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  • New Study: Abatacept Therapy Offers Promising Results Treating Juvenile Dermatomyositis

    New Study: Abatacept Therapy Offers Promising Results Treating Juvenile Dermatomyositis

    Newswise — WASHINGTON (March 8, 2023)–Juvenile dermatomyositis, a rare but often severe and chronic systemic autoimmune disease, includes a large number of patients who are treatment resistant, requiring long term immunosuppressive therapy. A small open-label study published in Arthritis and Rheumatology shows promise using a targeted biologic therapy called abatacept to treat such patients.  

    In the 24-week trial, ten patients with juvenile dermatomyositis ages 7 years or older with moderate disease activity who all received abatacept therapy had significant improvements in their muscle strength, physical function, endurance and skin rashes, as well as in the amount of muscle inflammation on MRI. In addition, patients were able to lower the daily dose of corticosteroids during the trial, said Rodolfo V. Curiel, M.D., the study Principal Investigator and an Associate Professor of Medicine at the George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences.

    “This study makes an important contribution to the field of juvenile dermatomyositis,” Curiel said. “Treatment resistant patients require long-term immunosuppressive therapy with glucocorticoids, methotrexate and other medications. This 24-week clinical trial suggests abatacept may be beneficial and a potentially safe option for refractory juvenile dermatomyositis.”

    Curiel says the study is the first clinical trial conducted to evaluate the safety and efficacy of abatacept in such patients. Further study must be conducted to verify the findings of this small, pilot study, he says.

    “This is a breakthrough for juvenile dermatomyositis. The majority of these treatment-refractory patients improved at least moderately in clinical disease activity measures, as well as in two objective blinded measures, interferon genes and protein markers, reflecting downregulation of a key cytokine signaling pathway in JDM, and muscle inflammation on MRI. These data strengthen the trial findings and promise of abatacept for JDM, although further studies are needed.” said Lisa G. Rider, M.D., Head, Environmental Autoimmunity Group, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, NIH in Bethesda, Maryland, and Clinical Professor of Medicine at George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences. 

    The paper, “Improvement in Disease Activity in Refractory Juvenile Dermatomyositis Following Abatacept Therapy,” was published online in Arthritis and Rheumatology.

    The study was supported by Bristol Myers Squibb, Cure Juvenile Myositis Foundation and the GW Medical Faculty Associates. In addition, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, which are part of the National Institutes of Health, supported part of the research. 

  • Keck School of Medicine Study Finds “Forever Chemicals” Disrupt Key Biological Processes

    Keck School of Medicine Study Finds “Forever Chemicals” Disrupt Key Biological Processes

    Press Release

    Exposure to a mixture of chemicals called PFAS leads to alterations in biological processes associated with a broad range of diseases.

    Hope Hamashige February 21, 2023

    image with PFAS icons
    PFAS icons (Illustration iStock)

    A team of researchers from the Keck School of Medicine of USC found that exposure to a mixture of synthetic chemicals found widely in the environment alters several critical biological processes, including the metabolism of fats and amino acids, in both children and young adults. The disruption of these biological processes is connected to an increased risk of a very broad range of diseases, including developmental disorders, cardiovascular disease, metabolic disease and many types of cancer.

    Known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, these man-made chemicals are used in a wide range of consumer and industrial products. PFAS are sometimes called “forever chemicals” because they break down very slowly and accumulate in the environment and human tissue.

    Although individual PFAS are known to increase the risk of several types of disease, this study, published February 22 in Environmental Health Perspectives, is the first to evaluate which biological processes are altered by exposure to a combination of multiple PFAS, which is important because most people carry a mixture of the chemicals in their blood.

    “Our findings were surprising and have broad implications for policy makers trying to mitigate risk,” said Jesse A. Goodrich, PhD, assistant professor of population and public health sciences and lead author of the study. “We found that exposure to a combination of PFAS not only disrupted lipid and amino acid metabolism but also altered thyroid hormone function.”

    A first of its kind research project

    To understand the effects that the mixture of PFAs has in the body, the team used blood samples collected from 312 adolescents who participated in the Study of Latino Adolescents at Risk and 137 children from the Southern California Children’s Health Study. They found that all the children and adolescents had a mixture of several common PFAS in their blood including PFOS, PFHxS, PFHpS, PFOA and PFNA. More than 98% of the participants also had PFDA in their blood.

    The researchers also measured thousands of naturally occurring chemicals in blood and, using a biostatistical method they developed, they identified how exposure to multiple different PFAS impacted each of these naturally occurring chemicals. This information helped the researchers determine that PFAS exposure altered the way the body metabolized lipids and amino acids as well as the levels of thyroid hormone, an important determinant of metabolic rates.

