Global Health Day

A post-mortem study of exposure to bone-seeking toxic metals among patients receiving long-term parenteral nutrition

Patrick Parsons, PhD 
New York State Department of Health, Wadsworth Center;
University at Albany

Dr. Patrick Parsons is the Director of the Division of Environmental Health Sciences and Chief of the Laboratory of Inorganic and Nuclear Chemistry at the New York State Department of Health’s Wadsworth Center. He also a Professor of Environmental Chemistry in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at the University at Albany. Dr. Parsons earned his PhD degree in Chemistry from the University of London, England, and was an NIH Visiting Fellow before moving to the Wadsworth Center to direct the state Lead Poisoning Laboratory. His current research focuses on measuring toxic elements (Pb, Cd, Hg and As) in human tissues and body fluids, as well as in food and environmental matrices, using techniques based on atomic spectrometry. His NIEHS-funded research has focused on developing improved field measurements using “Monochromatic Excitation” X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometry. Dr. Parsons has more than 230 publications on trace element analysis and atomic spectrometry.  His laboratory is currently supported with external funding from NIH, CDC, and FDA.  He is a Chartered Chemist and Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Protecting the air we breathe: role of WHO and public health in ensuring clean air for all

Heather Adair-Rohani, Air Quality & Health Unit Head, a.i., World Health Organization

Heather Adair-Rohani is the air quality and health acting unit head and technical lead on energy and health at the World Health Organization Headquarters working to enhance the evidence for policymakers and to build country capacity to address air pollution, energy access and related health impacts.  In this role, she has led the establishment of the Health and Energy Platform of Action, and the High-level Coalition on Health and Energy. Ms. Adair-Rohani co-led the secretariat for the WHO guidelines for indoor air quality: household fuel combustion and is currently overseeing the work to support countries to implement the Guidelines through the Clean Household Energy Solutions Toolkit.  She represents WHO within the context of inter-agency groups such as UN Energy and the SDG 7 TAG and coordinates WHO’s official SDG 7 reporting on clean cooking.

Interactions of Per- and Polyfluorinated Alkyl Substances (PFAS) with Lipids and Lipid-Related Proteins: Implications for Neurotoxicity

G. Ekin Atilla-Gokcumen, PhD, Marjorie Winkler Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, College of Arts and Sciences, University at Buffalo

G. Ekin Atilla-Gokcumen, Ph.D., is the Marjorie Winkler Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at the University at Buffalo, SUNY. Her research sits at the interface of chemistry and biology, with a strong focus on understanding how lipid metabolism and composition contribute to fundamental cellular processes. She is particularly interested in how changes in specific lipid species regulate cell death, senescence, and responses to environmental challenges, including emerging toxicants such as PFAS. Dr. Atilla-Gokcumen’s lab employs a multidisciplinary approach that integrates chemical biology, mass spectrometry-based lipidomics, and cell biology to dissect the molecular mechanisms by which lipids influence cell fate. Her team has made significant contributions to understanding how dynamic lipid alterations impact membrane function, signaling pathways, and organelle communication during stress responses. More recently, her research has expanded to include how environmental exposures perturb lipid signaling and contribute to neurotoxicity and other pathophysiological outcomes. Her work has been supported by the NIH, NSF, and DoD.

Gestational air pollution exposure and associations with measures of maternal, fetal, and placental biology

David Q. Rich, ScD, MPH,  Professor of Public Health Sciences, Medicine, and Environmental Medicine | Director, Epidemiology PhD and MS Programs | Research Director, Division of Epidemiology, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry

Accurate and timely quantification of air pollution sources by satellites

Kang Sun, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, University at Buffalo

Kang Sun is an associate professor of Environmental Engineering at UB. He received his B.S. in Environmental Sciences from Peking University in Beijing, China and a Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from Princeton University in Princeton, NJ. He worked as a physicist at Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory before joining UB in 2018. His research focuses on the chemistry and physics of the Earth’s atmosphere and their implications for air quality, public health, and the climate.

Community Organizing to protect Public Health

Chris Murawski, Executive Director, Clean Air Coalition of Western New York

Chris Murawski (he/his) has been leading the efforts of organizing for environmental justice and improving public health within disadvantaged communities in Western NY with Clean Air since 2021. Previously he has worked at Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper, serving as the Director of Community Engagement and has over 15 years of experience in the environmental non profit field. In the community Chris serves as a founding board member of the Friends of Freedom Park, and sits on the advisory board for the Center for Occupational Health and Medicine. He has graduated from the organizing training from the Midwest Academy and the Anne Braden Anti-racist Organizing Program and has a BA in Biology from SUNY Buffalo State College.

Associations between Exposure to Wildfire PM2.5 and Pregnancy and Birth Outcomes in the U.S. 

Harshita Sharma, PhD student, Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, School of Public Health and Health Professions, University at Buffalo 

Harshita Sharma is a second-year Ph.D. student in the Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health at the University at Buffalo’s School of Public Health and Health Professions. Her research focuses on environmental epidemiology and maternal-child health, with a particular interest in the associations between environmental extremes, such as wildfires, and birth and pregnancy outcomes.

