Spring 2015 Seminar Schedule.

Join us every Friday from 12:45-1:45pm in BUSM L210.

May 8Wendy Heiger-Bernays, PhD
Department of Environmental Health, Boston University School of Public HealthUrban Agriculture

Detailed Schedule

January 16th

The Joint Effects of Organophosphates and Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors

Anna Rosofsky, MA
Department of Environmental Health, Boston University School of Public Health

Lecture Summary: Both organophosphates and Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors effect the serotonin system during sensitive developmental periods. This presentation discusses the mechanisms of effect of these two chemical classes and how they might be studied in an epidemiological context.

Parabens: Newest Environmental Obesogen of Concern?

Lariah Edwards, BS
Department of Environmental Health, Boston University School of Public Health

Lecture Summary: In light of the continually high obesity rates among adults and children in the United States, research has focused on environmental chemicals as potential contributors to the epidemic. These chemicals, coined ‘obesogens’, act through a variety of pathways. Some environmental toxicants increase fat accumulation in bone and ultimately disrupt bone formation which could contribute to the onset of osteoporosis. Recent research has highlighted the ability of parabens, a chemical commonly used in cosmetic products, pharmaceuticals, and foods, to act through PPARgamma, a key transcription factor in bone formation and the ‘master regulator’ of fat formation. This presentation will compare parabens to other, well-studied environmental PPARgamma ligands in order to assess parabens’ abilities to induce fat formation at the expense of bone formation in mice bone marrow cells.

January 23rd

Pursuing the Perfect Diet: Healthy, Delicious, and Low Environmental Impact.

Christian Peters, PhD
Assistant Professor, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University School of Medicine; Director: Foodprints and Foodsheds Project

Lecture Summary: Dietary change may be an important part of a strategy to both ensure future food security and contain or reduce the environmental impact of agriculture. If so, how should we eat? This talk will share insights gained from the emerging field of food systems, delving into two specific questions of popular interest. First, how much food could be produced locally? Second, what type of diet feeds the most people? Dr. Peters will offer perspective on these questions from research on foodsheds, regional self-reliance, and modeling of carrying capacity

Dr. Peters studies the sustainability of agriculture and food systems through the use of modeling, and his current research addresses both the land requirements of the human diet and the biophysical capacity for developing local and regional food systems Dr. Peters performed one of the first spatial analyses of potential local foodsheds, providing a concrete example of a term that has resonated with the local and regional food movements. Dr. Peters has an academic background that spans both environmental and agricultural sciences. He received a B.S. degree (Environmental Sciences) from Rutgers University in 1995, a M.S. degree (Soil and Crop Sciences) from Cornell in 2002, and a Ph.D. (Soil and Crop Sciences) from Cornell University in 2007.

January 30th

A Multi-Level, Multi-Sector Approach to Obesity Prevention

Christina D. Economos, PhD
The New Balance Chair in Childhood Nutrition; Associate Professor, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University School of Medicine; Director and Vice Chair: ChildObesity180

Lecture Summary: Based at Tufts University’s Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, ChildObesity180 built a new type of organization that integrates research, evidence-based action, the best of the private and public health sectors, and collaboration among many organizations in order to create traction and measurable, national scale impact on the childhood obesity epidemic. Appropriate to an organization rooted in bringing together the best of academia, business, and public health, ChildObesity180’s approach to evaluation is multi-pronged and multi-disciplinary. Beyond the imperative to evaluate direct impact, ChildObesity180 also seeks to understand how this innovative model can inform future multi-sector organizations that aim to address complex systemic problems.

Readings:

• Economos CD, Hyatt RR, Must A, Goldberg JP, Kuder J, Naumova EN, Collins JJ, Nelson ME. Shape Up Somerville two-year results: A community-based environmental change intervention sustains weight reduction in children. Preventative Medicine 2013 October;4:322-327.
• Anzman-Frasca S, Djang HC, Halmo MM, Dolan PR, Economos CD. Estimating Impacts of a Breakfast in the Classroom Program on School Outcomes. JAMA Pediatrics 2015;1:71-77.

