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April 6

Why Stability Matters for Early Childhood Development

Location
Online

Event Date

12:00 pm 1:00 pm

Join the Center on the Developing Child’s upcoming webinar to explore why stability plays a critical role in shaping young children’s health and development.

Drawing on insights from the new working paper, From Resources to Routines: The Importance of Stability in the Developmental Environment, the conversation will examine how stability—or the lack of it—across children’s developmental environments can affect their well-being in the moment and across the lifespan, and highlight strategies to promote stability for young children and their caregivers.

The conversation will be moderated by our Chief Science Officer, Lindsey Burghardt, MD, MPH, FAAP, and feature Nathaniel Harnett, PhD, Assistant Professor in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and Natalie Slopen, ScD, Associate Professor of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health.

Speaker Information

April 9

Forging better futures: Solutions-based science to address extreme weather with Rachel Morello-Frosch, PhD, MPH

Rachel Morello-Frosch lecture banner with headshot and title: Forging better futures: Solutions-based science to address extreme weather
Location
HSPH, Bldg. 1, 1302 and Zoom

Event Type

1:00 pm 2:00 pm

Please join the Harvard Chan NIEHS Center for Environmental Health and the Department of Environmental Health for a talk by Rachel Morello-Frosch, PhD, MPH, Professor, UC Berkeley School of Public Health. Dr. Morello-Frosch will discuss “Forging better futures: Solutions-based science to address extreme weather.”

This event will be held in person (HSPH Bldg. 1, 1302) and via Zoom. Lunch and refreshments provided! Register here

Trainee meeting for students and postdocs immediately following the seminar, 2-3 pm! Come in-person to discuss research interests, career plans, and funding opportunities. RSVP here!

About the speaker

Rachel Morello-Frosch, PhD, MPH, is an environmental health scientist, epidemiologist, and professor at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health and Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management. For over 25 years, her research has examined structural determinants of environmental health and how co-exposures to chemical and non-chemical stressors impact health. Much of her work has examined this question in the context of exposures to ambient air pollution, drinking water contaminants, endocrine disrupting chemicals, extreme weather, and effects on perinatal and developmental outcomes. In addition to using community-engaged approaches in her work, Rachel also collaborates with regulatory agencies to develop science-policy tools to assess the cumulative impacts of multiple environmental and social factors that inform regulatory decision-making.  Morello-Frosch is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and a 2025-26 Harvard Radcliffe Fellow. 

Speaker Information

April 3

Occupational and Environmental Medicine Grand Rounds

Impact of Repeated Blast Exposure on Military Special Operations Personnel
Location
Building 1, 1302 and Zoom
677 Huntington Ave
Boston, Massachusetts 02115

Event Type

1:10 pm 1:50 pm

The Department of Environmental Health and the Occupational and Environmental Medicine Residency Program invite you to the Occupational and Environmental Medicine Grand Rounds.

Topic: “Impact of Repeated Blast Exposure on Military Special Operations Personnel”

Learning objectives:

  1. Describe the biomechanical mechanisms and pathophysiology of brain injury associated with repeated blast exposure.
  2. Identify the cognitive, psychological, and physical symptoms associated with chronic occupational exposure to explosive blasts.
  3. Evaluate the limitations of current diagnostic tools in detecting the effects of repeated blast exposure on the human brain.

Presenter: Kiel von Khan, MD, 1st year OEM Resident

Discussant: Brian Edlow, MD, Director, Laboratory for Neuroimaging of Coma and Consciousness (NICC); Vice Chair of Research at Mass General Brigham Neurology; Associate Director, Center for Neurotechnology and Neurorecovery (CNTR); Critical care neurologist at Massachusetts General Hospital; Associate Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School

Location: Building 1, Room 1302 and Zoom

RSVP: Please click here to register.

