MEMCARE Speaker Series: Dr. Nasser Zawia
Title: Developmental exposure to metals and nonmetals can reprogram gene expression and render the adult and aging brain susceptible to neurodegenerative diseases and disorders as revealed by: genomic, epigenomic, proteomic, biomarker and behavioral studies
Date: Monday, December 16, 2024, 3:00pm
Speaker: Nasser Zawia, Ph.D., Professor and Former Dean
Ryan Research Professor of Neuroscience, University of Rhode Island, College of Pharmacy
Abstract: Our research culminated in the groundbreaking discovery that early life exposure to the heavy metal lead (Pb) produces Alzheimer’s like pathology later in life. This was the first experimental evidence that exposure to environmental toxins in early life can have delayed and disastrous consequences for the mature nervous system, an observation that has since informed our understanding of many CNS diseases and the unique enabling aspects of the brain. Our laboratory has shown that the environment is able to make specific changes to the epigenome – that are sustained for the life of the animal and manifest themselves in the aging brain rendering it susceptible to disease and cognitive decline. More recent studies by our group have extended these findings to no-metals (PFOS) thereby showing similarities and differences between the actions of metals and non-metals.
(Full title: Developmental exposure to metals (Pb) and nonmetals (PFAS) can reprogram gene expression and render the adult and aging brain susceptible to neurodegenerative diseases (Alzheimer’s) and disorders such ASD and ADHD as revealed by: genomic, epigenomic, proteomic, biomarker and behavioral studies)
Speaker Information
Organizers
What’s in our air: A conversation with New York Times’ Carl Zimmer about airborne disease
Join science writer Carl Zimmer, author of Air-Borne: The Hidden History of the Life We Breathe, for a fascinating look at our evolving understanding of airborne illnesses — and how the COVID-19 pandemic reignited an important examination of what lives in our air.
Register for free to submit your questions.
An on-demand video will be posted after the event.
Speaker
Carl Zimmer
Moderator
About The Studio
Epidemiological inference and policy choice for the world’s deadliest infectious disease
Join the Department of Global Health and Population on Wednesday, June 11, for a seminar featuring Nicolas Menzies, Associate Professor of Global Health in the Department of Global Health and Population. Nicolas Menzies will present, “Epidemiological inference and policy choice for the world’s deadliest infectious disease”.
This hybrid seminar will be held in Building 1, Room 1208 and via Zoom.
Please note, a Harvard ID is required for building access.
Speakers will share their own perspectives; they do not speak for Harvard
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Organizers
How Air Quality Affects Early Childhood Development and Health
Join us for a live conversation, How Air Quality Affects Early Childhood Development and Health, on June 5 from 2 to 3 PM ET, centered on the recent working paper published by the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. We’ll explore the impacts of air quality during pregnancy and early childhood, with a particular focus on indoor air, given that we typically spend more than 90% of our time inside. Panelists will share actionable solutions to improve air quality, ranging from better policies and pollutant-free products to healthier ventilation and building materials, and will offer resources for taking action in your community to ensure children and their caregivers have cleaner air to breathe.
The discussion will be led by Lindsey Burghardt, MD, MPH, FAAP, the Center’s Chief Science Officer and Founding Director of the Early Childhood Scientific Council on Equity and the Environment (ECSCEE). It will feature Joe Allen, DSc, MPH, Associate Professor at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and ECSCEE member Alison Lee, MD, MS, Associate Professor of Medicine with tenure and Associate Division Chief in the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine in the Department of Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
Organizers
Decision science for priority setting in global public health today
Join the Department of Global Health and Population on Monday, June 9, for a seminar featuring Stéphane Verguet, Associate Professor of Global Health in the Department of Global Health and Population. Stéphane Verguet will present, “Decision science for priority setting in global public health today”.
This hybrid seminar will be held in Building 1, Room 1208 and via Zoom.
Please note, a Harvard ID is required for building access.
Speakers will share their own perspectives; they do not speak for Harvard
Speaker Information
Organizers
The seasonal factor in studies of temperature and pregnancy outcomes with Raanan Raz, PhD
Please join the Harvard Chan NIEHS Center for Environmental Health and the Department of Environmental Health for a talk by Raanan Raz, PhD, of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Dr. Raz will discuss “The seasonal factor in studies of temperature and pregnancy outcomes.”