Analysis of PFAS (Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances) and PFOS (Perfluorooctane Sulfonate) isomer distribution in market fish

Mindula Wijayahena, PhD student, Department of Chemistry, College of Arts and Sciences, University at Buffalo   

I’m Mindula Wijayahena, a 5th-year Ph.D. student at the Department of Chemistry, University at Buffalo, specializing in Environmental Analytical Chemistry. I’m pursuing my Ph.D. under the guidance of Dr. Diana S. Aga. My research focuses on the microbial degradation of PFAS (Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances) and the development of advanced sample extraction techniques for complex human blood matrices and fish to analyze PFAS and their isomers. I utilize various analytical instruments, including combustion ion chromatography (CIC), liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), and liquid chromatography coupled to ion mobility separation with time-of-flight (LC-IMS/QToF) in my work.

The association between Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances and inflammation and oxidative stress biomarkers among U.S. adolescents

Chan Li, PhD student, Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, School of Public Health and Health Professions, University at Buffalo 

Chan Li is a third-year Ph.D. student in Epidemiology at the University at Buffalo. He earned his B.S. in Pharmaceutical Sciences (2018), M.P.H. in Biostatistics (2020), and M.S. in Epidemiology (2022), all from the University at Buffalo. During his graduate training, he interned with the Erie County Department of Health’s Opioid Task Force, where he conducted descriptive analyses of opioid-related overdose trends.

His master’s research and ongoing doctoral work focus on prenatal health, children’s health, environmental health, with additional interests in inflammatory biomarkers. Chan has authored five peer-reviewed publications and has two more under review. He is a selected speaker for ISEE 2024 in Chile and a recipient of both the Saxon Graham Research Award and the O’Shea Travel Award.

Chan has contributed to the development of risk prediction models for low birth weight based on maternal exposures and adverse pregnancy outcomes. He has also used data from the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) to examine birth weight, adverse pregnancy outcomes, hypertension, and inflammatory biomarkers in the context of women’s health. His recent work explores how per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) relate to biomarkers of inflammation and oxidative stress among U.S. adolescents. Currently, he is collaborating with Dr. Lina Mu on primary data collection about women’s health outcomes and a pilot study focused on environmental health.

Drawing on the knowledge and skills he continues to gain through his Ph.D. journey, Chan applies his background in biostatistics, epidemiology, and public health to support and conduct research that advances women’s and children’s health.

From processing motivations to environmental behavioral intention

Yifei He, PhD student, Department of Communication, College of Arts and Sciences, University at Buffalo 

Yifei He is a PhD student in the Department of Communication, UB. His research focuses on risk communication, environmental communication, information processing, and media psychology. He utilizes multiple quantitative methods in his studies (including survey, experiment, and computational methods). Currently, his research applying social behavioral science aims to explore how to arouse the public’s concern about environment issues and encourage their pro-environment behaviors (for instance, improving recycling and climate change communication). In leisure time, he loves running and playing Texas hold’em poker.

Advancing human health through nutrition: a core foundation for health promotion and disease prevention

Marian L Neuhouser, PhD, RD,  Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center

Marian L Neuhouser, PhD, RD, is a Professor and Program Head in the Cancer Prevention Program, Division of Public Health Sciences at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center. She is also Core Faculty in Nutritional Sciences and Affiliate Professor of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Washington. Dr. Neuhouser completed her undergraduate degree in Community Nutrition at the University of California, Davis. She obtained her PhD in Nutritional Sciences at the University of WA followed by postdoctoral training at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center where she subsequently became faculty and has spent the past 28 years engaged in cancer-related nutrition research.

Dr. Neuhouser has been Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator of numerous NIH and USDA-funded grants focused on: (1) dietary modification interventions for reduction of risk of cancer or progression of existing disease; (2) short term intervention trials to delineate the role of foods, food components and dietary patterns on human metabolism and physiology, and for dietary biomarker discovery; and (3) methodologic research to improve dietary assessment used in cancer prevention research. Research designs range from large observational cohorts to controlled feeding trials. She has authored over 450 peer-reviewed manuscripts in the biomedical literature.

Dr. Neuhouser is member and chair of the NIH’s Lifestyle and Health Behaviors (LHB) Scientific Review Group and is a member of the Food & Nutrition Board of the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. Dr. Neuhouser was a member of the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, was President of the American Society for Nutrition 2016-2017, was elected as a fellow of the American Society for Nutrition in 2023, and is Deputy Editor of The Journal of Nutrition.

Parent influences on eating behavior in children and adolescents

Katherine Balantekin, PhD, RD, Assistant Professor, Department of Exercise and Nutrition Science, School of Public Health and Health Professions, University at Buffalo

Katherine N. Balantekin, PhD, RD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York. She joined the faculty after earning a doctoral degree in Nutrition Sciences, with concentrations in childhood obesity prevention and human development, from the Pennsylvania State University, and completing postdoctoral training at Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine. Dr. Balantekin’s work focuses on parent influences on eating behavior in children and adolescents with overweight/obesity and/or eating disorders. 

