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BREAK THE CYCLE OF
CHILDREN'S ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH DISPARITIES
18th ANNUAL PROGRAM

A Program of

Break the Cycle of Health Disparities, Inc. and Southeast Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit at Emory University.

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BREAK THE CYCLE 19

APRIL 15+16 2024

Day 1 Trainee Presentations
Break the Cycle of Children's Environmental Health Disparities

Day 2  Symposium:
Break the Cycle of Children's Mental Health Disparities: Environmental Perspectives 

Break the Cycle Director: Leslie Rubin MD

QUICK LINKS : CONFERENCE MENU & INFORMATION

Register to attend the 19th annual Break the Cycle Conference

The conference is free and open to all!

Please register to attend virtual or in-person

Break the Cycle of Children's Environmental Health Disparities focuses on raising awareness of children's health disparities and on cultivating future leaders among university students nationally and internationally .

QUICK LINKS : CONFERENCE MENU & INFORMATION

Monday April 15

9.00am – 5pm

The Hatchery, Emory University
Day 1 Trainee Presentations :
Break the Cycle of Children's Environmental Health Disparities

ZOOM LINK FOR DAY 1  

 

Tuesday April 16

8.00am – 1pm

Emory School of Nursing, Room 201
Day 2 Symposium:
Break the Cycle of Children’s Mental Health Disparities:
nvironmental Perspectives

ZOOM LINK FOR DAY 2 

CONFERENCE LINKS
TRAINEES

BTC 19 TRAINEES

Meet the BTC 19 trainees

Presenting on Day 1

DAY 1 PROGRAM

BTC 19 Program:

Day 1 April 15

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9.30 am Welcome 

Abby Mutic PhD, MSN, CNM

Director, Southeast Pediatric Environment Health Specialty Unit

Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Emory University, Atlanta GA

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9.35 am Message from ATSDR 

Linda Hansen MD MPH
Chief, Environmental Medicine and Health Systems Intervention Section

Office of Capacity Development and Applied Prevention Science

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

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9.40 am Message from EPA

Grace Robiou, MPH

Director, Office of Children’s Health Protection

Office of the Administrator

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

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9.45 am Introduction to Break the Cycle

Leslie Rubin, MD 

Director, Break the Cycle Program

Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta GA

Break the Cycle 19 Trainee Presentations

10.00 am

Danielle Westnedge

Formative Research to Develop and Implement an Environmental Health Survey Amongst Vulnerable Pediatric Populations in Chicago

University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences

Graduate
Master of Science in Environmental Engineering
Mentor: Dr. Susan Buchanan

10.20 am

Angelina Uzor and Joel Atikemah

Exploratory Analysis of Sociodemographic Determinants of Health in South Carolina Children in Relation to PFAS Exposure

East Tennessee State University, College of Public Health, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety Sciences, Johnson City, Tennessee.

Mentor: Mildred Maisonet, PhD

10.40 am

Sheril Mathew

Understanding Preterm Birth Health Disparities: The Role of Racism and Social Determinants of Health 

 

Nova Southeastern University, Biology
Undergraduate
Mentor: Dr. Veronica Fortino

11.00 am Health Break

11.30 am

Rana Al Sheikh

Lead-Less Gresham: Lead Exposure in Auburn Gresham, Chicago

 

DePaul University, Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
Graduate

Mentor: Dr. Laurel Berman & Dr. John Mazzeo

11.50 am

Kevin Daniels

Advancing Environmental Justice by Returning Monetary Penalties to Affected Communities

 

Georgia State University, College of Law
Graduate
Mentor: John Travis Marshall Esq.

12.10 pm KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Geoffrey “Cappy” Collins MD MPH

Department of Population Health Science and Policy at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine.
 

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12.40 pm Lunch Break

2.00 pm

Nawar Bari

Experiences of female adolescents with autoimmune diseases: Understanding the role of the environment and other risk factors 

Hofstra University, Sociology
Undergraduate

Mentor: Dr. Martine Hackett

2.20 pm

Muhammad Elahi

Childhood Eye Disease and Its Linkage with Socioeconomic Status and
Environmental Health

East Tennessee State University 
MD/MPH 2nd Year Student 
Mentor: Dr. David Wood MD/MPH and Dr. Jodi Southerland DrPH and Shimin Zheng PhD

2.40 pm

Daria Anderson

The Impact of rSSTI’s

Morehouse School of Medicine, Doctor of Medicine
Graduate
Mentor: Dr. Lilly Cheng-Immergluck

