People

David Christiani, MD, MPH, MS, is the Elkan Blout Professor of Environmental Genetics at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He earned his MD in 1976 from Tufts University and an MS and MPH from the Harvard School of Public Health. He did his post-graduate medical training at Boston City Hospital and the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

Professor Christiani’s major research interest lies in the interaction between human genes and the environment. In the emerging field of molecular epidemiology, he studies the impact of humans’ exposure to pollutants on health, as well as how genetic and acquired susceptibility to these diseases, along with environmental exposures, can lead to acute and chronic pulmonary and cardiovascular disease. He is also developing new methods for assessing health effects after exposure to pollutants and is very active in environmental and occupational health studies internationally.

Associate Professor
Director, Harvard Healthy Buildings Program (ForHealth.org)
Director, Public Health for Business Leaders
Commissioner, The Lancet COVID-19 Commission
Chair, The Lancet COVID-19 Commission Task Force on Safe Work, Safe Schools, and Safe Travel
Harvard University Coronavirus Advisory Group
Harvard Presidential Committee on Sustainability (Co-Chair, 2050 Sub-Committee)
Deputy Director, Harvard Education and Research Center for Occupational Safety & Health

I hold a Bachelor’s in Global & Public Health Sciences and Demography from Cornell University, which provided me with a strong understanding of public health frameworks. During the COVID-19 pandemic, I interned at the CDC in Washington, DC, gaining critical insights into national health strategies. Concurrently, I worked as a frontline healthcare worker at a dermatology clinic in Massachusetts, directly engaging in patient care and understanding the healthcare system’s challenges during a crisis. These experiences led to my current role at the New England Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit at Boston Children’s Hospital. Here, I focus on pediatric environmental health, using advanced geospatial analysis to study environmental impacts on child health outcomes.

My interest in occupational health began in Fort McMurray, Canada, where I witnessed the effects of hazardous work environments. A pivotal experience was collaborating on a telehealth project for residential lead identification with industrial hygienists, which emphasized the importance of occupational health.

Now, I am preparing to start an academic program focused on occupational exposures. My goal is to become a Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH), aiming to mitigate harmful exposures affecting frontline workers and communities. I aspire to work with a federal government agency, where I can integrate research with policy-making to enhance public health protection.

With four years as a flight surgeon in the Air Force, I gained invaluable experience in occupational medicine, working closely with pilots and aviators. This role fueled my passion for the field and inspired me to pursue it as a civilian, driven by an appreciation for the deep connection Americans have with their work.

Currently, I am engaged in an occupational and environmental medicine residency, where I dedicate one day a week to seeing patients for Worker’s Compensation, fitness for duty evaluations, and pre-placement physical exams. My future career goal is to influence health policy.

I have a background in statistics and economics from Rice University. Before entering my current program, I worked as a Technical Specialist at Gryphon Scientific, a consulting firm focused on public health and life sciences.

My interest in Occupational Health was sparked during a project for NIOSH amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, where I researched workplace safety measures. This experience highlighted the complexities of such measures and their societal impacts.

My goal is to unite my economics background with epidemiology training to evaluate safety measures broadly. Open to diverse career paths, I aim to apply my epidemiology skills in computational settings to address critical public health challenges.

I began my career journey at UC Berkeley, engaging in freshwater research both at the university and with a Department of Energy laboratory. From 2022 to 2024, I worked as an industrial hygienist for an environmental consulting firm in the Bay Area. This role fueled my passion for combining environmental science with public service, leading me to pursue a path in Occupational and Environmental Health Sciences (OEHS).

Currently, as a first-year trainee at the Harvard Chan ERC, I’m eager to delve deeper into occupational health research. My future goals include earning CIH and CSP certifications, and I’m enthusiastic about opportunities to make a positive impact on workplace health and safety.

Before entering the program, I completed elective rotations in Occupational and Environmental Medicine (OEM) at the University of Connecticut and Yale University. A coworker introduced me to the career opportunities in occupational medicine, sparking my interest.