(A)lfajor to (Z)apallo – developing a food contaminants database to support children’s health in Uruguay

Katarzyna Kordas, PhD,  Associate Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, School of Public Health and Health Professions, University at Buffalo

Kasia Kordas is an environmental epidemiologist with interdisciplinary research that combines global health, nutritional sciences, environmental health, and human development. Kasia earned her PhD in international health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Currently, she is an associate professor in the department of Epidemiology of Environmental Health at the University at Buffalo. In the fall 2023 she was based in the Czech Republic at the RECETOX, Masaryk University as part of her Distinguished Fulbright Scholar award.

With her colleagues, Kasia established and co-leads the Salud Ambiental Montevideo (SAM) environmental school cohort in Uruguay. Her research program investigates the effects of complex environmental (chemical) exposures and toxicant-diet interactions on the health and development of urban Latino children. Her research spans from molecules to neighborhoods, accounting for the family, school, and neighborhood contexts in the relationship between toxicants and neurobehavioral development of children. This program of research has been supported by several grants from the National Institutes of Health. With funding from UB’s Office for International Education, Kasia and her colleagues have recently begun investigating heavy metal contamination in diets of Uruguayan children.

Looking back and seeing forward – the role of nutrition in vision as we age

Amy E. Millen, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, School of Public Health and Health Professions, University at Buffalo

Mobile Produce Market Address Nutrition Insecurity in Underserved Communities across the U.S.

Lucia Leone, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Community Health and Health Behavior, School of Public Health and Health Professions, University at Buffalo

Lucia A. Leone, PhD is an Associate Professor in the Department of Community Health and Health Behavior at the University at Buffalo School of Public Health and Health Professions. She is also Co-Chair of the national Mobile Market Coalition which supports mobile produce markets across the country with training, research, networking, and advocacy.  Lucia works with community and small business partners to develop, test and implement sustainable interventions, including Food is Medicine programs, to increase access to healthy, local and affordable food.

Dietary factors, smoking cessation and lung cancer: Investigations in Chinese and US populations

Ajay Anand Myneni, PhD, Research Scientist, Department of Surgery, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo

Dr. Myneni obtained his undergraduate in Medicine in India and pursued higher studies in public health in the U.S. He completed his MPH from the University of Illinois Springfield and PhD in Epidemiology from the Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health here at UB with his dissertation focus on diet, smoking cessation, and lung cancer. Currently, he is Assistant Director of UB Surgical Outcomes and Research with focus on addressing disparities in access and utilization of care and improving quality of care.

Assessing the Efficacy of Utilizing Quitlines in Food Pantries to Promote Smoking Cessation

Toni Naccarella, MPH student in Health Services Administration, Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, School of Public Health and Health Professions, University at Buffalo  

Toni Naccarella is a graduate student pursuing a Master of Public Health with a concentration in Health Services Administration, expected to graduate in May of 2024. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Urban and Public Policy from the University at Buffalo. During field training at the Seneca Babcock Community Association food pantry, Toni assisted in providing food to around 80 individuals and families weekly. She collaborated with Dr. Kruger, Dr. Felicione and other students in the initial process of doing smoking cessation outreach at the pantry. Currently, Toni is conducting a literature review to inform interventions aimed at increasing knowledge and utilization of the NYS Quitline in food pantry settings.

Using dietary patterns to understand mechanisms through which nutrition may influence chronic disease

Kaelyn Burns, PhD candidate, Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, School of Public Health and Health Professions, University at Buffalo

Kaelyn Burns is a third year PhD candidate in the Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health at UB, and she has a master’s degree in human nutrition from the University of Delaware. She currently serves as an Executive Committee member for the Student Interest Group of the American Society for Nutrition. Kaelyn’s research interest is in nutritional epidemiology, focusing on the role of dietary intake in chronic disease development. Kaelyn was awarded a Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award Individual Predoctoral Fellowship (F31) from the NHLBI to support her dissertation, which aims to clarify the metabolic processes following consumption of a diet high in choline that may lead to atherosclerosis development.

Manipulating tumor energetics with dietary restrictions for better cancer care

Sabrina Orsi, PhD candidate, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo

Sabrina Orsi is a fourth year PhD candidate in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University at Buffalo, with interests in metabolism, nutrition, and cancer therapeutics. Prior to pursuing her graduate education, Sabrina received a BS in Biochemistry, a BS in Microbiology, and conducted research in a neuroscience lab at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Currently, Sabrina conducts research under the mentorship of Dr. Roberto Pili where she is investigating the use of specific dietary restrictions to target metabolic vulnerabilities in different subtypes of renal cell carcinoma. Since joining Dr. Pili’s lab, Sabrina’s accomplishments include poster presentations at multiple conferences, a co-authored manuscript on translocation renal cell carcinoma, and several awards for her presentations including UB’s Three-Minute Thesis People’s Choice Award.

