Community-Engaged Research Working Group in Environmental Health
Join the Harvard Chan NIEHS Center’s working group on community-engaged research in environmental health!
This working group brings together faculty, trainees, students, and staff to discuss the methods and practice of conducting community-engaged research with a focus on environmental health.
We’ll meet in person in Building 1, 1302 on April 6, 1-2:00 pm.
April agenda: We will share successes and challenges in our own ongoing community-engaged research, and discuss how we can collaborate in this research field.
Please email niehsctr@hsph.harvard.edu to RSVP!
Speaker Information
Organizers
Research Addressing Cancer Disparities in New York City
Join us on Wednesday, April 8th for the Department of Epidemiology featuring Dr. Rulla Tamimi discussing Research Addressing Cancer Disparities in New York City.
Abstract: Dr. Tamimi will describe the catchment area of the Sandra and Edward Meyer Cancer Center in New York City. New York City (NYC) is a region of extremes with some of the richest and poorest living in close proximity. These extremes have a profound impact on health, with major disparities in life expectancy, with cancer driving these differences as the number 1 and 2 causes of premature mortality and overall mortality, respectively. NYC is one of the most heterogeneous cities in the U.S. She will share her work as the Associate Director of Population Science at the Sandra and Edward Meyer Cancer Center, where she builds research programs that address the needs of the catchment area. She will also share research from the Center of Social Capital (SoCa) Promoting Multigenerational Health, a center she co-leads in response to the National Cancer Institute’s Persistent Poverty Initiative. The mission of the Center is to improve cancer risk and outcomes in persistent poverty census tracts throughout NYC by promoting multi-generational health. She will highlight recent work from the center.
Bio: Dr. Rulla Tamimi is the Chief of the Division of Epidemiology in the Department of Population Health Sciences and Associate Director of Population Science at the Sandra and Edward Meyer Cancer Center. She is a cancer epidemiologist whose research has advanced our understanding of breast cancer risk and prognosis. Dr. Tamimi has led numerous NIH-funded studies and authored over 400 peer-reviewed publications, identifying key genetic, molecular, and lifestyle predictors of breast cancer. Her work includes studies of early-life and environmental exposures, molecular tumor characterization, and mammographic features as predictors of disease. Throughout her career, she has played a key role in developing collaborative research efforts, with a long-term commitment to improving cancer prevention and health equity.
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Organizers
Related Events
Center Member Research Presentation: Heike Gibson, PhD
Join us for a Center Member Research Presentation by Dr. Heike Gibson on Traffic-related air pollution, lipoproteins, and cardiovascular disease risk in the VITamin D and OmegA-3 TriaL (VITAL). Following a brief presentation, there will be time for all participants to engage in a cross-disciplinary discussion with Dr. Gibson and each other.
Abstract: This talk will highlight findings from the analyses of cross-sectional and longitudinal associations of traffic related air pollution (TRAP) with incident cardiovascular disease (CVD) and with a panel of lipid biomarkers in the nationwide, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial of vitamin D and marine omega-3 fatty acid supplements (VITAL) among 25,871 men and women. Satellite-based exposure models were used to estimate residence-specific ambient concentrations of NO2, PM2.5, and 11 PM2.5 components, and source apportionment methods were applied to identify and quantify contributions from tailpipe, non‑tailpipe, and road dust PM2.5. Lipid biomarkers were assessed by standard lipid tests and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.
About the speaker: Heike Gibson, PhD, is a Senior Research Scientist in the Department of Environmental Health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Her work focuses on the health effects of environmental exposures on respiratory and cardiovascular outcomes, and her research has examined acute and chronic exposure to air pollution and temperature in relation to cardiopulmonary and inflammatory endpoints in children and adults, factors that modify responses to air pollution, and mechanisms linking inhalation of ambient particles to acute cardiovascular and systemic effects.
During her 25+ years at HSPH, Dr. Gibson has participated in numerous air pollution studies, including the 5 Cities Study, 24 Cities Study, Teen Lung Study, Air Pollution and ICD-Detected Cardiac Arrhythmias, and the environmental arms of the Children’s Respiratory and Environmental Workgroup (CREW) and the Viva birth cohort, in various roles as project manager, data manager, and data analyst. She has led several geospatial projects to link air pollution, weather, and neighborhood-level census data to participants’ addresses to generate temporally and spatially resolved environmental exposures metrics for outcomes such as spirometry, biomarkers, and cardiovascular endpoints. In addition, she co-led the Lung VITamin D and OmegA-3 TriaL ancillary study (PI: Dr. Diane Gold) of associations between vitamin D and/or fish oil and acute respiratory episodes, asthma control, and lung function.
Dr. Gibson spends part of her time at the Department of Preventive Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where she collaborates with Dr. Samia Mora (Director of the Center for Lipid Metabolomics) in the analyses of lipid and metabolic biomarkers in relation to cardiovascular risk factors and clinical events.
This event will be held in person in HSPH Bldg. 1, 1302 and via Zoom. Register here
Speaker Information
Organizers
Pathways to Impact through Environmental Sustainability
The Climate Change & Planetary Health Concentration invites you to their next Brown Bag Lunch Seminar:
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Speaker: Tom Polton
Location: FXB G-12
Everyone is welcome, whether or not you are a part of the concentration. This seminar is in-person only.