3.00 pm Health Break

3.20 pm

Gabriella Meltzer

Prenatal Heat Exposure and Early Childhood Neurodevelopment

Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health Environmental Health Sciences
Mentor: Dr. Julie Herbstman

3.50 pm

Vaidehi Jokhakar

Promoting youth leadership to address climate change through waste diversion in Nassau County High School

LMSW/ MPH, Northwell Health, Division of General Pediatrics
Graduate

Mentor: Dr. Cappy Collins

4.00 pm KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Diamond Spratling

Diamond Spratling, MPH is an award-winning environmental health and justice activist, consultant, and public speaker. In 2019, she founded Girl Plus Environment, the national non-profit organization designed to educate, engage, and empower Black and Brown women to stand up for environmental
justice in their own neighborhoods.

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4.30 pm CONCLUSION

Leslie Rubin, MD

4.40 pm ADJOURN

Day 2

Day 2 Symposium:

Break the Cycle of Children’s Mental Health Disparities:
Environmental Perspectives

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Tuesday April 16

8.30am – 1pm

School of Nursing, Emory University

Welcome and Introduction

8.30 am Leslie Rubin

8.40 am
Children’s Mental Health and Mental Health Disparities
an Overview

John Constantino

John Constantino, MD, is a professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, with a secondary appointment in the Department and also serves as Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta’s first system Chief of Behavioral and Mental Health and Liz and Frank Blake Chair for Children’s Behavioral and Mental Health.

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9.10 am
Environmental Impact on Children’s Mental Health and Mental Health Disparities

Amelia Nguyen

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Amelia Nguyen, Ph.D. is the climate lead in EPA’s Office of Children’s Health Protection and serves as the Designated Federal Officer for the Children's Health Protection Advisory Committee.

9.30 am
Impact of Climate Change on Children’s Mental Health

Marianne Celano

Marianne Celano, PhD, ABPP is a professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the Emory University School of Medicine, and Director of the Emory Parent ChildInteraction Therapy (PCIT) Program.

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9.50 am Health Break

10.20 am
Nature and Volunteerism for Youth Mental Health in our Warming World

Kevin Lanza

Kevin Lanza, PhD
Assistant Professor Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences at the UTHealth School of Public Health in Austin. He currently serves on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Board of Scientific Counselors and Children’s Health Protection Advisory Committee.

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10.40 am
The Effect of Activism on Eco-Anxiety in Adolescents

Gwendolyn M Hoff Anderson and Lexi Nutkiewicz

Gwendolyn M. Hoff Anderson MPH is a recent graduate from the University of San Francisco MPH program. She is an active member of the APHA Children’s Environmental Health Committee.

Lexi Nutkiewicz MPH, CHES is a Program Assistant at the Natural Resources Defense Council and co-leads the Climate Change and Youth Education workgroup under APHA’s Children’s
Environmental Health Committee.

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11.00 am
Children’s Mental Health and Mental Health Disparities
– Some Solutions

John Constantino

John Constantino, MD, is a professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, with a secondary appointment in the Department and also serves as Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta’s first system Chief of Behavioral and Mental Health and Liz and Frank Blake Chair for Children’s Behavioral and Mental Health.

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11.10 am Health Break and Breakout Workgroups

12.30 pm
Workgroup Reports

Report Back and Discussion

12.50 pm
Conclusion and Ideas for the Future
Leslie Rubin
1.00 pm
Adjourn
 
THANK YOU!
CONFERENCE LOCATION:
Break the Cycle 19 will be in person and virtual.
Please register here
IN PERSON DETAILS
1578 Avenue Place Suite 200
Atlanta, Georgia 30329
Free parking validation for up to 3 hours in the deck across from the space.
1520 Clifton Rd, Atlanta, GA 30322
Questions: 
please email, contact@breakthecycleprogram.org
VIRTUAL INFORMATION
To attend online, please register, information and zoom links will be sent to your email before the program begins
LOCATION
CONTACT
CONTACT INFO
Questions? please email:
contact@breakthecycleprogram.org
Break the Cycle supports student-driven research projects that explore social, economic, and environmental factors that adversely affect children’s health and well-being and develop creative strategies to promote health and well-being for children and, thereby, Break the Cycle of Environmental Health Disparities
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Please email lrubi01@emory.edu if you have any questions

Break the Cycle of children’s Environmental Health Disparities is a program featuring students from universities around the country who will present their projects on strategies to improve the quality of life for children who grow up under adverse social, economic and environmental circumstances.

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