Air Pollution and Women’s Health: Exposure Vulnerability and Biological Susceptibility

Junfeng Zhang, PhD, Duke University

Junfeng Zhang is professor of global and environmental health and chair of the Environmental Science and Policy Division in the Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University. He has integrated clinical research, exposure science, toxicology, and epidemiology to examine health effects and underlying biological mechanisms of air pollution exposure. His work has involved collaborators from China, India, Thailand, Mongolia, UK, Denmark, and Mexico.

Zhang has co-authored more than 300 peer-reviewed articles in medical journals and environmental science journals. He received a BS in applied chemistry and a MS in atmospheric chemistry from Peking University, an MS degree in environmental sciences and a PhD in environmental sciences and public health from Rutgers University.

Zhang is an officially recognized contributor to the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize awarded to the IPCC. In 2012, he received the Jerome Wesolowski Award, the highest honor of the International Society of Exposure Science. In 2013, he was named an AAAS Fellow.

Global Implication of PFAS exposure and Perinatal Health: What we know, what we don't know and what are we learning

Erin M. Bell, PhD, University at Albany

Erin Bell, PhD, is a professor in the departments of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and Environmental Health in the School of Public Health, and the interim assistant vice president for research compliance, University at Albany. She joined the faculty at the University at Albany after completing her postdoctoral training at the National Cancer Institute, Bureau of Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology. Her research studies focus on environmental exposures as they relate to reproductive and child outcomes. Bell is currently the co-principal investigator of two cohort studies: the Upstate KIDS study, which follows over 6,000 children to identify potential risk factors for developmental health effects and the Health Study of New York State Communities Exposed to PFAS Contaminated Drinking Water, funded by ATSDR as one of seven sites participating in the national Multi-Site PFAS Health Study. She has served on several National Academy of Medicine committees, including the Committee to Review the Health Effects in Vietnam Veterans of Exposure to Herbicides and the Committee on Guidance on PFAS Testing and Health Outcomes. Bell received her MS in epidemiology and biostatistics from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and her PhD in epidemiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
 

Oxidative stress: a mechanism underlying preterm birth?

Robert Taylor, MD, PhD,  Professor of obstetrics and gynecology and assistant dean, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences

Maternal Mortality Crisis in the U.S.

LuAnne Brown, CEO, Buffalo Prenatal-Perinatal Network 

LuAnne Brown is CEO of the Buffalo Prenatal-Perinatal Network, one of 16 Comprehensive Networks established by New York State in 1987. BPPN’s focus is to improve pregnancy outcomes, promote better maternal and infant /child health care, establish better linkages between existing programs  and ensure that families have access to the full range of preventative and primary health care, social support and educational resources in Erie County. The agency currently houses the Healthy Families homebased parenting program; the Maternal Infant Child Health Care Collaborative Community Health Worker Program; and the Responsible Fatherhood Initiative

LuAnne holds a BS in Nursing and a MS in Nursing Administration, and currently serves on several Boards including St. Mary’s High School, Plymouth Crossroads, GLIN and WNYCOSH. Previous to her role at Buffalo Prenatal Perinatal Network, LuAnne was in various Nursing Administrative positions at Women and Children’s Hospital of Buffalo, part of the Kaleida Health System, including Director of Maternal/Neonatal Nursing, Director of Surgical Services and Chief Nursing Officer. 

Identity Erasure through Routine Healthcare: 18-26 year-old LGBTQ+ Experiences of Abortion in the United States

Elizabeth Bartelt, PhD, MPH, Clinical assistant professor, Department of Community Health and Health Behavior, School of Public Health and Health Professions, University at Buffalo 

Elizabeth Bartelt, MPH, PhD, (she/her) is a health educator whose research focuses on sexual and gender minority (i.e., commonly known as LGBTQ+) reproductive health access and experiences. 

She received the highly competitive Society for Family Planning Emerging Fellows research grant to complete her dissertation work. Dr. Bartelt worked for many years in the field of public health before obtaining her PhD including serving as an Americorps*VISTA member and working as a sexuality educator for Planned Parenthood. 

Dr. Bartelt completed her PhD in Health Behavior from Indiana University, School of Public Health - Bloomington, before joining faculty at UB, where she now teaches courses in SPHHP's undergraduate public health program.

Dietary pulse consumption during childhood is associated with improved nutrient outcomes in the first two years of life

Divya Choudhary, PhD student in exercise and nutrition sciences, School of Public Health and Health Professions, University at Buffalo

Greetings! I'm Divya Choudhary, a Ph.D. student in Nutrition Science at the University of Buffalo. My academic background includes an MS in Nutrition Science and a B.Tech + M.Tech in Food Technology. My research interests focus on the role of maternal nutrition in the health outcomes of mothers and their children, particularly during early childhood. Currently, I'm working as a Research Project Assistant, where I'm investigating the association between child bean consumption, diet quality, and nutrient outcomes during early childhood using the WIC-ITFPS data. Through my work, I discovered the positive impact of dried beans and chili on the nutrient intake in infants. In addition to my current position, I've had the privilege of serving as a Teaching Assistant, Research Aide, and Junior Research Associate. I've authored several peer-reviewed manuscripts and received scholarships and awards for my research work, which has instilled in me a deep appreciation for the power of scientific inquiry. My expertise includes data analysis using statistical tools such as SAS and SPSS, and I'm experienced in animal nutrition. In addition to my academic and research pursuits, I enjoy hiking, cooking, and painting.