About the Speaker:
Tom joined Pfizer immediately after finishing his master’s degree from the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health in 1983. He began his tenure at Pfizer by leading their global occupational hygiene and process safety programs. From 2009 on, he oversaw the environmental sustainability and product stewardship programs. Since leaving Pfizer, Tom has been involved with the Climate Reality Project, former Vice President Al Gore’s grassroots climate organization serving on the NY State Leadership Team. He also has been active with the 3000+ member Harvard Alumni for Climate and Environment (HACE) co-chairing a Climate and Health series for the alumni members. At the 2024 HSPH Alumni weekend he moderated a panel on Extreme Heat with Professors Gaurab Basu and Barrak Alahmad. Tom is a member of the Harvard Salata Institute’s Alumni Working Group, and an adjunct professor teaching “Enterprise Sustainability” to Clarkson University graduate students pursuing a MS in Engineering Management and has been lecturing at Harvard Chan for the past 20 years. And lastly, he advises organizations on sustainability strategy at NV Sustainability LLC, a consulting firm he founded with the motto “become green with NV.”
Speaker Information
Tom Polton
Organizers
Negotiations Webinar Series: “On the Use of AI in Frontline Negotiation: Current Trends and Outlook for the Future”
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🎙 Webinar 1: “On the Use of AI in Frontline Negotiation: Current Trends and Outlook for the Future”
Featuring Claude Bruderlein, Esq., LL.M., Adjunct Lecturer and Senior Researcher, and Founder of Frontline Associates.
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🔗 Free and open to the public
📍 Join via Zoom: hsph.me/negotiations-webinar-feb-25
📲 Or scan the QR code in the event image
📅 Save the date for Webinar #2: “The Making of Negotiating Organizations” on March 25, 2026. Stay tuned for more details.
Please share with your networks and anyone who may be interested.
Questions? hhi@harvard.edu.
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Organizers
CCDD ID Epi Seminar Series – Curing More Than TB: Treating Bias in MDR/RR-TB Cohort Analyses
Presented by Molly Franke, Professor of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School
Professor Franke is a global health researcher whose work brings the rigor of epidemiology to intractable infections, including tuberculosis, cholera, HIV. A primary objective of her work is to reduce suffering from infectious diseases by applying rigorous epidemiologic methods to address critical knowledge gaps related to interventions and treatment. Examples include the design of studies to assess the effectiveness of cholera interventions, including vaccination, and the use of causal inference-based approaches to study treatment for drug-resistant tuberculosis.
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Organizers
Book Launch and Fireside Chat: The Permanence of Anti-Roma Racism. (Un)uttered Sentences By Dr. Margareta Matache
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The event will explore the histories, structures, and daily practices that uphold anti-Roma racism across Europe and beyond. It will also examine the place and role of Romani Studies within broader global theories on racialization, racism, and systems of slavery. In conversation with Dr. Mary Bassett, Dr. Abadir Ibrahim, and Dr. Bram Wispelwey, Matache will reflect on howunuttered Roma sentences – erased histories, unhealed violence, and ignored internal knowledge – shape public health, policy, scholarship, and Roma lives.
Audience & Registration
This event is free and open to the public.
Due to space limitations and security requirements, please register at least one day in advance by emailing Claire Street at cstreet@hsph.harvard.edu.
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Organizers
Harvard Pop Center Social Demography Seminar: “The effect of a Universal Cash Transfer on fertility and newborn health”
Sarah Cowan, PhD, associate professor of sociology and director of undergraduate studies, New York University, will present (REMOTELY) “The effect of a Universal Cash Transfer on fertility and newborn health.”
The Social Demography Seminar (SDS) series at the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies provides a lively forum for scholars from across the university to discuss in-progress social scientific and population research. Social demography includes work that uses demographic methods to describe and explain the distribution of social goods across populations. The hybrid series offers presentations on a wide variety of topics such as family, gender, race/ethnicity, population health—including mortality, morbidity, and functional health—inequality, immigration, fertility, and the institutional arrangements that shape and respond to population processes.
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Organizers
Examining Immigration Enforcement from Minnesota to Boston: A teach-in on impacts and community resources
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This seminar offers a welcoming space to learn, reflect, and connect.
This event is co-sponsored by the Department of Health Policy and Management and the Office for Community Belonging.
Speaker Information
David Williams
Maggie Sullivan
Evie Odden
Liz Gipson
TJ Moon
Organizers
This event is part of the Dr. Lawrence H. and Roberta Cohn Forum series.
This conversation pulls back the curtain on what really happens when Democrats and Republicans hammer out health legislation in Washington. Former HHS Assistant Secretary for Legislation Melanie Egorin and former staff director for the House Ways & Means Health Subcommittee Brian Sutter will unpack how trust, timing, and technical work shape major laws. They will trace how ideas move from “policy on the shelf” to statute, even in hyper‑partisan moments. This discussion will paint a clear picture of the roles staff, agencies, and advocates play—and offer practical advice for building a career in bipartisan problem‑solving.
Register for free to submit your questions.
An on-demand video will be posted after the event.
Speakers
Melanie Egorin
Brian Sutter
