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INFORMATION FOR

Affiliated Faculty

YCCCH's affiliated faculty are committed to collaboration on a wide range of topics for interdisciplinary research including food and water insecurity, infectious diseases, population displacement, climate disasters (preparedness, post-disaster response, morbidity and mortality surveillance), health co-benefits of climate change mitigation and adaptation, climate change and pandemics, climate change impacts on microbial diversity and antibiotic resistance, and climate justice.
  • Robert Dubrow, MD, PhD

    Professor of Epidemiology (Environmental Health Sciences); Faculty Director, Yale Center on Climate Change and Health, Environmental Health Sciences; Affiliated Faculty, Yale Institute for Global Health

    Research Interests
    • Air Pollution
    • Epidemiology
    • Kidney Diseases
    • West Indies
    • Environmental Illness
    • Climate Change
    • Global Warming
    Dr. Robert Dubrow is Faculty Director of The Yale Center on Climate Change and Health and Professor of Epidemiology in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at Yale School of Public Health. Dr. Dubrow’s research interests include the relationship between exposure to high temperatures and air pollution and kidney disease, the benefits and harms of air conditioning for adaptation to extreme heat, climate change and health in the Caribbean, and health equity in relation to climate change.
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  • Martin Klein, MPH, PhD

    Senior Advisor (Dean's Office) and Lecturer in Public Health (Health Policy); Executive Director, Yale Center on Climate Change and Health, Yale School of Public Health; Director, Executive MPH, Yale School of Public Health

    Dr. Martin Klein is Executive Director of the Yale Center on Climate Change and Health (CCCH) and Senior Advisor to the Dean at the Yale School of Public Health. He also founded InnovateHealth Yale, a program in social impact and entrepreneurship.
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  • Laura Bozzi, PhD

    Director of Programs

    Dr. Laura Bozzi is Director of Programs for the Yale Center on Climate Change and Health (CCCH) where she plays a key role in broadening its online education offerings, expanding communications and community-based engagement, and developing new programs including an environmental/climate health justice clinic and a report on climate change and health in Connecticut. Previously, Dr. Bozzi led the Rhode Island Department of Health Climate Change Program. In that role, she worked to promote policy change, increase public awareness, and support community resilience building strategies that collectively help both mitigate climate change’s negative health impacts and promote health equity. Laura was appointed as a member to the State of Rhode Island's Executive Climate Change Coordinating Council (EC4) Advisory Board and the Agricultural Lands Preservation Commission, and she also served as Co-Director of the New Leaders Council Rhode Island. Over her career, she has worked across the United States -- from Oregon and West Virginia to Washington, DC and Rhode Island – in environmental protection, food systems, and fisheries. Laura holds a Ph.D. in Forestry and Environmental Studies from Yale University.
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  • Daniel Carrión, PhD, MPH

    Assistant Professor of Epidemiology (Environmental Health); Director of Education, Climate Change and Health

    Dr. Daniel Carrión is an environmental health scientist focused on the intersection of climate, energy, and health (in)equity. He conducts exposure science and environmental epidemiology of ambient temperature and air pollution in the United States and internationally. Broadly speaking, his goal is to understand the relationship between structural forms of inequality with exposure and health disparities to identify and support interventions. More specifically, he is interested in the role of the home and neighborhood environment as opportunities for intervention towards climate and health equity, largely focused on energy transitions.  Dr. Carrión received his BA from Ithaca College, an MPH from New York Medical College, a PhD from Columbia University, and postdoctoral training at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Beyond his research, Dr. Carrión is a Senior Fellow of the Agents of Change in Environmental Justice, a Senior Fellow of the Environmental Leadership Program, a Fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine, and a governor-appointed member to the New York State Minority Health Council.
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  • Kai Chen, PhD

    Assistant Professor of Epidemiology (Environmental Health); Director of Research, Climate Change and Health; Affiliated Faculty, Yale Institute for Global Health

    Dr. Chen's research focuses on the intersection of climate change, air pollution, and human health. He researches how extreme temperature and ambient air pollution independently and interactively impact on aging populations under a changing climate. His work involves applying multidisciplinary approaches in climate and air pollution sciences, exposure assessment, and environmental epidemiology to investigate how climate change may impact human health. His recent and ongoing work includes heat-induced myocardial infarction and mortality risk under and beyond the Paris Agreement goals (1.5 °C and 2 °C), interactions between heat and ambient particle and ozone pollution, and the health impacts of air pollution under different climate and population scenarios.
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  • Jodi Sherman, MD