Dietary Pattern and Periodontal Disease among Postmenopausal Women

Yihua Yue, PhD student in epidemiology and environmental health, School of Public Health and Health Professions, University at Buffalo 

Yihua Yue is a PhD candidate in Epidemiology at UB, with interests in nutritional epidemiology, women's health, and mental health. She is working on her dissertation investigating the association between dietary pattern, oral microbiome, and oral diseases.

The Effects of Wars and Conflicts on Maternal Health Outcomes in Asia from 1950 to 2010

Xingyu Chen, PhD student in global gender and sexuality studies, College of Arts and Sciences, University at Buffalo   

Hello! I'm Xingyu Chen, a PhD Candidate in Global Gender Studies at the University of Buffalo. My research interests focus on women's health during wars and conflicts in Asia. Currently, I'm working on my dissertation on the impacts of military conflicts on maternal health outcomes among Asian countries. In my work, I assess the severity and duration of conflicts in Asia from 1950-2010 and analyze the effects on maternal health indicators.
I love working with people together and transform the research into action. I was the Social Impact Fellow at Stitch Buffalo with MBA and Master of Social Work students on a consulting project. Besides my research, I love martial arts and petting cats at my friends' home.

Breast cancer: more than just reproductive risk factors

Sarah Lima, PhD student in epidemiology and environmental health, School of Public Health and Health Professions, University at Buffalo

Sarah Lima is a PhD student in the Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health at the University at Buffalo. She holds a BS in Biology and an MPH in Epidemiology. Following her MPH, Sarah worked as a research coordinator for a breast cancer cohort study at Columbia University and as a data analyst at the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, where she conducted research on reproductive factors and breast cancer. She currently conducts research with her advisors, Dr. Heather Ochs-Balcom and Dr. Tia Palermo, on breast and ovarian cancer and health effects of social policy, respectively. Her dissertation research focuses on the effects of historic redlining on cancer outcomes and disparities

Keynote Lecture. Challenges with Post COVID-19 condition: WHO Perspectives

Janet Diaz, MD, Team lead, Clinical Management, WHO Health Emergencies Programme

Dr. Janet Diaz, MD, is the head of clinical care, WHO Health Emergencies Programme. Since 2018, she has worked as the lead for the Clinical Management Team that is responsible for readiness and response to emerging infectious diseases, such as COVID-19 and Ebola. Her unit is responsible for developing the COVID-19 Living guidelines on Therapeutics and Clinical Management, spearheading the oxygen access scale up initiative and advancing clinical research agenda around emerging infectious diseases.

Dr. Diaz is an accomplished specialist in pulmonary and critical care medicine with expertise in clinical medicine and global health. She is committed to working with medical and public health professionals to deliver quality, safe, and cost-efficient care to critically ill patients in resource-limited regions.

Previously, she worked at the California Pacific Medical Center, a tertiary referral center in San Francisco. She received her post-graduate training in Internal, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF). From 2006-2010, she served as the Medical Director of the MICU at San Francisco General Hospital and as an Assistant Clinical Professor at UCSF where she was recognized for her leadership in hospital quality, patient safety and clinical teaching.

Keynote Lecture. Neurological complications of COVID-19 infection

Avindra Nath, MD, Clinical Director, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), National Institutes of Health (NIH); Director, NINDS Translational Neuroscience Center, NIH

Dr. Nath is the clinical director of NINDS, the director of the Translational Neuroscience Center and chief of the section of infections of the nervous system, positions he has held since 2011.

Dr. Nath focuses his research on retroviral infections of the nervous system and their link to neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases, and he works to develop new ways to diagnose and treat these diseases. The illnesses he studies are varied, and include HIV, ALS and MS, as well as (re)emerging infectious diseases. Dr. Nath’s expertise is in managing patients with CNS infections or with immune disorders where an infectious etiology may be suspected. He has led several national and international efforts to study outbreaks or neurological illnesses where an infectious or immune component is suspected, such as Ebola, Zika, Nodding syndrome, HHV-6 encephalitis and SARS-CoV-2, and he serves on various WHO, CDC, NIH, FDA and HHS committees related to these topics.

Since the emergence of SARS-CoV-2, Dr. Nath has played a leadership role in categorizing and drawing attention to the neurological complications of the infection. He has organized multi-institutional efforts, workshops and seminars, given keynote addresses, and given nearly 100 interviews in all major news media about COVID-19. Dr. Nath has also testified at the Congressional Neuroscience committee and the National Academy of Medicine to draw attention to the long-term complications of the illness.