February 20th

Genetically Modified Foods- where and why such foods are used; safeness in terms of both human health and ecology

Sheldon Krimsky, PhD
Lenore Stern Professor of Humanities and Social Sciences, Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning, Tufts University

Lecture Summary: Seventy-five percent of processed foods on supermarket shelves in the US—from soda to soup, crackers to condiments—contain genetically engineered ingredients. Some prominent scientists and policymakers assert with confidence that there is no scientific controversy over the health effects of GMOs—that these GM crops are inherently safe and do not have to be tested. The scientific evidence, however, reveals a different story. The long-term effects of these foods on human health and ecology are still unknown, and public concern has been steadily intensifying. The talk reveals how politics and corporate interests have distorted an honest look at the health and environmental effects of GMO crops and how scientists whose results do not support the “safe seeds” hypothesis have been marginalized and demonized.

Readings:

• Krimsky S, Simoncelli T. (2013) Genetic Justice: DNA Databanking, Criminal Investigations and Civil Liberties. Columbia University Press.
• Krimsky S, Gruber J. (2014) The GMO Deception: What You Need to Know about the Food, Corporations, and Government Agencies Putting Our Families and Our Environment at Risk. Skyhorse Publishing. (Link to the introductory chapter: The GMO Deception: Introduction)

February 27th

Why Food Is Not Enough: Environmental Enteropathy, Mycotoxins, the Gut Microbiome, and Malnutrition

Jeffrey Griffiths, MD, MPH, TM
Professor of Public Health and of Medicine, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University School of Medicine; Director: USAID’s Innovation Laboratory for Nutrition- Africa
* Lecture held in BUSM L112

Lecture Summary: Stunting, wasting, and conditions such as anemia remain powerful brakes on human potential. Historically, the global response to under-nutrition has the improvement of caloric, vitamin, and micronutrient intake. While the provision of an adequate and diverse diet is still a critical element to eliminating malnutrition, we now understand that environmentally-mediated conditions – poor water and sanitation, mycotoxin contamination of foods, and harmful gut microbiomes – limit the capacity of food-based approaches to “solve” undernutrition. This talk will contextualize these conditions – what is known, what is not – and how they interact with disease such as malaria. Attendees will leave with an appreciation of how conditions such as enteric enteropathy (also called acquired environmental enteric dysfunction); dysfunctional perturbations of the gut microbiome; and aflatoxin (a mycotoxin) exposure affect human nutrition and health. They will also have greater insight into the major evidence gaps, research needs, and policy opportunities that exist.

Readings:

• Keusch GT, Rosenberg IH, Denno DM, Duggan C, Guerrant RL, Lavery JV, Tarr PI, Ward HD, Black RE, Nataro JP, Ryan ET, Bhutta ZA, Coovadia H, Lima A, Ramakrishna B, Zaidi AKM, Burgess DCH, Brewer T. Implications of acquired environmental enteric dysfunction for growth and stunting in infants and children living in low- and middle-income countries. Food Nutr Bull 2013 Sep;34(3):357-64.
• Anzman-Frasca S, Djang HC, Halmo MM, Dolan PR, Economos CD. Estimating Impacts of a Breakfast in the Classroom Program on School Outcomes. JAMA Pediatrics 2015;1:71-77.

March 20th

Why Food Is Not Enough: Environmental Enteropathy, Mycotoxins, the Gut Microbiome, and Malnutrition

Lynn L. Moore, DSc, MPH
Associate Professor of Medicine, Preventive Medicine & Epidemiology, Department of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine
Co-Director, Medical Nutrition Sciences, Division of Graduate Medical Sciences

Lecture Summary: Heart disease is the leading cause of death in America, and high blood pressure is a critical risk factor for both heart disease and stroke. While very high levels of salt consumption are known to raise blood pressure, the dose-response relation is unclear. Further, there is very little evidence on the effects of dietary sodium on the risk of cardiovascular disease itself. Despite this, various policy makers and scientific bodies have proposed and supported increasingly restrictive salt consumption guidelines, particularly for Blacks and other “high risk” populations. A small but growing body of evidence suggests that these restrictive guidelines may be doing more harm than good. This talk addresses this controversy.