    Associate Professor of Anesthesiology and of Epidemiology (Environmental Health Sciences); Affiliated Faculty, Yale Institute for Global Health; Medical Director of Sustainability, Center for Sustainable Healthcare; Director, Program on Healthcare Environmental Sustainability, Yale Center on Climate Change and Health; Director of Sustainability, Anesthesiology; Affiliated Faculty, Climate Change and Health

    Research Interests
    • Conservation of Natural Resources
    • Drug Contamination
    • Health Care Economics and Organizations
    • Environment and Public Health
    • Environment Design
    • Environment, Controlled
    • Environmental Pollution
    • Fresh Water
    • Health Services Administration
    • Public Health
    • Soil
    • Health Care Quality, Access, and Evaluation
    • Equipment Reuse
    • Greenhouse Effect
    • Ecosystem
    • Environmental Medicine
    • Carbon Footprint
    • Environmental Policy
    • Patient Harm
    • Chemicals and Drugs
    • Health Care
    Dr. Sherman’s area of expertise is in the pollution and human health impacts of unsustainable practices stemming from the health sector itself. She is working to bring attention to pollution prevention within health care as an issue of patient safety and quality care. Her research explores the life cycle environmental impacts and total cost of ownership of drugs, devices, and professional services, so that when choices exist, clinicians and health care administrators will factor public health and safety into practice decisions. Dr. Sherman’s future work will focus on systems-level metrics and policy solutions (e.g., pay for performance measures for carbon reduction in clinical practice).
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  • Serap Aksoy, PhD

    Professor of Epidemiology (Microbial Diseases); Affiliated Faculty, Yale Institute for Global Health

    Research Interests
    • Trypanosomiasis, African
    • Tsetse Flies
    • Global Health
    • One Health
    Dr. Aksoy is interested in pursuing research at the interface of climate change and insect physiology. Incidence of vector-borne diseases has been increasing in temperate climates and feared to be influenced by climate change effects globally. Dr. Aksoy is interested in analyzing climate change impacts on key insect physiologies that affect population densities and disease transmission traits. Changes in reproductive physiology would modify insect population densities, an essential parameter for vector-borne diseases. Changes in insect immune responses would increase the survival and transmission of pathogens adversely impacting disease control efforts. Dr. Aksoy leads several large NIH-supported research and training programs on control of African trypanosomiasis in sub-Sahara.
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  • Paul Anastas

    Professor of Epidemiology (Environmental Health Sciences) and Teresa and H. John Heinz III Professor in the Practice of Chemistry for the Environment

    Paul Anastas is the Director of the Center for Green Chemistry and Green Engineering at Yale. His research and the research of the Center directly address climate change issues in several ways. Energy storage is one of the great challenges for renewable energy such as wind and solar. Professor Anastas’ research has developed new catalysts that can use renewable energy to split water (both fresh and seawater) in order to generate hydrogen that can be stored and used later. In addition, his research looks at ways of utilizing carbon dioxide in value added ways such as making small molecules. The center also has an integrated bio-refinery effort that seeks to develop new creators and separations to ensure the isolation of high value-small volume molecule to drive positive economics.
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  • Theodore Andreadis, PhD

    Clinical Professor of Epidemiology (Microbial Diseases)

    Director, The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (CAES) and Head of the CAES Center for Vector Biology & Zoonotic DiseasesDr. Andreadis serves as a Principal Investigator in the Northeast Regional Center of Excellence in Vector-Borne Diseases. His current research focuses on the ecology of mosquitoes, invasion biology of exotic mosquitoes, epidemiology of mosquito-borne diseases with a focus in the northeastern US, and the impact of climate change on mosquitoes, ticks, and associated vector-borne diseases.  He serves as a Clinical Professor in YSPH and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Connecticut’s Department of Pathobiology.
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  • Carl Baum, MD, MSc

    Professor of Pediatrics (Emergency Medicine) and of Emergency Medicine

    Dr. Carl Baum serves on the National Biodefense Science Board of the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, US Department of Health and Human Services, and of the Medical Toxicology Subboard of the American Board of Pediatrics. He is also a member of the Council on Children and Disasters of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and is a co-author of the AAP’s Policy Statement on Global Climate Change and Children’s Health. He is a member of the International Society for Children's Health and the Environment.
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  • Michelle L. Bell, PhD

    Mary E. Pinchot Professor at the School of the Environment and Professor of Environmental Health; Affiliated Faculty, Yale Institute for Global Health

