Department of Public Health Sciences Host the Third Climate and Health Symposium

The University of Miami Miller School of Medicine’s Department of Public Health Sciences, in collaboration with the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (RSMAS), hosted its third Climate and Health Symposium on Saturday, May 11 from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Scientists, researchers, managers, and policy makers came together to discuss the direct and indirect effects of climate on health.

The one-day event included four sessions that were focused on extreme weather, its effects on health, and the response to those effects. Throughout the symposium, there were over 20 presentations – topics covered ranged from clinicians’ response to addressing health effects of natural disasters, storms and its effects on pulmonary disease to the legislators’ response to addressing the health effects of hurricanes and the risk of developing multiple sclerosis due to heat exposure.

Faculty and students from the University of Miami and its medical school presented at this year’s symposium, as well as other speakers from different locations and institutions around the country. Some visited from Miami-Dade County’s Office of Emergency Management, Oregon State University, the National Exposure Research Laboratory in Athens, Ga., and the University of Puerto Rico.  

Various faculty from the Miller School’s public health department, such as Drs. Naresh Kumar, Hermes Florez, Paulo Pinheiro, and Seth Schwartz, also presented at the symposium. Their topics focused on measuring the health effects of natural disasters, diabetes and climate change, on the process of using data to understand the health outcomes of hurricanes and the mental health effects of hurricanes.

For a complete list of topics, a schedule is available at the symposium’s main website.

The symposium was sponsored by the Miller School’s Office of the Executive Dean for Research, Master of Science in Climate and Health program, Department of Public Health Sciences, Miami Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) and the University of Miami’s College of Arts and Sciences, Abess Center for Ecosystem Science and Policy, and Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences.

Written by Amanda Torres

Published May 29, 2019