Readings:

• Moore LL, Singer MR, Bradlee ML, Djoussé L, Proctor MH, Cupples LA, Ellison, RC. 2005 Intake of fruits, vegetables, and dairy products in early childhood and subsequent blood pressure change. Epidemiology 16(1), 4-11.
• Moore LL, Singer MR, Bradlee ML, Rothman KJ, Milunsky A. 2000A prospective study of the risk of congenital malformations associated with maternal obesity and diabetes. Epidemiology 11:689-694.
• Djoussé L, Arnett DK, Coon H, Province MA, Moore LL, Ellison RC. 2004Fruit and vegetable consumption and LDL-cholesterol: The NHBLI Family Heart Study. Am J Clin Nutr 79:213-217. PMID: 14749225

March 27th

Global burden of undernutrition and its determinants

Shibani Ghosh, PhD
Adjunct Assistant Professor, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University School of Medicine; Associate Director: Global- Future Nutrition Innovation Lab, Tufts University; Executive Director: Nevin Scrimshaw International Nutrition Foundation

Lecture Summary: Globally 165 million children are stunted and undernutrition is responsible for about 3.1 million deaths in children under five years of age. According to the Lancet 2013, 15% of deaths could be averted (1 million lives saved) if ten core interventions targeting maternal, infant and young child nutrition. This session will introduce students to nutritional and global health problems through exploration of demographic, epidemiological, biological, social, political, and economic determinants. The major causes of the global burden of malnutrition (specifically stunting, wasting and underweight) and disease will be explored, with emphasis on nutrition as a cause and consequence of disease and mortality. We will also examine the evidence around the factors associated with stunting ranging from maternal stature and diet to early diet, role of protein quality, environmental influences and agricultural/socio-economic influences/relationships and the association between stunting and wasting and its implications.

April 3rd

Does Eating Better Food Improve Nutrition? Complex Answers to Apparently Simple Questions

Patrick Webb, PhD
Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University
Director USAID’s Feed the Future Nutrition Innovation Laboratory, Asia
Former Chief of Nutrition of the UN World Food Programme

Lecture Summary: This seminar will focus on the multidirectional linkages among food systems, health, diets and nutrition. It will illustrate new findings on how measures of diet diversity or adequacy do not always proxy well for good nutrition, how obesity is growing in even low income rural areas, why it is so hard to measure urban diets, and where food systems need to be in 2025 to have any hope of meeting the new Sustainable Development Goals.
* Lecture held in BUSM L112

April 10th

It Takes More than Willpower: Supporting Americans’ Efforts to Eat Well and Watch Their Weight

Margo Wootan, D.Sc.
Director of Nutrition Policy
Center for Science in the Public Interest

Lecture Summary: Healthy eating and maintaining a healthy weight take more than willpower. While food choices are ultimately a matter of personal responsibility and personal choice, those choices are influenced by the food environment. Dr. Wootan will explore how advertising, food industry PR campaigns, restaurant foods, portion sizes, food pricing, and school environments often encourage eating too much and the wrong kinds of foods. Policy and environmental approaches that have and can help to reshape food environments and make healthier choices easier will be discussed.

Readings:

• Center for Science in the Public Interest. 2013. Kids Meals: Obesity on the Rise.
• Martin A. 2015. Inside the Powerful Lobby Fighting for Your Right to Eat Pizza. Bloomberg Business.
• Fielding-Singh P, Almy J, Wootan MG. 2014. Sugar Overload: Retail Checkout Promotes Obesity. Center for Science in the Public Interest.

April 17th

Public Health Benefits of Energy Efficient Housing

Chloe Seyoung Chung, MPH
Doctoral Student
Department of Environmental Health, Boston University School of Public Health

Lecture Summary: Besides the economic benefits of energy conservation, residential housing energy efficiency measures have the potential to reduce air pollution, and therefore improve public health. However, there are a number of factors that need to be considered – including baseline insulation levels, climate characteristics, and state-specific population patterns – when quantifying the environmental and public health benefits. Ambient air pollution emission data generated from CMAQ will be used to model ambient air pollution changes following improved residential insulation. Health impacts will be calculated using the air pollutant concentration changes and population health patterns in individual areas/regions.