    Research Interests
    • Environmental Health
    • Epidemiology
    Dr. Bell researches how environmental conditions, especially air pollution and weather, impact public health. Her work bridges disciplines of epidemiology, atmospheric science, engineering, and biostatistics. The overall aim of this work is to perform policy-relevant research that contributes to well-informed decision-making and to greater public understanding of environmental health hazards. Work on climate change includes research on how a changing climate could affect health through tropospheric ozone, weather including heat waves, and forest fires. Ongoing and recent projects include work in the U.S., China, Australia, South Korea, England, Chile, Mexico, Brazil, India, Nepal, the Caribbean, and Taiwan. Additional information is available at: http://bell-lab.yale.edu/
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  • Laura Bothwell, PhD, MPhil, MA

    Assistant Professor of Clinical Public Health; Affiliated Faculty, Yale Institute for Global Health

    Research Interests
    • Bioethics
    • Environment and Public Health
    • Epidemiology
    • Ethics
    • History
    • History of Medicine
    • Human Rights
    • Political Systems
    • Public Health
    • Social Justice
    • Social Medicine
    • Global Health
    • Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
    • Pharmacoepidemiology
    • Government Regulation
    • Vulnerable Populations
    • Policy
    • Social Determinants of Health
    • Public Health Systems Research
    • Adaptive Clinical Trials as Topic
    Dr. Bothwell is an ethicist and historian of public health. Her current research focuses on social, historical, and ethical dimensions of randomized controlled trials (RCTs). She is also working on ethical dimensions of climate-related population displacement. She has past experience teaching environmental health and is passionate about ethical and historical dimensions of the interplay of environmental health, climate change, and disease prevention and control. Her courses address critical issues in environmental health history and ethics.
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  • Xi Chen, PhD

    Associate Professor of Public Health (Health Policy) and Associate Professor at Institution for Social and Policy Studies; Affiliated Faculty, Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (ADRC); Affiliated Faculty, Yale Institute for Global Health; Affiliated Faculty, Department of Economics

    Research Interests
    • Aging
    • Air Pollution
    • Alzheimer Disease
    • Child
    • Cognition
    • Dementia
    • Economics
    • Medicare
    • Pensions
    • Retirement
    • Social Behavior
    • Climate Change
    • Big Data
    Dr. Chen works on climate change and early childhood development. Specifically, he is evaluating the impact of extreme temperatures in the last few decades on birth outcomes in China, especially birth defects. He is also evaluating the impact of winter heating policy in China on fetal growth. His future research agenda includes studying the impact of climate change on cognitive functioning, mental health, and early life health capital trajectories.Dr. Chen has been collaborating with researchers from Peking University to better understand the long lasting impact of air pollution on happiness, mental health, cognitive functioning, productivity, and the economy.
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  • Jamie Childs, ScD

    Lecturer in Epidemiology (Microbial Diseases); Affiliated Faculty, Yale Institute for Global Health

    Research Interests
    • Bartonella
    • Borrelia
    • Hantavirus
    • Leptospira
    • Lyme Disease
    • Rabies
    • Rickettsia
    • Global Health
    • Zoonoses
    • Arenavirus
    Dr. Childs’ research focuses on zoonotic diseases, including hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS), caused by a hantavirus maintained in the prairie deer mouse host, and leptospirosis, caused by leptospires maintained in the Norway rat host. Outbreaks of these diseases are driven by weather patterns and climate variation. The initial outbreak of HPS in the southwestern US followed an El Niño event that resulted in increased rainfall and an unusually warm winter. These conditions facilitated deer mouse survival and earlier vegetation growth, producing an exceptionally large mouse population. The increased potential for human-rodent contact drove the epidemic and subsequent studies demonstrated the predictive value of weather conditions for estimating the magnitude and geographic range of HPS outbreaks. Leptospires are shed in rat urine. Predictable outbreaks in tropical urban slums, such as in Salvador, Brazil, occur each year during the rainy season when people are exposed to contaminated water and mud. Additionally, severe weather events causing flooding are linked to epidemics of leptospirosis in tropical locations. Climate change, potentially resulting in increased frequency of severe weather events, will lead to marked changes, in currently unpredictable ways, in the epidemiology of these zoonotic diseases.
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  • Miraj U. Desai, PhD

    Assistant Professor of Psychiatry

    RESEARCH INTERESTScommunity mental health; qualitative and participatory research; global health; prejudice and discrimination; philosophy of science; and South Asian studiesDr. Desai is interested in psychological and political perspectives on climate change. His main concern is understanding and addressing issues of climate justice, e.g., that those most affected by climate change (the global poor, islanders) are the ones least responsible for it. He has written on psychology and climate justice for the Huffington Post and was a participant at the first-ever Yale Environmental Sustainability Summit. He recently received the Certificate of Outstanding Recognition from the Yale Office of Sustainability and served as Co-Chair of the Inclusion and Justice Subcommittee, Yale Sustainability Implementation Steering Committee.
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  • Nicole Deziel, PhD, MHS