Prior to his work at the NIH, Dr. Nath held faculty positions at the University of Manitoba, the University of Kentucky, and Johns Hopkins University. He received his MD from Christian Medical College in India. 

COVID updates

Thomas A. Russo, MD, Professor and Chief, Infectious Disease, Department of Medicine,
Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo

Thomas Russo, MD, is a SUNY Distinguished Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. His clinical and research focus is on infectious diseases. As a practicing physician, he cares for hospitalized patients at the Buffalo VA Medical Center (Buffalo VAMC).

Russo’s research focus is on pathogenesis, and drug and vaccine development against extraintestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli, Acinetobacter baumannii and a new pathotype of Klebsiella pneumoniae. His work has been funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Veterans Administration. 

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Russo has educated and informed the university, health care providers, the public and businesses about how best to manage this evolving crisis. He has become such a familiar source for local, national and international media reporting on the COVID-19 pandemic that The Buffalo News deemed him “Buffalo’s Dr. Fauci.”

Russo teaches medical students in lecture settings and small-group sessions and teaches clinical patient care to medical students, residents and fellows at the VAMC. In addition, he mentors students, residents and fellows in his laboratory.

Russo has been honored with numerous awards. These include the SUNY Inventor Award, recognition as one of UB’s Top 100 Principal Investigators, and the Stockton Kimball Award for consistent academic accomplishment, significant research discoveries and contributions to the progress of UB and the Jacobs School.

Tracking SARS-CoV-2 variants in municipal wastewater

Yinyin Ye, PhD, Assistant Professor, Environmental Engineering, Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, University at Buffalo

Dr. Yinyin Ye is currently an Assistant Professor of Environmental Engineering in the Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering at the University at Buffalo (UB). Her research focuses on the fate of viral pathogens and disease-causing biomolecules in natural and engineered systems. Specifically, her team leverages biomolecular techniques and analytical tools to monitor infectious diseases through wastewater-based epidemiology, to understand the mechanisms by which viruses are resistant to disinfection, and to predict sunlight photolysis of antibiotic resistance genes in the environment. Prior to joining UB, Dr. Ye completed her post-doctoral training at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. She received her Ph.D. degree in Environmental Engineering from University of Michigan in 2018, and her B.S. degree in Environmental Engineering from Tongji University in 2012. 
 

Clean air and COVID pandemic: an opportunity for radical change

Meng Wang, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, School of Public Health and Health Professions, University at Buffalo

Dr. Meng Wang, joined the Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health in the Division of Environmental Health Sciences as an assistant professor in June 2018. His research focuses on environmental exposure monitoring, air pollution modeling, and health impacts of environmental exposures. Specifically, he is interested in producing the most accurate human exposure estimates for health studies using advanced exposure technologies (e.g. fixed and mobile monitoring, remote sensing and low-cost sensors) and analytic approaches based on complex big data resources (e.g. a GIS-based environmental model). His research also involves investigating whether exposure to air pollution and other environmental contaminants are associated with respiratory and cardiovascular diseases and cancer. Furthermore, he does research to understand the mechanistic pathways underlying these associations, including genetic and environmental interactions.

COVID pandemic and impacts on mental health

Lina Mu, PhD, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, Director, Office of Global Health Initiatives, School of Public Health and Health Professions
 

Welcome.  

Jean Wactawski-Wende, PhD, SUNY Distinguished Professor and dean, School of Public Health and Health Professions (SPHHP)

Keynote Lecture. The Early Life Exposome—from Concept to Implementation​. 

Martine Vrijheid, PhD, Research professor, Barcelona Institute for ISGlobal Health (ISGlobal), Spain

Martine Vrijheid, Research Professor and Head of the Childhood and Environment Programme of ISGlobal, received her doctorate degree from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) in 2000. She worked as lecturer at LSHTM and then as staff scientist at the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC, Lyon), specialising in environmental epidemiology.

Since joining ISGlobal, she has focused her research activities on the topic of environmental (chemical, physical, social) exposures and child health. She is PI of the INMA-Sabadell birth cohort study. Under several national and international grants, she has studied exposure to obesogenic chemical pollutants and to the urban environment (bisphenol A, phthalates, PFASs, persistent organic pollutants, tobacco smoke, air pollutants, green spaces) in relation to childhood obesity and cardiometabolic / cardiovascular health, work that she is now expanding to other European cohorts.

In recent years she has spearheaded the push to collect more accurate and complete data on many exposures during early life periods as PI of the HELIX (Human Early Life Exposome) project, a large collaborative European project involving birth cohorts in 6 European countries and implementing, for the first time, the exposome concept. HELIX constructed a “deep” exposome database with completely comparable biomonitoring data, geospatial data, child health outcome data, and multiple omics signatures, in mothers and children, building the methodological basis for analysing many exposures, describing various aspects of the early life exposome (temporal, geographical, social inequalities), linking the exposome to molecular omics markers, and linking the exposome to child health (e.g. lung function: Agier, Lancet Plan Health 2018; blood pressure: Warembourg, JACC 2019; obesity: Vrijheid, EHP 2020). In 2020, she obtained the ATHLETE project (Advancing Tools for Human Early Life-course Exposome Research and Translation (EC H2020), which aims to advance important challenges in exposome research through improved tools, data, and translation.