CMEs for US licensed physicians

This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the Harvard Chan Education and Research Center. The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians. The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health designates this live activity for 1.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

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March 27

Nipah virus ecology and the importance of understanding spillover for preventing pandemics

Jonathan H. Epstein
Location
FXB 301

Event Type

10:00 am 11:00 am

Title Talk

Nipah virus ecology and the importance of understanding spillover for preventing pandemics

THIS SPEAKER WILL BE IN PERSON IN  FXB 301. 
The event will be hybrid.

Speaker Information

Spillover of zoonotic viruses from wildlife into livestock and humans is largely driven by human activities that modify natural systems in ways that increase contact with wildlife. Infectious disease surveillance systems are frequently designed to identify human cases once they’ve been admitted to a hospital. As a result, index cases and asymptomatic cases are often missed, making it difficult to identify mechanisms of spillover.  Understanding the pathways by which zoonotic pathogens infect livestock and people and measuring the frequency of exposure to these pathogens is essential for developing effective interventions that reduce the risk of viral spillover and disease emergence. Here we will discuss the drivers of viral spillover and focus on Nipah virus to illustrate a multidisciplinary approach that has helped characterize viral circulation, spillover risk, and develop interventions. We will also discuss current gaps in knowledge as outbreaks continue to occur in India and Bangladesh.

March 24

A public health success story: The near-eradication of Guinea worm

An illustration of a worm against a grey background
Location
Online

Event Type

1:00 pm 1:30 pm

Recorded Q&A, Tuesday, March 24, 2026, 1-1:30pm ET 

At just 10 human cases, reports of Guinea worm, a debilitating parasitic disease with no vaccine or drug treatment, are at an all-time low, according to The Carter Center.*  What drove this success? 

Former CDC Director Rochelle Walensky and The Carter Center’s Sarah Yerian and Emily Staub answered questions following the screening of The President and the Dragon, a documentary about former U.S. President Jimmy Carter’s efforts to eradicate Guinea worm, at the Harvard Chan School. This a recording of that Q&A. 

Released last fall, The President and the Dragon is available on various streaming platforms.  

*Figures are provisional until officially confirmed. 

Speakers

March 13

OEMR Mid-Year Research Presentations

OEMR Mid-Year Research Presentations
Location
Building 1, #1302
677 Huntington Ave
Boston, Massachusetts 02115

Event Type

1:10 pm 1:50 pm

The Department of Environmental Health and the Occupational and Environmental Medicine Residency (OEMR) Program invite you to the OEMR Mid-Year Research Presentations.

Date: Friday, March 13, 2026 at 1:10pm

Location: Building 1, 1302 and Zoom

Register: Click here to register for Zoom.

Presentations:

  • Burnout and Mental Wellbeing in Healthcare Workers After Hurricane Helene: One-Year Longitudinal Outcomes
    • Presenter: Tiffany Tam, MD, MPH
  • Clear Roads, Clear Minds: Building a Safer Transportation Industry
    • Presenter: Jeremy Berger, DO, MPH

Speaker Information

April 9

Brown Bag Seminar: AI×public health: Analytic tool and emerging population exposure

Benjamin Rader.
Location
Building 1, Room 1208
665 Huntington Ave.
Boston, Massachusetts 02115

Event Time

1:00 pm 2:00 pm

Benjamin Rader is a computational epidemiologist who currently serves as the scientific director of Boston Children’s Hospital’s Innovation and Digital Health Group and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. Rader’s research focuses on leveraging digital technologies and data to improve public health and has appeared in JAMA, The New England Journal of Medicine, The Economist, U.S. Presidential Addresses, and Supreme Court amicus briefs. He has helped advise numerous government agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Department of Defense, and previously resided with his family in Berlin, Germany, while serving as an AI advisor to the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence. Rader, a former U.S. Army Officer and Johns Hopkins’ Emerging Leader in Biosecurity Fellow, received his PhD from Boston University and MPH from Northwestern University.