    Associate Professor of Epidemiology (Environmental Health Sciences)

    Dr. Deziel is leading a project related to exposure to shale gas development (“hydraulic fracturing”) and risk of childhood health outcomes. Within the context of this project is an assessment of proximity to unconventional oil and gas development and drinking water contamination and an evaluation of spatial and temporal trends of unconventional oil and gas development. She is also working with Dr. Michelle Bell at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies to explore associations between exposure to PM2.5 and O3 and risk of respiratory and cardiovascular hospitalizations and how these associations may be impacted by a changing climate.
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  • Durland Fish, PhD

    Professor Emeritus of Epidemiology (Microbial Diseases); Affiliated Faculty, Yale Institute for Global Health

    Research Interests
    • Babesia
    • Babesiosis
    • Borrelia
    • Chikungunya virus
    • Climate
    • Epidemiology
    • Biological Evolution
    • Insect Vectors
    • Lyme Disease
    • Parasitology
    • Public Health
    • Ticks
    • Global Health
    • Evolution, Planetary
    • Climate Change
    Dr. Fish conducts research on the impact of climate change upon vector-borne diseases. His studies on changes in the geographic distribution and severity of Lyme disease due to global warming predict minimal geographic change in risk for the US, but a potential increase in disease severity for the endemic areas of the Midwestern states. The predicted case increase for Canada has already been observed. He is currently conducting a study on climate change impact upon mosquitoes and mosquito-borne viruses in the Florida Everglades in collaboration with the U.S. National Park Service. Due to its “tropical island” nature, extreme South Florida already has several endemic tropical mosquito species and arboviruses, and more are anticipated as the region warms and becomes more tropical. Dr. Fish serves on the Steering Committee of the Yale Climate and Energy Institute and served on the National Research Council Panel Review of the 2014 National Climate Assessment.
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  • Alison Galvani, PhD

    Burnett and Stender Families Professor of Epidemiology (Microbial Diseases); Affiliated Faculty, Yale Institute for Global Health; Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Modeling and Analysis (CIDMA)

    Research Interests
    • Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
    • Africa, Southern
    • Ecology
    • Economics
    • Epidemiologic Methods
    • Epidemiology
    • Biological Evolution
    • HIV
    • Influenza, Human
    • Parasitology
    • Public Health
    • Tuberculosis
    • Global Health
    • Evolution, Planetary
    • Infectious Disease Medicine
    Dr. Galvani pursues research at the interface of disease modeling and climate change. She is interested in analyzing the cost-effectiveness of programs designed to tackle climate change with respect to their impact on health outcomes both locally and globally. Identifying how climate change, as well as greenhouse gas pollution, influence morbidity and mortality associated with mosquito borne illnesses such as dengue fever and malaria, bacterial diseases from contaminated water such as cholera, and respiratory diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, is fundamental to global health.
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  • Kenneth Gillingham

    Professor

    Kenneth Gillingham is an energy economist with research on climate policy, air pollution, and human health. His work often involves interdisciplinary collaborations and has explored the health and other benefits of intensive energy efficiency programs, as well as the health benefits of electrifying marine ports. He publishes in top science journals, such as Nature, Science, and PNAS, as well as top economics journals, such as the Journal of Political Economy and American Economic Journal: Economic Policy. He has become especially interested in the co-benefits of climate policies and how they can reduce disparities in health outcomes.
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  • Annie Harper, PhD

    Assistant Professor of Psychiatry

    Dr. Harper is interested in energy justice, particularly as it relates to home energy efficiency, debt and health in the United States. She has studied and written on poverty, finances and health, with a focus on marginalized communities and debt, including utility arrears and related financial stress. She previously ran the Yale Community Carbon Fund, seeking to improve home energy efficiency in low-income communities in New Haven, and has written on and advocated for funding to mitigate health and safety barriers. As a board member of a local credit union, she is interested in financial systems reform to create more equitable financing options that redress racial wealth injustice.
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  • Saria Hassan, MD

    Assistant Professor Adjunct; Director, Pediatric Global Health Track, Pediatrics; Deputy Director, Yale-TCC