    The researchers focused on children and young adults because they are going through critical stages of development that may make them more susceptible to the negative health effects of PFAS exposure. It is also a time when many serious diseases that manifest in adults begin to take root. The researchers added that these results are consistent with earlier studies that showed exposure to individual PFAS in childhood was associated with dysregulated lipid and fatty acid metabolism, which can increase the risk of metabolic disorders and cardiovascular disease later in life.

    One finding that stood out, according to Goodrich, was the fact that the PFAS exposure had an effect on thyroid hormone function, which has a critical role in growth and metabolism. Because of this, changes in thyroid hormones play an important role in child development during puberty, which can have important effects on a range of diseases later in life, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer.

    Important public health consideration

    Another important finding was the fact that exposure to a mixture of PFAS, rather than a single chemical of this type, drove the disruption of these biological processes. This finding was consistent across the two cohorts, even though they had different levels of PFAS exposure.

    Almost all people in the U.S. have detectable levels of several PFAS, which are in a wide variety of products including waterproof clothing and food packaging, in their blood. An estimated 200 million people in the U.S. have drinking water with PFAS levels that are considerably higher than the levels recommended by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2022.

    Some manufacturers have phased out the use of individual PFAS, but the authors of this study conclude that this research shows why it may be more important to regulate PFAS as a class of chemicals.

    “We are really only beginning to understand the range of effects that these chemicals have on human health,” said Leda Chatzi, MD, PhD, professor of population and public health sciences and another of the study’s authors. “While current interventions have focused on phasing out the use of individual PFAS, such as PFOS and PFOA, this research shows why the focus should be on reducing exposure to all PFAS chemicals.”

    About the study

    Additional authors of the study include Jingxuan He, Brittney O. Baumert, Zhanghua Chen, Sarah Rock, Hongxu Wang, Frank D. Gilliland, David V. Conti, and Michael Goran of the Keck School of Medicine of USC; Douglas I. Walker, Dean P. Jones and Xin Hu of Emory University; Xiangping Lin, Damaskini Valvi, and Zoe Coates Fuentes of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai; Tanya L. Alderete of the University of Colorado Boulder; Kiros Berhane of Columbia University.

    The researchers would like to acknowledge the source for funding this research which was provided by the National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (R01ES029944).

  • Toxic Protein Linked to Muscular Dystrophy and Arhinia

    Toxic Protein Linked to Muscular Dystrophy and Arhinia

    Researchers at the National Institutes of Health and their colleagues have found that a toxic protein made by the body called DUX4 may be the cause of two very different rare genetic disorders. For patients who have facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD), or a rare facial malformation called arhinia, this research discovery may eventually lead to therapies that can help people with these rare diseases.

    FSHD type 2 (FSHD2) is an inherited form of muscular dystrophy that causes progressive muscle weakness. Arhinia is an extremely rare yet severe disorder that prevents the development of an external nose and the olfactory bulbs and tracts. Both diseases are caused by mutations in the SMCHD1 gene. In patients with FSHD2, there is overproduction of DUX4 which kills the muscle cells, and this leads to the progressive weakening of the muscles.

    “It has been known for some time that DUX4 damages the muscle in patients with FSHD2, but what we found is that it can actually also kill the precursors of the human nose,” said Natalie Shaw, M.D., head of the Pediatric Neuroendocrinology Group at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and lead author of the new study in the journal Science Advances. NIEHS is part of NIH.

    Shaw’s team found that the combination of the mutated SMCHD1 gene and an environmental modifier such as a virus, may trigger the DUX4 toxic protein. This may be what causes arhinia to occur. Using stem cells created from patients with the two diseases, the researchers conducted studies in cranial placode cells, the cells that lead to the development of the body’s sensory organs, such as the nose. As the placode cells started to form, they began to produce the DUX4 protein which caused cell death.

    The researchers showed that DUX4 is responsible for cell death in placode cells as it is in muscle cells, but they still do not understand why the nose cells do not die in muscular dystrophy or why the muscle cells are not dying in arhinia.

    “Now what we have to do is try to figure out the players acting downstream of DUX4, so we can block it from damaging the muscle cells or the nose precursors and hopefully find some new treatment options for patients suffering from these rare diseases,” said Shaw.

