Exploring Social, Economic and Environmental Determinants of Health
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.
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
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 .
Questions? contact@breakthecycleprogram.org
BTC 19 TRAINEES
Meet the BTC 19 trainees
Presenting on Day 1
BTC 19 Program:
Day 1 April 15
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
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
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
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.
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.
4.30 pm CONCLUSION
Leslie Rubin, MD
4.40 pm ADJOURN
Day 2 Symposium:
Break the Cycle of Children’s Mental Health Disparities:
Environmental Perspectives
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.
9.10 am
Environmental Impact on Children’s Mental Health and Mental Health Disparities
Amelia Nguyen
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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
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.