    Dr. Hassan’s research focuses on addressing morbidity and mortality due to chronic disease after natural disasters. Recognizing that the majority of deaths after natural disasters are due to poorly managed non-communicable diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, and heart failure, she is co-principal investigator on a pilot project award to work with the Pan American Health Organization to develop an implementation strategy for using NCD kits to manage chronic diseases in humanitarian crises. Her future research will involve working with Federally Qualified Health Centers in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands to develop organizational and individual-level plans to improve management of hypertension, diabetes, and heart failure in the setting of a natural disaster. She will employ a similar approach to addressing disaster preparedness in Mozambique, which was recently affected by Cyclone Idai. As an implementation scientist, her research employs implementation science tools to inform practice and policy so as to reduce morbidity and mortality due to NCDs in setting of natural disasters.
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  • Debbie Humphries, PhD, MPH, MA

    Assistant Professor of Clinical Public Health; Affiliated Faculty, Yale Institute for Global Health

    Research Interests
    • Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
    • Developing Countries
    • Ghana
    • HIV
    • Hookworm Infections
    • Malaria
    • Parasitology
    • Public Health
    • Vietnam
    • Global Health
    • Nutrition Policy
    Dr. Humphries’ research focuses on nutrition and infectious disease in low- and middle-income countries, as well as on healthy food access globally. She is interested in the ways climate change is affecting food access, and the impact of food systems on environmental change. She has collaborated on several studies in the Bolivian Andes that investigate use of traditional foods and pathways by which climate change is affecting household food production. In the context of climate change, she is particularly interested in studying the relationship between resilient food systems and indicators of environmental impact of those systems, both in the United States and globally.
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  • Jeannette Ickovics, PhD

    Samuel and Liselotte Herman Professor of Social and Behavioral Sciences and Professor of Psychology; former Dean of Faculty, Yale-NUS College, Singapore

    Samuel and Liselotte Herman Professor of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Yale School of Public Health; Dean of Faculty, Yale-NUS College; Affiliated Faculty, Yale Institute for Global Health

    Research Interests
    • Chronic Disease
    • Community Health Services
    • Epidemiology
    • Obesity
    • Pregnancy
    • Prenatal Care
    • Urban Health
    Professor Ickovics was founding director of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the Yale School of Public Health and of CARE: Community Alliance for Research and Engagement. Dr. Ickovics’ research investigates the interplay of complex social, psychological, behavioral and biomedical factors that influence community health and resilience, especially with vulnerable populations. Her research has been supported by than $40 million in grants from the US National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and private foundations. She is author of more than 220 peer-reviewed publications and is an elected a member of the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research. She is the Principal Investigator of a newly funded Hecht Global Health Faculty Network Award, entitled Resilient Cities Network and Yale University: Building a Collaborative Partnership at the Intersection of Climate and Health to Identify Urban Health and Health Equity Solutions.
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  • Kaveh Khoshnood, PhD, MPH

    Associate Professor of Epidemiology (Microbial Diseases); Track Director, Critical Topics, Executive MPH; Faculty Director, InnovateHealth Yale; Program Co-Director, Global Health Ethics Program, Yale Institute for Global Health; Track Director, Critical Topics in Public Health, Online Executive MPH Program

    Research Interests
    • Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
    • Epidemiology
    • Ethics
    • HIV
    • Human Rights
    • Public Health
    • Violence
    • Global Health
    • Infectious Disease Medicine
    Dr. Khoshnood is interested in the humanitarian response to violent conflicts and in the health of refugees and displaced populations, including “climate refugees” displaced by direct or indirect consequences of climate change. He is involved in ongoing projects among refugees and displaced populations in Lebanon and other countries in the Middle East and North Africa. Dr. Khoshnood teaches a course entitled "Responding to Violent Conflict: Epidemiological Methods & Public Health Interventions,” which examines drivers of conflict, including climate change, and discusses how epidemiological methods are applied to understand specific health consequences of violent conflicts, including infectious diseases, mental health, maternal/child health, and chronic health problems.
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  • Jaehong Kim

    Henry P. Becton Sr. Professor of Engineering

    Jaehong Kim’s areas of interest include: 1) environmental application of nanomaterials and single atom catalysts; 2) development of photoluminescence / photocatalysis technology for environmental and energy application; and 3) on-site synthesis of water treatment chemicals and catalytic advanced oxidation processes. He is particularly interested in how water treatment technologies need to adapt to changes in climate and, consequently, the availability of fresh water sources in both urban and rural setting for both domestic and industrial uses.
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  • Albert Ko, MD

    Raj and Indra Nooyi Professor of Public Health and Professor of Epidemiology (Microbial Diseases) and of Medicine (Infectious Diseases); Affiliated Faculty, Yale Institute for Global Health