    The NIEHS researchers have collaborated with researchers at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, which is also the home of a Wellstone Muscular Dystrophy Specialized Research Center. The Centers of Excellence program in muscular dystrophy research was established by NIH in 2003, in honor of the late Senator Paul D. Wellstone of Minnesota. The six Wellstone Centers are funded by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). The Iowa Wellstone Center is funded by NINDS.

    NIH will host its Rare Disease Day on Tuesday, Feb. 28, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST. The annual event is a day to raise awareness about rare diseases and their impact on patients’ lives. This year’s agenda features panel discussions, rare diseases stories, exhibitors, and scientific posters. The event is free and open to the public.

    Grants: This work was supported in part by the Intramural Research Program of the NIH, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (1ZIAES103327-05; N.D.S.). Dr. Shaw is also supported as a Lasker Clinical Research Scholar (1SI2ES025429-01). Dr. Moore is funded by P50 NS053672 to the Iowa Wellstone Muscular Dystrophy Specialized Research Center.

    Reference: Inoue K, Bostan H, Browne M, Bevis O, Bortner C, Moore S, Stence A, Martin N, Chen S, Burkholder A, Li J, Shaw N. 2023. DUX4 double whammy: the transcription factor that causes a rare muscular dystrophy also kills the precursors of the human nose. Science Advances. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abq7744. [Full Text Inoue K, Bostan H, Browne M, Bevis O, Bortner C, Moore S, Stence A, Martin N, Chen S, Burkholder A, Li J, Shaw N. 2023. DUX4 double whammy: the transcription factor that causes a rare muscular dystrophy also kills the precursors of the human nose. Science Advances. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abq7744.] 

  • Apple Women’s Health Study Advances Understanding of Menstrual Cycles and Health

    Apple Women’s Health Study Advances Understanding of Menstrual Cycles and Health

    February 1, 2023 – Over the past three years, researchers with the Apple Women’s Health Study have been able to shed light on topics such as pregnancy attempts during the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact of COVID-19 vaccination on menstrual cycles.

    Thanks to three years of renewed support from Apple, the work will continue.

    Shruthi Mahalingaiah

    “We’ve made incredible progress in our team’s cohesion and collaboration, and we’ve been able to dedicate ourselves towards discovery for women’s health,” said Shruthi Mahalingaiah, assistant professor of environmental, reproductive, and women’s health at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and a member of the study team.

    The study is a collaboration of Harvard Chan School, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), and Apple. The longitudinal study is focused on advancing understanding of menstrual cycles and using that information to improve screening and risk assessment for a range of gynecological conditions—and, ultimately, to improve health across the lifespan. With its cohort of more than 100,000 participants from across the U.S., covering a wide range of ages, racial backgrounds, and other demographic factors, the study is well on its way.

    Said Mahalingaiah, “Women’s research is underrepresented overall in research. But the need is high.” She noted that the global burden of gynecological conditions has jumped considerably between 1990 and 2019. “My hope is that our study will address things that the world’s population of menstruators are seeming to face, such as endocrine disorders, headaches, mental health issues, diabetes, and cardiovascular problems.”

    She added, “We’re emphasizing that the menstrual cycle is a vital sign. I would like to lobby to have it up front in our medical record charting. For instance, is your period regular or irregular? Even that basic information can provide a whole view of a person’s health.” She noted that irregular periods can indicate a serious health issues. “People don’t understand, for instance, that fewer periods per year significantly increases your cancer risk,” she said. “It’s important that people have this information.”

    Participants who volunteer for the study download the Apple Research app on their iPhone and use it to track their menstrual cycles as well as take monthly surveys related to their menstrual experience. Apple Watch users also have the opportunity to choose to share data on physical activity and mobility that is passively collected. Those who’ve signed up say they are participating in order to advance women’s health research, to better understand their own health behaviors, and to improve technology in women’s health. Privacy is embedded into the study design. Participants have granular control over which types of data they choose to share with the study, and can withdraw from the study at any time. Any data collected is encrypted in transit and stored securely in a system designed to meet the technical safeguard requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

    Since its launch in the fall of 2019, the study has contributed research related to COVID-19 and other health issues. For example, the team found that there was an almost 20% decrease in pregnancy attempts during the pandemic, particularly among those with lower educational levels and lower perceived social status. Other research showed that while COVID-19 vaccines may cause small changes in menstrual cycles, those changes are temporary. Another study highlighted how menstrual characteristics vary by age, race and ethnicity, and weight; for example, participants who were Asian or Hispanic had longer menstrual cycles, and obesity was also linked with longer cycles.