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March 26

Brown Bag Seminar: Primary Healthcare IMPACT Lab at the Center for Indonesia’s Strategic Development Initiatives

Diah Saminarsih.
Location
Building 1, Room 1208
665 Huntington Ave.
Boston, Massachusetts 02115

Event Time

1:00 pm 2:00 pm

In this seminar, Diah Saminarsih will introduce the Primary Healthcare IMPACT Lab, a new collaboration between the Center for Indonesia’s Strategic Development Initiatives (CISDI) and the Program in Global Primary Health Care, a shared initiative of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital Division of Global Health Equity and Harvard Medical School. The Lab aims to support Indonesia’s primary health care transformation through locally grounded research, training, and service innovation. The discussion will also reflect on the broader role of Global South–led partnerships in shaping the future of health systems.


Diah Saminarsih is the founder and CEO of CISDI and a distinguished global development practitioner and public health advocate. Diah concluded her role as senior advisor to the WHO Director-General on Gender and Youth in August 2022. In this role, she established dialogues with member states and their youth delegates on meaningful youth engagement. She also spearheaded strategies for youth engagement and gender mainstreaming, in close collaboration with development partners and member state representatives.

After leaving WHO, Diah served on the board of the Pandemic Fund as the CSO Global South Representative. She co-founded the Stop TB Partnership Indonesia in 2018 and played a key role in advising and overseeing the work of the Global Fund TB Community Principal Recipient Consortium from 2021 to 2023. She also served as special staff to Indonesia’s Minister of Health (2014-2019) and special staff to Indonesia’s MDGs Envoy (2010-2014). During her work with the government of Indonesia, Diah was Indonesia’s co-negotiator in the SDGs negotiation. Her involvement in health security national design brought Indonesia to be part of the initial troika in the Global Health Security Agenda initiative, along with the U.S. and Finland.

Diah is currently a Commissioner for the Lancet Global Health Commission on People-Centered Care for Universal Health Coverage and Dean of the Faculty of Psychology and Education at Universitas Harkat Negeri, in Tegal, Central Java, Indonesia.

Speaker Information

March 25

Negotiations Webinar Series: “The Making of Negotiating Organizations”

The image depicts the text details of the event, along with a headshot of the speaker, and a QR code in the bottom left quadrant to scan to join the Zoom. Dark blue background with headshot of Claude Bruderlein.
Location
Online

Time

10:00 am 11:00 am

Event Type

From Around the School, Lectures/Seminars/Forums

Join us on Wednesday, March 25, 2026 (10–11 a.m. ET) for the second session of our two-part Negotiations Webinar Series, hosted by the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative.

🎙 Webinar 2: ”The Making of Negotiating Organizations”

Featuring Claude Bruderlein, Esq., LL.M., Adjunct Lecturer and Senior Researcher, and Founder of Frontline Associates.

This session focuses on how effective institutions build and sustain robust negotiation practices. We will examine the dimensions of strong negotiating organizations and share examples of successful institutional reshaping in complex and adversarial contexts.

🔗 Free and open to the public

📍 Join via Zoom: hsph.me/negotiations-webinar-march-25

📲 Or scan the QR code in the event image

Please share with your networks and anyone who may be interested.

Questions? Contact hhi@harvard.edu.

Speaker Information

April 1

Health journalism case study series with Gabriella Stern

Gabby Stern headshot on purple and beige background with even title
Location
Kresge 201
677 Huntington Avenue
Boston, Massachusetts 02115

Time

1:00 pm 1:50 pm

Event Type

From Around the School, Lectures/Seminars/Forums

Join us for part one of an engaging case study series led by Gabriella Stern, journalist and former Director of Communications at the World Health Organization. In this session, we’ll dig into a compelling piece of health journalism—how complex health topics are communicated to the public, what we can learn from journalistic choices, framing, and impact, and actionable-takeaways for your own health communication.

Lunch will be served.

Speakers will share their own perspectives; they do not speak for Harvard.

Speaker Information