    Research Interests
    • Dengue
    • Epidemiology
    • Leptospirosis
    • Urban Health
    • Global Health
    • Meningitis, Bacterial
    • Infectious Disease Medicine
    Dr. Ko, Chair of the Yale School of Public Health Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases and member of the CCHI Executive Committee, studies health problems that have emerged from rapid urbanization and social inequity. He is particularly interested in the role that climate and climate change plays, together with the urban ecology and social marginalization, in the emergence of infectious diseases in slum communities. He coordinates an NIH-supported research and training program on urban slum health in Brazil, where his group is conducting long-term prospective cohort studies on infectious diseases that include rat-borne leptospirosis, dengue, meningitis and respiratory infections. More recently, Dr. Ko has expanded his research to address the impacts of climate and climate change on the transmission dynamics of neglected tropical diseases, such as leishmaniasis, in impoverished rural subsistence farming populations and on the risk for drought and disaster-related epidemics in the South Pacific. Dr. Ko is the Principal Investigator at Yale for the Fogarty Global Health Equity Scholars Program which provides research training opportunities, including those related to climate and health, for post- and pre-doctoral fellows at collaborating international sites.
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  • Peter James Krause, MD

    Senior Research Scientist in Epidemiology (Microbial Diseases), in Medicine (Infectious Diseases) and in Pediatrics (Infectious Disease) and Lecturer in Epidemiology (Microbial Diseases)

    Research Interests
    • Babesiosis
    • Blood Transfusion
    • Epidemiology
    • Lyme Disease
    • Relapsing Fever
    • Borrelia burgdorferi
    • Infectious Disease Medicine
    • Biostatistics
    • Diseases
    Dr. Krause’s lab has been monitoring climate change and Lyme disease frequency, as measured by Borrelia burgdorferi seroprevalence, each year since 1990 on Block Island, Rhode Island. The lab has found an association between an increase in temperature and humidity and Lyme disease frequency over this time period. They have summarized these findings in a manuscript which is being submitted for publication. Dr. Krause and his lab plan to continue climate change surveillance and possible associations with Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases at study sites in New England.
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  • Stephen Latham, JD, PhD

    Director, Yale Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics

    Senior Research Scholar; Affiliated Faculty, Yale Institute for Global Health, Yale Institute for Global Health; Director, Yale Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics, Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics

    Stephen R. Latham, JD, PhD, is Director of the Yale Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics. Though his teaching and scholarship is primarily focused on biomedical ethics and health law, in recent years he has begun teaching environmental ethics at the Yale School of the Environment and in the undergraduate Environmental Studies major. He has particular interests in health disparities related to climate change, legal challenges to addressing climate change, environmental obligations to future generations, and the development of a values-based (axiological) environmental ethic.
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  • Xuhui Lee, PhD

    Sara Shallenberger Brown Professor at the School of the Environment

    One of Dr. Lee’s research areas focuses on mitigation of and adaptation to climate warming in the urban environment. He is establishing a large database on urban heat islands for global cities to support climate adaptation efforts. The database will include satellite-derived data layers, city morphological attributes, and data from urban weather station networks. He is working with collaborators to collect street-level temperature and humidity data, using bicycle-mounted smart thermometers, in cities in different climate zones around the world. So far, urban warming studies have been restricted almost exclusively to temperature, but humidity also affects human comfort in heatwave events. He wants to quantify the combined contribution of temperature and humidity to heat stress on urban residents.
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  • Anthony Leiserowitz

    Senior Research Scientist at the School of the Environment

    Dr. Leiserowitz, director of the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, studies public risk perception and engagement with the issue of climate change. His research investigates the psychological, cultural, and political factors that influence public knowledge, attitudes, policy support, and behavior. Areas of interest include public perceptions of and responses to the health risks of climate change, as well as how the communication of health risks affects public engagement across different audiences. He conducts research at the global, national, and local scales, including studies in the United States, China, and India.
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  • Sarah Lowe, PhD

    Associate Professor of Public Health (Social and Behavioral Sciences), Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Associate Clinical Professor of Nursing; Affiliated Faculty, Yale Institute for Global Health

    Research Interests
    • Anxiety Disorders
    • Mental Disorders
    • Disasters
    • Genetics, Behavioral
    • Mental Health Services
    • Psychological Phenomena
    • Psychology, Clinical
    • Rwanda
    • Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic
    • Mood Disorders
    • Substance-Related Disorders
    • Stress Disorders, Traumatic, Acute
    • Resilience, Psychological
    • Disaster Victims
    • Psychiatry and Psychology
    • Psychological Trauma
    • Trauma and Stressor Related Disorders
    • Exposure to Violence
    • Gender-Based Violence
    Dr. Lowe’s research focuses on mental health after traumatic events, including climate change-related disasters. She is interested in the long-term mental health consequences of such events, the pathways leading from exposure to adversity, and the independent and interactive influence of factors at multiple ecological levels on outcomes. She is further interested in the interplay between mental health and other domains of functioning, including social relationships, physical health, and educational and occupational trajectories, particularly among those who have been displaced from their pre-disaster communities. The goal of her research is to provide insights for efforts to more efficiently prevent and mitigate the mental health consequences of climate change-related disasters.
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  • Xiaomei Ma, PhD

