New Climate and Health Program Tackles ‘Real Crisis’.

From dense clouds of dirty air blanketing India to intense wildfires scorching parts of the western United States, the effects of climate change are critical health challenges desperate for solutions.

With an eye toward training future solution builders, the School of Public Health is launching a new Program on Climate and Health designed to foster greater collaboration in research, training, and translation. Jonathan Levy, chair and professor of environmental health, says the program will feature “numerous ongoing research activities focused on the public health benefits of climate mitigation and adaptation strategies.”

Gregory Wellenius, an associate professor of epidemiology at Brown University School of Public Health and the director of the Brown University Center for Environmental Health and Technology, will lead the new SPH program when he arrives in January.  The activities of the program will include engagement in the newly-developed Master of Science in Population Health Research: Climate and Health.

Wellenius describes himself as an environmental health researcher who is passionate about finding ways to minimize the adverse health effects of climate change. He has a bachelor’s and a master’s in physiology from McGill University in Canada, and earned a PhD in environmental health and epidemiology from the Harvard School of Public Health.

For the last 10 years at Brown, Wellenius has studied how where we live affects our health and wellbeing. He has a long track record of studying the effects of ambient air pollution on the risk of cardiovascular events and potential changes in cardiovascular physiology. More recently, his research has focused on quantifying the threats to people’s health posed by continued climate change, identifying those communities at greatest risk, and providing communities with the evidence they need to better prepare and adapt to a changing climate.

In a meeting ahead of his official start, Wellenius discussed the growing concerns about climate change and the immediate and long-term effects on health.

How would you describe climate change and its potential effects?

Climate change is likely the most significant threat to our health and wellbeing that our generation will experience. We’re already seeing extreme weather events that are more frequent and more severe. This is a real crisis around the world, across the US, and in our own backyard. But we also have a fantastic opportunity. It’s an enormous opportunity for us to decide how we want to invest in our communities and adapt our economies and our lifestyles in order to build more sustainable and resilient communities. So I look forward to working with the team here to provide the scientific evidence needed to do that well.

What is your vision for the new Climate and Health program?

To really take advantage of the opportunity we have here to create more resilient and sustainable communities, we need to make substantial new investments in three areas. One is on research, we need to better understand the health impacts of climate change at the very local level, how it’s going to affect individuals and their families and their communities, and do that in a way that is relevant to policy and ready to be translated into action.

Second, we need to really expand our activities on teaching and training of the next generation of public health researchers and practitioners in this area, because this next generation is going to be on the front lines of really making a difference.

And third, we have to translate all this good work into actual policy and solutions on the ground. We need to enable translation from academic research to impact in the communities that we’re trying to serve. So I think we have a great opportunity here and I think that by bringing together these new investments in research, teaching and education, and in research translation into communities, I’m optimistic that we can make a really great difference here.

What sets this program apart from other opportunities at other public health schools?

There are substantial connections between the BU School of Public Health, the University, and the city of Boston, and the state of Massachusetts, and indeed across the region. So BU already has a tremendous presence in research, education and translation or impact around climate and health. BU will continue to lead in this area by bringing together existing people, resources, partnerships, and data that are already here in novel ways to really empower the university to become that leader in this space.

For example, SPH has launched a new Master of Science in Population Health Research focusing specifically on climate and health. This program is going to be great for anybody that’s ready to take that next step to become a leader in this area or to become an advocate for change in the area of climate and health. And I think what really sets apart this program apart is the large community that’s already here working on various aspects of climate and health, both within the School of Public Health, as well as in large initiatives across the university.

What can graduates expect to do once they complete the program?

I think this program is going to be a great stepping stone for people across a range of professional goals, including people that want to work in a local health departments or other aspects of public health practice, being on the ground, being part of the very community level response to climate change and preparation for the health impacts, as well as for people that want to pursue additional education or participate in research, be an integral component of the scientific research machine to generate the evidence that we need to really do this right.

Are you planning to integrate the new Climate and Health program with other entities at BU?

I think my ambition is to build a program that leverages the diverse pool of talent of faculty, staff, and students across the University, because these are complex problems. It’s not going to be just a public health solution. For example, we will need to work with engineers who provide actual solutions to problems on the ground. We can’t just study the consequences of bad things, right? We need to actually offer novel solutions. Right now, BU has a Clean Energy and Environmental Sustainability Initiative and an Initiative on Cities. So there’s already a lot going on across disciplines, and I think we need to foster that multidisciplinary approach even further.