

The gathering is an exciting milestone, notes Leah Bartlo, one of the key organizers who earned her PhD earlier this year from the Graduate School of Education. “By joining forces across disciplines, we can build the momentum needed to more effectively address Buffalo’s lead crisis,” says Bartlo, a research fellow with the UB Community Health Equity Research Institute whose dissertation focused on children with elevated blood lead levels.

The mini-conference is the first public event showcasing the growing partnership between the task force and UB, whose researchers and students are combating the lead crisis through research, outreach, legal advocacy and education.

“Understanding how to turn research into legislation is key to protecting children from the lifelong harms of lead,” says Kim Diana Connolly, professor and vice dean for innovation, interdisciplinarity and community impact at the UB School of Law. “Alongside collaborators on the faculty at UB and my student attorneys in the law school’s Environmental Advocacy Clinic, I work with community partners to advance policies like automatic early intervention for children with elevated blood lead levels so families can access critical support as soon as it’s needed.”

Katarzyna Kordas, associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, School of Public Health and Health Professions, says the task force has been “incredibly welcoming” to individuals and organizations who want to add their experience and expertise to prevent lead poisoning in Buffalo.

“As a researcher and longtime member of the task force, I am thrilled to be co-organizing this event on UB’s South Campus,” says Kordas. “I hope it creates opportunities for UB staff, researchers and students to connect with community partners to tackle this critical issue.”

SUNY Distinguished Professor Diana Aga, director of the UB RENEW Institute and Henry M. Woodburn Chair in the Department of Chemistry, supports interdisciplinary collaborations to address Buffalo’s lead crisis.

“UB RENEW provides insight to lead poisoning work around the nation and world,” says Aga. “By working with the Lead Safe Task Force and other community leaders, collectively we’re turning science into action to protect children and strengthen neighborhoods.”

Buffalo faces one of the most severe childhood lead poisoning crises in the nation — with 93% of homes likely containing lead hazards and several zip codes historically showing 40% of children tested with elevated levels, according to event organizers.

Organizers are also drawing attention to pending New York State legislation that would make children with elevated blood lead levels of 5 mcg/dL or higher automatically eligible for early intervention services to support child development and minimize the effects of lead on learning.