Finally, as PI of two previous EC FP7 grants, ENRIECO (Environmental Health Risks in European Birth Cohorts) and CHICOS (Developing a Child Cohort Strategy in Europe) she has been instrumental in the building of a network of birth cohorts in Europe, resulting in a framework for data sharing and harmonization across more than 30 European birth cohorts. She continues this work as WP leader in H2020 project LifeCycle that aims to build the EU Child Cohort Network by implementing a FAIR data sharing and analysis platform.

Long-term consequences of obstetric and neonatal risks associated with air pollution 

Pauline Mendola, PhD, Professor and chair, SPHHP Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health

Dr. Pauline Mendola is currently a Professor and Chair of the Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health in the School of Public Health and Health Related Professions here at UB. She came to us in the Fall of 2020 from her position as a Senior Investigator in the Epidemiology Branch in the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Previously, she served as Chief of the Infant, Child and Women’s Health Statistics Branch at the National Center for Health Statistics and Chief of the Epidemiology and Biomarkers Branch of the National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory of the US EPA. Dr. Mendola’s research focuses on environmental factors that impact fertility, pregnancy loss, obstetric complications and birth outcomes; chronic disease in women of reproductive age; and factors underlying variation in asthma control during pregnancy.

Climate change, extreme weather and natural disaster on human health

Shao Lin, MD, MPH, PhD, Professor, departments of Environmental Health Sciences and Epidemiology / Biostatistics; assoc. director of global health research, School of Public Health, University at Albany.

Dr. Shao Lin currently is a Professor of both Department of Environmental Health Sciences and Department of Epidemiology / Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University at Albany and the Associate Director of Global Health Research. She obtained her medical degree from Sun Yat-sen University in China and her both MPH and Ph.D. degree at Epidemiology from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. As the Research Director of the Bureau of Environmental and Occupational Epidemiology in the Center for Environmental Health, NYSDOH, she has 30 years of research experience in directing various environmental health studies and has successfully completed more than 50 studies since 1990. As a Principal Investigator, she has directed studies assessing health impacts of various environmental exposures including climate change, extreme weather, air pollution, heavy traffic exposure, residential exposure to urban air toxics from outdoor/indoor sources, health effects among New York City residents living near Ground Zero after the 9/11/01 disaster or after Hurricane Sandy, and a series of school environment-health projects. She has obtained over 18 million grants and has published more than 190 papers in environmental health field. Dr. Lin has been involved in multiple national climate change committees on developing climate change indicators, evaluating current heat-stress definitions, and preparing white papers regarding climate change to the US Congress. She was invited to be an Expert Panelist of the two National meetings regarding Climate Change and Health sponsored by NIH, CDC, and EPA where she provided recommendations of climate-health research to the US Congress and the US President. She has been served as a standing member in the NIH IRAP Study Section and is currently a standing member of NIEHS EHS Study Section.

Strengthening adolescent capabilities: evidence from a Tanzanian social protection program simultaneously addressing economic and health challenges.

Tia Palermo, PhD, associate professor, SPHHP Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health

Tia Palermo is an Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Environmental Health at the University at Buffalo. Prior to joining University at Buffalo, she was a Social Policy Manager for Social Protection at UNICEF, where she led research examining linkages between social policy, poverty, and health, with a focus on children and adolescents. She has substantial expertise conducting mixed method impact evaluations in Sub-Saharan Africa, including studies of large-scale cash transfer programs in collaboration with national governments, and implementation research in Latin America. Tia previously worked for international NGOs, including Ipas and Family Care International. She is co-Principal Investigator on four studies examining impacts of social protection programs for the The Transfer Project and is also a member of the following Research Consortia: SPARKS Network for Health and Social Protection and The Cash Transfer and Intimate Partner Violence Research Collaborative. She holds a Ph.D. in Public Policy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and completed postdoctoral training in Demography at the CUNY Institute for Demographic Research.

Adolescent health behavior: challenges and opportunities

Jennifer L. Temple, PhD, Professor, SPHHP departments of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, and Community Health and Health Behavior; director of the Nutrition and Health Research Laboratory

Jenn Temple is a Professor in the Departments of Exercise and Nutrition Science and Community Health and Health Behavior and the Director of the Nutrition and Health Research Laboratory. For the past 15 years, her research has focused on factors the influence ingestive behavior in adolescents. Her most recent work has focused on behaviors that promote excess weight gain, but prior work has examined caffeine use and risk taking behavior. Jenn and her partner have five children, two grandchildren, and two COVID puppies. When not homeschooling her younger children during a pandemic, Jenn enjoys running, yoga, cooking and reading. 

