Caleb Jackson Dresser

Biography

Caleb Dresser is a practicing emergency physician whose work focuses on two key questions: First, what does climate change mean for our healthcare systems and the patients we serve? And second, what can we do to address this situation? Answering these questions has meant building a mixed-methods portfolio that includes developing and testing resources for clinicians and administrators, analyzing operational and medical records data, and using spatial methods to understand risk to healthcare facilities.

Caleb is an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at Harvard Medical School and an Assistant Professor in Environmental Health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He serves as Assistant Director of the Physician Fellowship in Climate and Human Health, leads work on Healthcare Solutions at Harvard Chan Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment, and is a member of the Faculty of Emergency Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, a major teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. Caleb holds a degree in Medicine from the University of Massachusetts Medical School and in Public Health from the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. He completed his residency in Emergency Medicine and Fellowship in Climate Change and Human Health at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

Education and Training

• MPH, Public Health
  Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
• BS, Biology & Society
  Cornell University
• MD, Medicine
  Univ. Massachusetts Medical Sch.
• , Emergency Medicine
  Beth Israel Deaconess Med. Ctr. / HAEMR

Awards and Honors

• Jane Matlaw Environmental Champion, 2024
  Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
• American Climate Leadership Awards Finalist, 2024
  ecoAmerica
• Jane Matlaw Environmental Champion, 2022
  Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
• Teaching Attending Award, 2022
  Dept. of Emergency Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Publications

• Frontline Clinic Administrator Perspectives on Extreme Weather Events, Clinic Operations, and Climate Resilience.

  Wiskel T, Matthews-Trigg N, Stevens K, Miles TT, Dresser C, Bernstein A. J Ambul Care Manage 2025 Jan 20

• International Encyclopedia of Public Health (Third Edition), Editor(s): Stella R. Quah

  Dresser C, Storr L, Leaning J. Disasters and Emergency Planning 2025

• A Graduate Medical Education Fellowship in Climate Change and Human Health: Experience and Outcomes From the First 5 Years.

  Dresser C, Wiskel T, Giudice C, Humphrey K, Storr L, Balsari S. J Grad Med Educ 2024

• Frontline clinic perspectives on climate change, human health, and resilience: a national cross-sectional survey.

  Wiskel T, Miles TT, Fonteyn M, Stevens K, Heberlein C, Matthews-Trigg N, Dresser C, Bernstein A. BMC Prim Care 2024 Nov 22

• Nature's New Frontier: Adapting Wilderness Medicine to a Changing Climate.

  Wheat S, Dresser C. Wilderness Environ Med 2024 Nov 19