This event will be held in person (HSPH Bldg. 1, 1302) and via Zoom. Register here
Abstract
Temperature and pregnancy outcomes studies typically adjust for seasonality to prevent confounding by factors that change seasonally. However, actual confounding is not always evaluated. Some studies define seasonality based on birth dates, while others use the last menstrual period (LMP). For specific outcomes, such as preterm birth, the birth date functions as a post-exposure collider, and its use may induce collider bias. Seasonal factors may also be included as time-varying covariates when associations are analyzed using a survival model. Finally, in some climates, seasonal changes account for most of the variability in the temperature exposure variable. This allows for using seasonal factors to illustrate the implications of different realistic exposure scenarios on risk.
This lecture will demonstrate the implications of possible methodological approaches to seasonality on confounding, collider bias, and risk quantification using a study of temperature and preterm birth in Israel.
About the speaker
Raanan Raz is an associate professor and environmental epidemiologist with the School of Public Health at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He completed his Bachelor’s degree in computer science, his MSc in epidemiology and preventive medicine, and his PhD in neuroscience. In his post-doctoral research, he studied associations between air pollution and autism at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health under the supervision of Prof. Marc Weisskopf. His current research focuses primarily on climate health impacts on women’s health and child development and the climate footprint of various healthcare activities. In addition, he studies causal inference in epidemiology and methods to reduce bias in health studies.
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Reducing Tobacco-Related Harm: Innovative Strategies for Health Care Providers in a Changing Policy Landscape
Join Vaughan Rees, Director of the Center for Global Tobacco Control, for an insightful webinar exploring the evolving role of nicotine products in tobacco harm reduction strategies.
While smoking rates have declined in some global regions, they remain high among socioeconomically disadvantaged and marginalized groups, and continue to rise in developing countries. This webinar will outline the potential benefits and risks of reduced-exposure nicotine products while maintaining a focus on protecting the health of youth. By illustrating the latest science and policy insights, this webinar will provide healthcare professionals with an understanding of a range of effective strategies to support tobacco cessation and reduce the burden of tobacco-related disease in marginalized populations.
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CHDS Seminar: Citizen Willingness to Pay for a Health Risk Reduction
Join the Center for Health Decision Science (CHDS) for a virtual Seminar with Susan Chilton from Newcastle University. Chilton’s presentation reports on the results of experimentally testing the external validity of the veil of ignorance established in “Citizen Preferences and BCA: A Model of Willingness-to-Pay behind a Veil of Ignorance,” which established a theoretical model that integrates a veil of ignorance into valuation to account for both distributional concerns and public good values.
Speaker Information
Susan Chilton
Organizers
CHDS Seminar: Setting Optimal Test Thresholds: Consumer Choice Model and Experimental Test
Join the Center for Health Decision Science (CHDS) for a virtual Seminar with Jytte Nielsen from Newcastle University exploring preferences regarding the trade-off between sensitivity and specificity in screening and diagnostic tests. For a given test, increasing sensitivity, detecting more true positives, comes at the expense of decreasing specificity, giving more false positives. Nielsen will present a consumer optimization model of how individuals’ make this trade-off and test their results using an incentivized experiment.
Speaker Information
Jytte Nielsen
Organizers
Leadership and Management : The Importance for Public Health Professionals
Improving environmental health and safety performance requires more than technical expertise—it demands strong leadership and management skills. Join us for a webinar hosted by Louis J. DiBerardinis, Instructor of Industrial Hygiene, to explore the essential capabilities EHS professionals need to drive meaningful change.
Drawing from real-world experience, Mr. DiBerardinis will share key leadership principles, recommendations for communicating with senior management, strategies for building effective performance systems, time management tips, and more. He’ll also introduce his upcoming course, Management and Leadership Skills for EHS Professionals program, offered online in September and on-site in March.
If you’re looking to strengthen your leadership skills, influence organizational culture, and elevate EHS performance, we invite you to attend this webinar.
