Speakers – 2023 Clinical Climate Change

Robert O. Wright, MD, MPH

Dr. Robert Wright is a pediatrician, medical toxicologist, and environmental epidemiologist at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. He is the Ethel H. Wise Chair of the Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, Co-Director of the Institute for Exposomic Research, and Principal Investigator of an ongoing longitudinal birth cohort in Mexico City (Programming Research in Obesity, Growth, Environment and Social Stress–PROGRESS) in collaboration with the National Institute of Public Health, Mexico. He also founded the MATCH (Metals Assessment Targeting Community Health) study in Tar Creek, Oklahoma. Dr. Wright studies chemical mixtures, epigenetics and the role social stressors as modifiers of chemical toxicity. He is an international advocate for research on exposomics—the measure of all health relevant environmental exposures throughout the lifespan. He established the Mount Sinai P30 Core Center grant program that provides support to grow Mount Sinai’s environmental research (in the LifeSpan (HEALS). He has published over 350 research studies and has served on numerous international and national committees and advisory boards. Dr. Wright founded the Senator Frank Lautenberg Laboratory of Environmental Health Sciences at Mount Sinai in 2014 and in 2022 launched the “Exposomic in Precision Medicine” program as part of Mount Sinai’s CTSA. The program is designed to make the environment an integral part of precision medicine initiatives with the goal of bringing it into clinical training as a tool for optimally determining treatment options and variable individual responses to treatment.

Emily J. Senay, MD, MPH

Dr. Emily Senay is Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She is a clinician at the World Trade Center Health Program Clinical Center of Excellence at Mount Sinai, caring for responders and volunteers with illnesses or injuries sustained on the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan.  Dr. Senay is co-director of the annual Clinical Climate Change conference through the Mount Sinai Institute for Exposomic Research.

Ismail Nabeel, MD, MPH, MS, FACOEM

Dr. Ismail Nabeel is Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health at the Icahn School of Medicine. He specializes in internal medicine, occupational and environmental medicine, and clinical/bioinformatics. His focus has been to bring innovative solutions to enhance worker health in diverse environments.  He is a Fellow of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine and co-authored their Guidance Statement on Climate Change and Occupational and Environmental Medicine (OEM) practice and the Proposed Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies Related to Climate Change: Guidance for OEM Professionals.

Perry E. Sheffield, MD, MPH

Dr. Perry Sheffield is Associate Professor in the Departments of Environmental Medicine and Public Health and Pediatrics and a member of the Mount Sinai Institute for Exposomic Research and the Center on Health and Environment Across the LifeSpan (HEALS). She co-directs of the New York State Children’s Environmental Health Center (NYSCHECK.org) and the Region 2 Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit (PEHSU), a US Environmental Protection Agency and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention program that provides environmental health services to communities in New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands. Dr. Sheffield’s research focuses on climate change and human health, and she co-chairs the NYS Climate Impact Assessment’s Health and Safety working group.

Terry Thompson, DHA, MPH

Dr. Terry Thompson is Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and a member of the Division of Preventive Medicine and Community Health. Dr. Thompson holds a Doctorate in Healthcare Administration from Central Michigan University and a Master of Public Health in Community Health and Prevention from Drexel University. He is leading community engagement activities for the Mount Sinai Children’s Environmental Health Center (CEHC), Region 2 Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit (R2PEHSU), and the New York State Children’s Environmental Health Centers (NYSCHECK).

Sara Zaat, JD

Sara Zaat, JD, is a first-year medical student at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Before medical school, Sara earned a JD at Georgetown University Law Center and a B.S. from the University of California, Berkeley. She was a Global Law Scholar, Public Interest Fellow, and co-managing editor for the Georgetown Environmental Law Review. Sara gained experience in federal advocacy by serving as a student attorney in the Federal Legislation Clinic and volunteering pro bono with the Health Justice Alliance, a medical-legal partnership. As a medical student, Sara co-leads the Mt Sinai chapter of the Medical Students for a Sustainable Future (MS4SF).

John Howard, MD, MPH, JD, LLM, MBA

Dr. John Howard is the Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and the Administrator of the World Trade Center Health Program in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  He was first appointed NIOSH Director in 2002 during the George W. Bush Administration and served in that position until 2008. Dr. Howard subsequently worked as a consultant with the US-Afghanistan Health Initiative, and then was re-appointed as NIOSH Director, where he is now serving his fourth 6-year term.

Dr. Howard earned his medical degree from Loyola University of Chicago; a Master of Public Health from the Harvard University School of Public Health; a Doctor of Law from the University of California at Los Angeles; and a Master of Law in Administrative Law and Economic Regulation, and a Master of Business Administration in Healthcare Management, both degrees from The George Washington University in Washington, D.C. 

He is board-certified in internal medicine and occupational medicine and is a member of the U.S. Supreme Court bar. He has written numerous articles on occupational health, policy and law.

Rosemary K. Sokas, MD, MS, MOccH

Dr. Rosemary K. Sokas is Professor of Human Science at Georgetown University’s new School of Health, with a secondary appointment in Family Medicine.  She practiced primary care medicine in rural Puerto Rico and the Bronx, and has held faculty positions at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, and the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health, where she directed the Division of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences. She has served as Associate Director for Science at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), and directed the Office of Occupational Medicine for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). She is currently a member of the Board of Directors for Farmworker Justice and a member of the Technical Advisory Board for CPWR – the Center for Construction Research and Training, and previously served on the advisory board for the state of Virginia’s state plan OSHA for the development of a heat illness prevention standard. She has cared for patients with heatstroke, has supported OSHA investigations into heatstroke deaths, and has published peer-reviewed papers on heat stroke fatalities.