    Professor of Epidemiology (Chronic Diseases); Co-Leader, Cancer Prevention and Control

    Research Interests
    • Chronic Disease
    • Epidemiology
    • Leukemia
    • Lymphoma
    • Myelodysplastic Syndromes
    • Myeloproliferative Disorders
    • Neoplasms
    Dr. Xiaomei Ma’s research interests lie in the etiology of cancer, especially pediatric cancer. Dr. Ma has studied the role of a variety of environmental exposures, including air pollution, in relation to the risk of cancer in children. Along with other Affiliated Faculty members, she is initiating a series of projects to assess ambient temperature during pregnancy as a possible risk factor for different types of childhood cancer.
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  • Nikhil S. Malvankar

    Associate Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry

    Research Interests
    • Bacteria, Anaerobic
    • Bacterial Adhesion
    • Bacterial Infections
    • Biophysics
    • Chemistry, Physical
    • Electron Transport
    • Environmental Microbiology
    • Microscopy, Atomic Force
    • Nanotechnology
    Nikhil Malvankar studying the structures, functions and mechanisms of conductive protein filaments (nanowires) Geobacter uses to transport electrons derived from metabolism to produce electricity and clean up toxic waste. Nikhil’s team discovered that these filaments show high conductivity due to continuous arrangement of cytochrome hemes. Nikhil’s team is now using these nanowires to develop new methods to control climate change and reduce hazardous health effects.
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  • Marcella Nunez-Smith, MD, MHS

    Associate Dean for Health Equity Research and C.N.H. Long Professor of Internal Medicine (General Medicine), of Epidemiology (Chronic Disease) and of Public Health (Social And Behavioral Sciences) & Professor of Internal Medicine (General Medicine); Associate Dean, Health Equity Research; Affiliated Faculty, Yale Institute for Global Health; Founding Director, Equity Research and Innovation Center (ERIC), Yale School of Medicine; Director, Center for Research Engagement (CRE); Director, Center for Community Engagement and Health Equity; Deputy Director for Health Equity Research and Workforce Development, Yale Center for Clinical Investigation (YCCI); Director, Pozen-Commonwealth Fund Fellowship in Health Equity Leadership

    Research Interests
    • Chronic Disease
    • Health Services Research
    • Internal Medicine
    • Social Justice
    • Socioeconomic Factors
    • Global Health
    • Women's Health
    • Caribbean Region
    • Vulnerable Populations
    • Minority Health
    • Healthcare Disparities
    • Community-Based Participatory Research
    • Social Discrimination
    • Social Determinants of Health
    • Patient Reported Outcome Measures
    • Global Burden of Disease
    • Population Health
    • COVID-19
    Dr. Nunez-Smith, Director of the Yale Equity Research Innovation Center, focuses her research on advancing the health equity agenda in the US and world-wide. In New Haven she addresses how environmental conditions impact the health of underserved and minority children and adults. As lead principal investigator of two NIH funded grants in the Caribbean, The Yale-TCC and the Pediatric Eastern Caribbean Health Outcomes Research Network (ECHORN) Cohort Study, she works directly with stakeholders in the Eastern Caribbean to address climate change resiliency. ECHORN has the largest adult cohort study in the region spanning the hurricanes of 2017, allowing examination of health effects of the hurricanes and factors associated with resiliency. She is also co-principal investigator on a pilot project funded by the Yale MacMillan Center to work with the Pan American Health Organization to address the morbidity and mortality due to chronic disease after natural disasters.
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  • Kieran O'Donnell, PhD

    Assistant Professor

    Research Interests
    • Biological Psychiatry
    • Molecular Epidemiology
    • Depression, Postpartum
    • Pregnant Women
    Our team leads genomic and epigenomic analyses in a number of prospective longitudinal cohorts in the US, Canada, the Philippines, and Viet Nam, which provide considerable scope for describing the impact of climate change on maternal and child health outcomes. Specifically, current work within our group seeks to determine if early intervention(s) can moderate the impact of different forms of prenatal adversity (e.g., chemical exposures, psychosocial stress, heat stress) on measures of maternal and child health outcomes. This research occurs within a collaborative multidisciplinary team including economists, psychologists, biologists, and biostatisticians.
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  • Rafael Perez-Escamilla, PhD

