April 20, 2011 | |
Cooking and Climate: The Unfinished Health Agenda of Incomplete CombustionKirk R. Smith, MPH, PhD Professor of Global Environmental Health Burning Solid Fuels for Cooking Affects Health and the Climate Tomás Guilarte, PhD, chair of the Department of Environmental Health Sciences, and Dean Linda P. Fried host Kirk R. Smith, a prolific researcher and thought leader in the field of global environmental health, as he explores the devastating health effects of burning solid fuels for cooking—an activity that more than half the world's households rely upon daily. "If you follow the money, you follow the exotic factors affecting the world's rich, but if you follow the risk, you find mundane ones that seriously impact the lives of the poor," says Smith. Reflecting on the recent events in Japan, Smith discusses his own early career studying the health risks associated with nuclear energy and points out that more commonplace energy sources have an even bigger impact on health. "You could have a Chernobyl a month and it wouldn’t come close to the health impact of burning biomass and coal in the home—these energy sources contribute to one million premature deaths per year. More than half the households in the world burn biomass and coal to cook their meals," he says. Smith also explores: How the incomplete combustion of wood, crops, cow dung, coal, etc. contributes to global warming and outdoor air pollution, and what existing and emerging technologies public health workers and policymakers can tap to find viable solutions for families in settings with limited resources. |
March 9, 2011 | |
Carolyn M. Clancy, MD, director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), explores ways to address the enormous gap that remains between what we know can improve health outcomes and what is currently being delivered to most Americans. How can a sharper focus on implementation, dissemination, collaboration, and patient engagement improve the public's health and transform our health system? |
February 16, 2011 | |
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"Explicit Or Not, Every Decision is Based on a Model" "Thinking in Systems, Looking for the Complex Causes of Population Health" | |
January 19, 2011 | |
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November 10, 2010 | Corrections Health: A System Where Public Health and Medicine Intersect Lester N. Wright, MD, MPH Deputy Commissioner and Chief Medical Officer (Retired) Elizabeth Ritter, RN | |
September 15, 2010 | Global Health: How United States Universities are Responding to a Global Priority Michael Merson, MD Panelists Wafaa El Sadr, MD, PhD [bio] Richard Parker, PhD [bio] Moderator: Alastair Ager, PhD [bio] This event was sponsored by the Mailman School's Global Health Initiative. |