Currently, I am involved in corporate and clinical medicine, as well as consulting. In the future, I aim to balance my career between internal medicine and occupational medicine, continuing per diem work as an internal medicine physician and serving as an OEM physician in a corporate setting.

I hold a BSPH in Environmental Health Science from the University of North Carolina and an MS in Epidemiology from Harvard Chan. Before my current PhD program in Population Health Sciences, I was an ORISE Fellow at NIOSH, where I became aware of the significant chemical exposures faced by workers and the potential for improvements in occupational health.

Presently, I conduct part-time research with NIOSH, focusing on risk assessment and occupational exposure limits, and I am involved with Swedish national occupational registries examining bladder cancer risk. My goal is to return to NIOSH after completing my PhD.

Before entering the program, I completed a preliminary year of residency in internal medicine and worked in private consulting within the health tech sector. Discovering occupational medicine online sparked my interest and led me to pursue it as a career.

Currently, I am a first-year OEM resident working toward an MPH. My future career plans include consulting, corporate medicine, and wellness.

I received my SM in Environmental Health from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in 2022, where I collaborated with the Healthy Buildings Team and the Office for Sustainability. My research focused on innovative building solutions addressing health, climate, and equity. My interest in occupational health stems from my undergraduate studies at Haverford College, where I double-majored in Chemistry and Health & Societies. I became passionate about addressing environmental injustices within the built environment that affect marginalized communities, leading to my interest in translational research.

Currently, I am pursuing a PhD in Population Health Sciences with a focus on Environmental Health Exposures. I’m involved in research with the Healthy Buildings Program and the Office for Sustainability.

Looking ahead, I aim to work in the private sector to conduct interdisciplinary research on sustainable building practices and eventually return to academia as a professor. Previously, I conducted a pilot project quantifying the US building industry’s PFAS footprint.

I hold a Bachelor of Science in Global Health from Georgetown University. During my studies, I worked as a research assistant at the University of Western Australia, focusing on family and domestic violence prevention in rural workplaces. I then joined Harvard Chan to evaluate a climate change preparedness toolkit for U.S. clinics and worked in a neuroepidemiology lab at Boston Children’s Hospital, studying the effects of indoor pollutants on pediatric neurological health.

My interest in occupational health grew from understanding the vital link between environment and health, emphasizing the importance of work environments. Currently, I am involved in projects examining climate awareness tools that aid outdoor workers in recognizing heat exhaustion risks. My future goals include pursuing a PhD in Environmental Epidemiology with a focus on climate change. I am also collaborating with Dr. Maitreyi Mazumdar’s lab on a pilot project in Dhaka, Bangladesh, investigating climate impacts on pediatric neurosurgery and neurology outcomes.

I began my career as a USAF Flight Surgeon, where I developed a passion for the preventative aspects of occupational medicine.

Currently, I am researching the role of lifestyle medicine in the workplace. My future career plans include pursuing opportunities in corporate medicine and consulting.

I served as a Flight Surgeon in the U.S. Navy, focusing on primary care for Sailors and Marines, with a special emphasis on aviation medicine. This role sparked my interest in Occupational Health, particularly in understanding how occupations impact health and vice versa.

Currently, I’m a first-year Occupational and Environmental Medicine resident at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, working on my MPH and gaining exposure to various aspects of the field. My future plans include exploring opportunities in the Public Health and Policy sector, as well as corporate medicine.

I earned my master’s degree in Environmental Health from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Before joining the PHS PhD program, I worked in pediatric environmental health at the Region 2 Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit at Mt. Sinai in NYC.

My interest in environmental health exposure was sparked in high school by the Flint water crisis, motivating me to address inequities and harmful exposures in the built environment.

I am currently engaged in exposure assessment courses and developing projects on environmental health exposures. My future goals include working in public health practice, focusing on community and pediatric health.