COVID-19 Impacts on Children

Oscar G. Gómez-Duarte, MD, PhD Chief, Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, associate professor, Department of Pediatrics, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

SYMPOSIUM: Substance Use and Its Impact on Local and Global health 

The SPHHP's Office of Global Health Initiatives welcomed Dr. Paolo Boffetta to UB. Dr. Boffetta is Professor of Medicine, Global Health, Oncological Sciences and Preventive Medicine, and Associate Director for Global Oncology of the Tisch Cancer Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, NY.

Global Burden of Cancer from Tobacco and Alcohol
Paolo Boffetta, MD, PhD

Cigarettes and E-cigarettes, Using Methylation as a Biomarker of Effect
Jo Freudenheim, PhD, UB Distinguished Professor, Chair and Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health

Tobacco Control to Improve Maternal and Child Health
Xiaozhong Wen, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics

Policy Approaches to Addressing Provider Barriers to Offering Buprenorphine Treatment
Christopher Barrick, PhD, Senior Research Scientist, Department of Family Medicine

The Intersection of Public Health, Emergency Medicine and the Opioid Crisis
Heather Lindstrom, PhD, Research Director, Research Assistant Professor, UBMD Emergency Medicine

PANEL DISCUSSION: Think Locally. Act Globally

The following UB Faculty discussed their global health experiences from around the world:

Laura Smith, PhD – Zimbabwe
Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health
School of Public Health and Health Professions

Yeeli Mui, PhD – South Asia
Postdoctoral Associate, Community for Global Health Equity and UB Food Systems Planning and Health Communities Lab

Lina Mu, PhD, MD – China
Director, Office of Global Health Initiatives, Associate Professor, Director of Graduate Studies,
MPH Program, Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health
School of Public Health and Health Professions

Jessica Kruger, PhD – Jamaica
Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Community Health and Health Behavior
School of Public Health and Health Professions

Mara Huber, PhD – Tanzania
Associate Dean, Undergraduate Research and Experiential Learning

The 9th Annual Global Health Day was co-sponsored by the School of Public Health and Health Professions' Office of Global Health Initiatives and the University at Buffalo's Community of Excellence in Global Health Equity.

EXPOSOME AND GLOBAL HEALTH BURDEN

EXPOSOME

The exposome is a complementary concept of the human genome. It encompasses life-course exposure from the environment, diet, behavior and endogenous processes, from the prenatal period onward. Exposome research could revolutionize our understanding of the underlying causes of disease and guide the development of preventions and cures for more diseases. The symposium aimed to bring experts in various fields together to advance exposome research at UB.

The New Era of Exposome and Its Implications in Global Health
Rosalind Wright, MD, MPH
Dean for Translational Biomedical Research
Co-Director, Institue for Exposomic Research
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai ​

Welcome
Jean Wactawski-Wende, PhD
Dean, School of Public Health and Health Professions

Keynote: The New Era of Exposome and Its Implications in Global Health
Dr. Rosalind Wright  

Behavioral Contributions to Chronic Diseases
Gary Giovino, PhD, MS
Professor and Chair, Department of Community Health and Health Behavior

Metabolomics in Exposome
Lina Mu, MD, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health

Metal Exposures in Women and Children, what has diet to do with it?
Kasia Kordas, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health

An Introduction to 16S Microbiome Analysis in Bioconductor
Jeff Miecznikowski, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Biostatistics

Environmental Health Perspectives on Global Inequalities: Multi-Generational Impacts of Arsenic Exposure on DNA Methylation and their Implications in Arsenic Toxicity
Xuefeng Ren, PhD, MD
Associate Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health

OGHI Global Helath Day Film Screening: BENDING THE ARC

"Bending the Arc" is an acclaimed documentary on the global health movement. This extraordinary film follows the doctors and activists that founded Partners in Health, on the ground in Haiti, Peru, and Rwanda, in their fight for universal health equity and the right to health for all.

Film event co-sponsored by OGHI and the department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health.

Rebecca Stoltzfus holds a PhD in Human nutrition from Cornell University (1992) and a B.A. in Chemistry from Goshen College (1984). From 1992-2002, she was assistant and then associate professor in the Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She joined the Division of Nutritional Sciences in 2002 as an associate professor and was promoted to professor in 2005. For the 2008-09 academic year, she was a visiting professor in the Department of Community Health, Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center, Moshi Tanzania.

Her research focuses on the causes and consequences of malnutrition in women and children in developing countries. Current major projects include the SHINE (Sanitation, Hygiene, and Infant Nutrition Efficacy) Trial in Zimbabwe, Mycotoxins and Infant Growth (Zimbabwe and Tanzania), Implementation Science for Scaling up Nutrition (Tanzania), and a project in Kenya and Ethiopia to translate the new global recommendation for calcium supplementation in pregnancy into policies and programs in Kenya and Ethiopia.  

Agenda:

• 12 p.m. Lunch
• 12:30 p.m. Keynote Address: Elucidating the causes of childhood malnutrition: poor diet, enteric dysfunction disorders, and mycotoxins
• 1:30-2:30 p.m. Student Presentations
• 2:30 p.m. Break
• 3-4 p.m. Global Health Research Panel
• 4 p.m. Closing