Jasminka Goldoni Laestadius, MD, PhD, FACOEM

Dr. Jasminka Goldoni Laestadius is a Senior Occupational Health Specialist at The World Bank Group. She is a Medical Doctor with specialized professional training and a PhD degree in Occupational and Environmental Medicine (OEM). She has spent most of her 40+ year career in culturally diverse, international settings at the World Bank Group, the International Monetary Fund (Washington, DC), the World Food Program (Rome, Italy), and the European Commission (Brussels, Belgium). Her expertise covers all aspects of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. She is particularly active and recognized in the fields of global population health management, data analytics, health and safety management systems, office ergonomics, and global road traffic safety, as evidenced by numerous peer-reviewed publications, reports, professional presentations, and awards.

She is a member of the Academy of Medicine of Washington, DC, Past President of the Metropolitan Washington College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (MWCOEM), and a Board Director of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM). In the UN system, she is a founder and a chair of the UN Health Intelligence (UNHI) Working Group, under UN Medical Directors’ leadership.

Albert A. Rizzo, MD, FAACP, FCCP, FAASM

Dr. Albert A. Rizzo is the Chief Medical Officer for the American Lung Association (ALA) and practices pulmonary/sleep medicine at Christiana Care in Newark, Delaware. He is board-certified in internal medicine, pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine and is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. He is a member of the American Thoracic Society, a Fellow of the American College of Chest Physicians and the American College of Physicians. In this role at ALA, he collaborates with external partners to connect shared priorities and facilitate opportunities related to ALA’s mission. 

Aubrey K. Miller, MD, MPH

Dr. Aubrey Miller, an occupational and environmental health physician, serves as Deputy Director for the NIEHS Office of Scientific Coordination Planning and Evaluation. He leads a portfolio of programs involving global environmental health, climate change, and disaster research, as well as policy, strategic planning, and coordination of environmental health issues among NIH, U.S. federal agencies, academia, and other stakeholders. His experiences include numerous public health investigations and research studies involving a wide range of occupational and environmental health issues. He has contributed to the leadership and management of numerous disaster responses. He Co-Chairs the NIH Climate Change and Health Initiative and also directs the NIH Disaster Research Response Program. A retired Captain of the USPHS, his 31-year federal career includes the CDC Epidemiology Intelligence Service Fellowship and senior medical officer positions with the CDC, the HHS Office of the Secretary, EPA, and FDA. 

Marcalee Alexander, MD

Dr. Marcalee Alexander specializes in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. In 2019, frustrated by an inability to engage physiatrists in the topic of climate change and disability, she began a walk from Canada to Key West to bring the discussion to the streets. She also started a nonprofit, Sustain Our Abilities, to bring attention to climate change and disability, has published more than 125 articles and chapters in professional journals and is currently the editor of The Journal of Climate Change and Health.  Currently, she is working on ClimateHealth2023.com to bring together worldwide leaders in the climate change and health arena. She will resume her walk which is now named the Graham – the Green Route Aiding Healthy Adaptation and Mitigation in 2024 and is enlisting signatures on a healthy environment letter-the purpose of the walk. 

Daphne Lundi

Daphne Lundi is an urban planner and a policymaker. She is the Deputy Director for Living Streets & Public Spaces at the NYC Mayor’s Office of Climate and Environmental Justice, where her work is expanding open space and green infrastructure investments that mitigate the urban heat island effect and supporting stormwater management and advancing transit equity and accessibility. Prior to that, she was an urban planner at the NYC Department of City Planning, working on resilient land use and zoning policy for Brooklyn coastal communities impacted by Hurricane Sandy. She managed projects undergoing ULURP in southern Brooklyn and downtown Brooklyn.

Caren Solomon, MD, MPH

Dr. Caren Solomon is a Deputy Editor at the New England Journal of Medicine, an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and a physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where she maintains a part-time clinical practice at the Fish Center for Women’s Health. At the Journal, Dr. Solomon leads efforts to expand attention to climate change, including handling related submissions and overseeing the ongoing “Fossil-Fuel Pollution and Climate Change” series; she also handles original articles, a series of review articles targeted to practicing physicians (“Clinical Practice”) and  clinical cases (“Clinical Problem Solving” and “Interactive Medical Cases”). She is a member of the Brigham Climate Action Council, served as co-chair of the Harvard Medical School Faculty Council’s subcommittee on climate change, and is on the steering committee of Harvard Faculty for Divestment. She is a founding member of Climate Code Blue, an organization of Boston area physicians committed to climate action and to amplifying the voices of frontline communities most affected by climate change. Dr. Solomon graduated from Harvard College and Harvard Medical School and earned an MPH at the Harvard School of Public Health.

Pouné Saberi, MD, MPH

Dr. Pouné Saberi has been a physician for more than 20 years, currently specializing in Occupational and Environmental Medicine in Philadelphia, PA. She received her medical degree and masters of public health at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, MA. She is the section chief for Occupational and Environmental Medicine at Veteran Administration Medical Center in Philadelphia, PA, as well as the clinical lead for Veteran Integrated Services Network 4. Her academic engagements include serving as faculty in the Occupational and Environmental Medicine Residency Program at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, as well as teaching the course on Climate and Health at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University. As a volunteer, she is a member of the board of directors for Physicians for Social Responsibility Pennsylvania and a subject matter expert on environmental health, public health implications of sources of energy production, and the nexus of climate change and human health.

Valerie Mac, PhD, APRN

Dr. Valerie Mac is a nurse scientist with over 10 years of experience working with under resourced and climate impacted populations. She served as the Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer in the US Virgin Islands during the COIVD-19 pandemic, and currently serves as a Senior Epidemiologist at the US Virgin Islands Department of Health with a focus on infectious disease surveillance and response.