Spring 2023 Seminar Schedule.
Spring 2023 Schedule Summary |
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| Date | Speaker | Seminar Titles/Topics |
| Jan 25th | Emily Pennoyer & Alina McIntyre
Doctoral Student and Doctoral Candidate Department of Environmental Health BUSPH |
Methods and Partnerships for Effective Action-Oriented Environmental Health Research |
| Feb 1st | Kathryn Rodgers
Doctoral Student Department of Environmental Health BUSPH |
Powerful Science: Building Collaborations for the Best Outcomes |
| Feb 8th | Dr. Bhavna Shamasunder & Dr. Astrid Williams
Associate Professor and Chair Urban and Environmental Policy Occidental College |
Documenting Consumer Product Use through Community Centered Research: The Taking Stock Study |
| Feb 15th | Dr. Jill Johnston
Associate Professor Population and Public Health Sciences and Spatial Sciences University of Southern California |
Urban Oil Drilling: Community Organizing, Research and Action |
| Feb 22nd | Dr. Chad Milando
Research Scientist Department of Environmental Health Boston University School of Public Health |
New research directions in climate change health impacts and indoor air pollution health risk assessment |
| March 1st | Dr. Catherine Karr
Professor Department of Pediatrics, Department of Environmental Occupational Health Sciences University of Washington |
Community Engaged Research Reflections: Addressing Childhood Asthma in an Agricultural Setting |
| March 8th | SPRING BREAK | |
| March 15th | Beth Haley & Greylin Nielsen
PhD Candidates Department of Environmental Health Boston University School of Public Health |
The association between combined sewer overflow events and acute gastrointestinal illness in Massachusetts communities with different drinking water sources
&
A multi-omics assessment of the effects of PFOA treatment on liver lipid homeostasis
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| March 22nd | Dr. Dan O’Brien
Associate Professor of Public Policy and Urban Affairs and Criminology and Criminal Justice; Northeastern University Director, Boston Area Research Initiative; Director, PhD in Public Policy Program |
TBD |
| March 29th | Dr. Mari-Lynn Drainoni
Research Professor Department of Health Law, Policy and Management Boston University School of Public Health |
TBD |
| April 5th | Dr. Carly Hyland
Postdoctoral Fellow Curl Agricultural Lab, School of Public and Population Health Boise State University |
TBD |
| April 12th | Dr. Luz Huntington Moskos
Associate Professor School of Nursing University of Louisville |
TBD |
| April 19th | OPEN | |
| April 26th | OPEN | |
| May 3rd | OPEN | |
| May 10th | OPEN | |
Jan 25th
Emily Pennoyer & Alina McIntyre 
Methods and Partnerships for Effective Action-Oriented Environmental Health Research
Feb 1st
Kathryn Rodgers
Powerful Science: Building Collaborations for the Best Outcomes
Kathryn Rodgers is a PhD student at Boston University School of Public Health, where she is researching environmental causes of Mesoamerican nephropathy and is a trainee in the Boston University Graduate Program in Urban Biogeoscience and Environmental Health. She was previously a staff scientist at the Silent Spring Institute in Newton, MA where she designed and led research projects designed to test strategies to lower people’s exposures to endocrine disrupting chemicals. She also coordinated the Institute’s science translation for decision-makers in governments, businesses, unions, and community groups, which contributed to informed policy changes at the local, state, and federal level.
Summary: What does the path from research to action look like? This presentation will use seven studies to demonstrate tools used to bring research from publication to policy change. We will also discuss how research can be designed to address community-defined data gaps, such as student exposures to flame retardant chemicals in Boston-based dorm rooms; worker concerns, such as lack of evidence of occupational health benefits; and researcher-defined threats to public health, such as poor consumer product standards. Challenges and facilitators on the path to action will be explored.
Meeting Format: In person
Feb 8th
Dr. Bhavna Shamasunder & Dr. Astrid Williams
Documenting Consumer Product Use through Community Centered Research: The Taking Stock Study
Meeting Format: Remote
Feb 15th
Urban Oil Drilling: Community Organizing, Research and Action
Meeting Format: Remote
Feb 22nd
Dr. Chad Milando
New research directions in climate change health impacts and indoor air pollution health risk assessment
March 1st
Community Engaged Research Reflections: Addressing Childhood Asthma in an Agricultural Setting
Meeting Format: Remote
March 15th
Beth Haley
The association between combined sewer overflow events and acute gastrointestinal illness in Massachusetts communities with different drinking water sources
Summary: Combined sewer systems (CSS) are legacy wastewater infrastructure features that exist in more than 700 cities in the United States. CSS discharge untreated combined wastewater directly into rivers and lakes during heavy rainfall, putting downstream communities at risk of exposure. The Merrimack River of New Hampshire and northern Massachusetts serves as a recreational destination for the region and receives CSO discharge upstream of drinking water intakes that collectively supply water for over 500,000 people. We assess the association between upstream CSO events and emergency room visits for acute gastrointestinal illness (AGI) in all MA communities that border the Merrimack and stratify by primary community drinking water source. We also evaluate the relationship between heavy precipitation and AGI, and explore the possible mediating role of CSO events in the relationship between precipitation and AGI.
Greylin Nielsen
A multi-omics assessment of the effects of PFOA treatment on liver lipid homeostasis
Summary: Human epidemiological data consistently shows that per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) alter serum lipid levels and emerging evidence indicates impacts on liver lipids as well. However, understanding the mechanisms through which PFAS disrupt lipid homeostasis is hampered by differences in these mechanisms between humans and the rodent models used to study health effects. Using a human-relevant animal model, we show that PFOA, a legacy PFAS, alters hepatic lipid profiles and pathways controlling lipid metabolism and induces multiple transcription factors. Our analysis underscores the importance of carefully designed animal toxicity studies to contextualize health effects observed in human populations.
Meeting Format: Hybrid
March 22nd
Meeting Format: In person
April 5th
Dr. Carly Hyland
Meeting Format: In person
April 12th
Meeting Format: Remote