    Professor of Public Health (Social and Behavioral Sciences); Director, Office of Public Health Practice; Affiliated Faculty, Yale Institute for Global Health; Director, YSPH Global Health Concentration

    Research Interests
    • Breast Feeding
    • Child Care
    • Child Development
    • Community Health Workers
    • Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2
    • Food Deprivation
    • Maternal-Child Health Centers
    • Nutrition Surveys
    • Obesity
    • Global Health
    • Healthcare Disparities
    Dr. Pérez-Escamilla’s research focuses on maternal-child nutrition in low- and middle-income countries, as well as on measuring and assessing the causes and consequences of household food insecurity (HFI) globally. He served on both the 2010 and 2015 US Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committees, and as a result he has developed a strong interest in the factors influencing the translation of scientific knowledge into evidence-informed public health policy guidelines. He is particularly interested in four lines of inquiry related to climate change: a) factors that influence the incorporation of environmental sustainability into national dietary guidelines policies; b) impact of HFI on unsustainable environmental practices; c) impact of climate change on HFI; and d) environmental impacts of infant formula in comparison with breastfeeding.
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  • Virginia Pitzer, ScD

    Associate Professor of Epidemiology (Microbial Diseases); Affiliated Faculty, Yale Institute for Global Health

    Research Interests
    • Ecology
    • Immunization
    • Paratyphoid Fever
    • Rotavirus
    • Typhoid Fever
    • Global Health
    Dr. Pitzer’s research focuses on mathematical modeling of infectious diseases. Climate-related projects involve elucidating drivers of the seasonality and spatiotemporal patterning of environmentally transmitted pathogens, including: (1) the seasonal determinants of respiratory syncytial virus transmission; (2) the links between climate, water source, and historical patterns of typhoid fever mortality in the United States; and (3) the impact of variable rainfall on the transmission dynamics of water-borne pathogens (cholera, typhoid fever, rotavirus) in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
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  • Thomas Pogge, PhD

    Leitner Professor of Philosophy and Professor of Political Science

    Having received his PhD in philosophy from Harvard, Thomas Pogge is Leitner Professor of Philosophy and International Affairs and founding Director of the Global Justice Program at Yale. He is a member of the Norwegian Academy of Science as well as co-founder of Academics Stand Against Poverty (ASAP), an international network aiming to enhance the impact of scholars, teachers and students on global poverty, and of Incentives for Global Health, a team effort toward developing a complement to the pharmaceutical patent regime that would improve access to advanced medicines for the poor worldwide (www.healthimpactfund.org). His recent publications include Designing in Ethics, co-edited, Cambridge 2017; Global Tax Fairness, co-edited, Oxford 2016; Politics as Usual, Polity 2010; World Poverty and Human Rights, 2nd edition, Polity 2008; Global Justice and Global Ethics, co-edited, Paragon House 2008; John Rawls: His Life and Theory of Justice, Oxford 2007; and Freedom from Poverty as a Human Right, edited, Oxford & UNESCO 2007. More information at https://campuspress.yale.edu/thomaspogge/
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  • Krystal Pollitt, PhD, P.Eng.

    Associate Professor of Epidemiology (Environmental Health); Affiliated Faculty, Yale Institute for Global Health

    Research Interests
    • Environmental Exposure
    • Mass Spectrometry
    People are continuously exposed to complex mixtures of environmental chemicals. Exposure to these chemicals is influenced by changes in the climate. My research aims to understand the contribution of these non-genetic factors to disease. I apply omic-scale approaches, known as exposomics, to sequence environmental exposures over the life course. The diversity of structures and physical-chemical properties as well as the wide dynamic range of environmental chemicals presents measurement challenges. The focus of my research is operationalizing exposomic analysis for application in clinical, translational, and population studies. My work develops robust, reliable, and rigorous analytical and bioinformatic technologies that enable systematic, high-throughput, and affordable measurements of contaminants in biological and environmental air samples. I have investigated the community context of environmental health across the United States and globally, working with partners in 13 countries. Through collaborations with citizens, urban planners, architects, transportation engineers, and other stakeholders, my research has had societal impact through the development of actionable interventions and solutions to create healthy environments.  Current projects include development of wearable technologies to measure personal exposure airborne chemicals and pathogens and creation of a low-cost air sensor network across Western Massachusetts (https://pvhealthyair.org/) to engage local community members/organisations in air quality issues.
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