Passive Air Monitoring for Semi-Volatile Organic Compounds

Jessica Craig, MPH
Doctoral Student
Department of Environmental Health, Boston University School of Public Health

Lecture Summary: Semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) from consumer products are ubiquitous in the indoor environment. There is rising concern over SVOC exposures as many have been detected in human bodies through biomonitoring studies, and some have been linked to potential health impacts. An upcoming study will be conducted examining paired samples of serum, urine, hand wipes, house dust, surface wipes from consumer products, and air in the homes of young children aged 2-4 years to examine correlations of SVOCs. Air sampling will be conducted using passive air monitors. The pros and cons of passive air monitors will be discussed along with improvements in current passive air sampling techniques.

April 24th

A meta-analysis of self-reported health symptoms in Gulf War veterans

Alexis Maule, MPH
Department of Environmental Health, Boston University School of Public Health

Lecture Summary: After returning from the Persian Gulf, about 25-30% of the veterans of the first Gulf War (GW) (1990-1991) developed an excess rate of health problems compared to veterans of the same era who did not deploy to the Gulf. However, self-reported symptoms vary between GW veterans and studies have reported different excess symptoms. This project aims to use meta-analytic approaches to analyze data reported in the GW literature to identify a cluster of health symptoms most commonly reported in differing populations of GW veterans compared to their control groups.

May 1st

Genetically Engineered Crops: Scope and Impacts

Timothy Griffin, PhD
Associate Professor and Program Director of Agriculture, Food and Environment, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy

Lecture Summary: Genetically engineered (GE) crops are widely produced in the US and some other countries, although the range of crops and traits is narrow. These crops end up in the food supply in various ways. The implementation of this technology has positive and negative effects both on and off the farm, and these will be outlined. There is also a range of purported public health concerns associated with GE crops, which will be discussed along with a brief review of the regulatory structure for GE products.

Dr. Timothy Griffin is the Director of the Agriculture, Food and Environment Program at the
Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University. He is also a member of the National Research Council Study Committee on GE Crops: Past Experiences and Future Prospects. Dr. Griffin’s primary research interests are the intersection of agriculture and the environment, and the development and implementation of sustainable production systems. His current research focuses on environmental impacts of agriculture (nutrient flows, carbon retention and loss, and climate change), and impacts of policy on adoption of agricultural practices and systems.

Readings:

• Goodman RE. 2014. Biosafety evaluation and regulation of Genetically Modified (GM) crops in the United States. J Huazhong Agricultural University 33:6.
• Codex Alimentarius Commission. 2009. Guideline for the conduct of food safety assessment Of foods derived from recombinant-dna plants. In: Foods derived from modern biotechnology. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 1-19.

May 8th

Urban Agriculture

Wendy Heiger-Bernays, PhD
Department of Environmental Health, Boston University School of Public Health

Lecture Summary: People have been growing food in cities in a variety of ways for as long as recorded history, but in the past 10 years, more attention has been paid to the benefits of improving urban agriculture in US cities. Many cities rely on community gardens using shared, previously vacant plots of shared space, containers on porches and fire escapes and more recently the conversion of unused land for farming. Urban agriculture is an umbrella term that describes ventures in cities that include food-growing enterprises for fruits and vegetables, chickens & eggs, bees, and composting. Multiple mechanisms are available for distribution of the food, but the intention is to provide locally-grown food to city dwellers. Data suggest that food security cannot be achieved with urban agriculture, but that food banks and lower income communities can benefit. School children are engaged in farm and nutrition programs that encourage them to recognize the differences between fresh and processed foods. Risks of working with potentially contaminated soils are recognized and addressed. This seminar examines the current practice and limitations of urban agriculture with a focus on improving public health in cities such as Boston.

Readings:

• Brown KH, Jameton AL. 2000.Public Health Implications of Urban Agriculture. Journal of Public Health Policy 21:1, 20-39.
• McBride MB, Shayler HA, Spliethoff HM, Mitchell RG, Marquez-Bravo LG, Ferenz GS, Russell-Anelli JM, Casey L, Bachman S. Concentrations of lead, cadmium and barium in urban garden-grown vegetables: the impact of soil variables. Environmental Pollution 194:254-61. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2014.07.036.
• Pollans M, Roberts M. 2014. Setting the table for urban agriculture. The Urban Lawyer 46:2, 199+.