Gregory Wellenius
Profiles

Gregory Wellenius, SCD

Professor, Environmental Health - Boston University School of Public Health

(617) 358-2269
wellenius@bu.edu
Talbot
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Biography

Gregory Wellenius is a Professor on Environmental Health at the Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) and Director of the new BUSPH Center for Climate and Health. He is an environmental epidemiologist committed to reducing the adverse health impacts of continued climate change through research, training, and engagement. Dr. Wellenius also teaches an introductory graduate-level class on quantitative methods and serves on the Research Committee of the Health Effects Institute, as a visiting scientist with Google, and on the executive committee of the Extreme Heat Resilience Alliance.

In partnership with a faculty, staff, and students from diverse disciplines, Dr. Wellenius’s research seeks to generate the actionable scientific evidence needed to ensure that our communities are as resilient, sustainable, and healthy as possible. Specifically, his group seeks to: 1) understand the adverse health impacts of extreme weather events, air pollution, and other climate-relevant hazards, 2) assess the effectiveness of strategies to reduce these adverse health impacts, and 3) leverage novel signals to provide timely and actionable insights to public health officials and other key stakeholders. For example, his recent publications highlight the risks posed by extreme heat to our physical and mental health, the limited health benefits of heat warnings and advisories, and the potential utility of data on internet search patterns and population mobility to inform public health.

Prior to joining the faculty at BU in 2020, Dr. Wellenius served as Associate Professor of Epidemiology at the Brown University School of Public Health and Director of Brown’s Center for Environmental Health and Technology. Prior to that, he earned dual doctorate degrees from the Departments of Environmental Health and Epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health, completed a post-doctoral fellowship in the Cardiovascular Division of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC, a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital), and served as Instructor in Medicine at BIDMC and Harvard Medical School. He has published extensively on the cardiovascular effects of ambient air pollution, contributed to the US EPA’s 2009 Integrated Science Assessment for Particulate Matter, provided invited expert testimony on this topic before the US House of Representatives and the US Senate, and served as a co-author of the 4th National Climate Assessment of the US Global Change Research Program (USGCRP). He is the 2019 winner of the ISEE Tony McMichael Mid-Term Career Award.

Other Positions

  • Director, Center for Climate & Health - Boston University School of Public Health

Education

  • Harvard School of Public Health, ScD Field of Study: Environmental Health
  • McGill University, MSc
  • McGill University, BSc

Websites

Classes Taught

  • SPHPH717

Publications

  • Published on 9/1/2025

    Stowell JD, Maji KJ, Li Z, Hu Y, Vaidyanathan A, Milando C, Russell AG, Kinney PL, Odman MT, Wellenius GA. Associations between PM2.5 from prescribed burning and emergency department visits in 11 Southeastern US states. Environ Int. 2025 Sep; 203:109770. PMID: 40914101.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 8/12/2025

    Agrawal T, Phuleria HC, Mohan A, D'Souza G, Thimmulappa R, Jayaraj BS, Mani MR, Patil S, Samdarshi P, Nori-Sarma A, Wellenius G, Mahesh PA. Rationale and methodology of a multicentric prospective cohort study on 'Longitudinal Effects of Air Pollution Exposure on Adolescent Lungs (APEAL)' in urban India: APEAL protocol. BMJ Open. 2025 Aug 12; 15(8):e106329. PMID: 40803718.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 8/7/2025

    Lin Z, Wellenius GA, Jay J. Examining associations between street vegetation and child firearm violence at microgeographic locations in 3 US cities: a case-control study. BMC Pediatr. 2025 Aug 07; 25(1):605. PMID: 40775757.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 7/31/2025

    Metzger A, Baharav Y, Mitchell P, Nichols L, Saunders B, Arlak A, Finke M, Gottemoeller M, Shickman K, Baughman McLeod K, Wellenius GA. Heat Wave Beliefs and Behaviors in Southern Spain. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2025 Jul 31; 22(8). PMID: 40869782.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 7/28/2025

    Adams QH, Gause EL, Baker RE, Hamer DH, Werneck GL, Hutyra LR, Shioda K, Wellenius GA. Impact of weather extremes on the spatiotemporal dynamics of visceral leishmaniasis in Brazil. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2025 Jul; 19(7):e0013316. PMID: 40720386.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 7/23/2025

    Kelley JC, Hartwell C, Mix EC, Gridley-Smith C, Wellenius GA, Nori-Sarma A, Hess JJ, Errett NA. Extreme heat preparedness and response implementation: a qualitative study of barriers, facilitators, and needs among local health jurisdictions in the United States. Environ Res Health. 2025 Sep 01; 3(3):031002. PMID: 40708678.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 7/15/2025

    Hoover C, Trivedi AN, Bello A, Culpepper WJ, Hoover GG, Gasper J, Gaither R, Jiang L, Rennix C, Schneiderman A, Wellenius GA, Woskie SR, Savitz DA. Deployment to Military Bases with Open Burn Pits and Mental Health Conditions and Injury Mortality among U.S. Veterans. J Occup Environ Med. 2025 Jul 15. PMID: 40662966.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 7/8/2025

    Mahesh PA, Kaleem Ullah M, Greeshma MV, Patil S, Samdarshi P, Veerabhadraiah H, Khayum A, Agrawal T, Phuleria HC, D'Souza G, Wellenius G, Nori-Sarma A, Ponnuraj L, Mahadevaswamy SKK, Mayigaiah SC, Thimmulappa RK, Mohan A. Prevalence of Asymptomatic Bronchial Hyperresponsiveness in Indian Adolescents: Insights From the APEAL Study. Clin Exp Allergy. 2025 Sep; 55(9):795-807. PMID: 40625107.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 7/5/2025

    Romitti Y, Sue Wing I, Spangler KR, Wellenius GA. The effects of residential air conditioning and social vulnerability on heat-related hospitalizations in California. Environ Int. 2025 Aug; 202:109659. PMID: 40652595.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 7/1/2025

    Bello A, Savitz DA, Rennix C, Jiang L, Trivedi AN, Wellenius GA, Woskie SR. The impact of burn pit waste segregation practices on respiratory and cardiovascular health risks among US military veterans deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. Environ Health. 2025 Jul 01; 24(1):40. PMID: 40598547.

     Read At: PubMed

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