    Going forward, researchers plan to examine how seasonality affects the menstrual cycle, how polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) may impact heart health, and the link between menstruation and migraines. Other areas of interest to the researchers include infertility, osteoporosis, pregnancy complications, and menopausal transition.

    Mahalingaiah is particularly cheered by the fact that the study design makes it accessible to all, regardless of socioeconomic status, race, geographical location, or other factors. “We are breaking down boundaries by making this study 100% accessible,” she said. “Whether you’re living in a rural area or you feel disenfranchised by the medical community—this is building a bridge to having representation from all of those voices.”

    – Karen Feldscher

    photo: iStock/Natalia Kirienko

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  • Researchers Discover Why Only Some People Experience Long-term Benefits From Peanut Allergy Treatments

    New research by scientists at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), University of Paris Saclay, and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) reveals why oral immunotherapy, which treats food allergies through incremental increases in consumption of the allergen, can lead to sustained tolerance in some individuals but only transient tolerance in others.

  • Texas A&M Researchers Developing New Approach for Analyzing Chemical Mixtures

    nginx

  • Public Health Research Team Makes Strides in Studying Impact of Plastic Pollution

    In a nondescript room in the recesses of the Willard A. Silcox Physical Education and Health Center, four students sit around a lab table dissecting small fish. Though it’s not immediately evident, they’re engaged in work that will lead to new insights regarding the dangers of plastic pollution. And those dangers don’t solely pertain to these fish or the dolphins that eat them. They also directly threaten human health.

    “That’s really the underlying goal of this research,” says Leslie Hart ’03 (M.E.S.) as she directs her student team. “We’re trying to use this work to identify and raise awareness about the dangers of plastic pollution, not just because of its proven impact on wildlife, but because it can lead to complex issues for humans as well.”

    A student measures a fish in Associate Professor Leslie Hart’s lab. (Photos by Catie Cleveland)

    Hart, who co-directs and teaches in the College’s public health program in the School of Health Sciences, has been studying dolphins since 2000 when she was an undergraduate student. After completing a master’s in marine biology at the College, she went on to earn a doctorate in epidemiology, specializing in skin disease in bottlenose dolphins.

    For the work she’s currently doing – funded in part by a $400,000-plus grant from the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences – she has assembled a unique team. Two of the students working with her are undergraduates; and the other two include a master’s candidate in marine biology and a Ph.D. candidate in environmental health sciences at the University of South Carolina.

    At the moment, Hart and her team are dissecting these fish so that they can process their tissues to determine what kind of plastic particles the fish are carrying. These fish, delivered recently from Sarasota, Florida, are regularly eaten by the dolphins in that area, the same ones that Hart has been studying for over two decades.

    “We recently published a paper where we were the first researchers to look at samples collected from live dolphins,” Hart says. “We suspected that they ingest plastics based on the phthalate metabolites that we detected in their urine. Phthalates are manmade chemical compounds that are used in the production of plastics, solvents and personal-care products. They’re not chemically bound to the products they’re added to, so when plastics break down in the environment, phthalates are easily released. Our study of the stomach contents of live dolphins revealed microplastics, so that leads us to the fish that they’re eating.”

    For the students involved in this project, this work has far-reaching ramifications.

    “There’s a benefit to using dolphins for this because they’re a charismatic mammal. Who doesn’t care about dolphins, right? But more importantly, we know that plastics shouldn’t be in the marine environment, and phthalates shouldn’t be found there either, yet we’re finding them,” says Miranda Dziobak, the Ph.D. candidate. “And we know that some of the fish that dolphins are eating are fish that humans also eat, so there’s a seafood safety aspect to this issue as well. What we’re finding – plastic and phthalate exposure in dolphins – means that humans are probably exposed in a similar way. And phthalates pose the risk of endocrine disruption, which changes the way our hormones are produced and function and that can affect development, reproduction and cognitive abilities. There are many potential impacts.”

    Data collected from fish taken from Sarasota Bay helps identify contaminants from plastic pollution getting into the food chain.

    Maggie Knight, the master’s candidate, concurs: “I’m interested in how different environmental factors can change the chemistry of things, and how that potentially impacts both humans and animals. In particular, I’m interested in combining chemistry at a very, very small scale and the study of large marine mammals to make the world a better place for people, the oceans and the species that reside within them. Ultimately, this study is addressing that and plastic pollution, so it’s really worthwhile work.”

    Fellow teammate Tita Curtain, a public health major, is also interested in how environments impact human health. That’s something she’d like to explore in the future with the background of a medical degree.

    “What we’re working on goes way beyond the scope of dolphins and fish,” she says. “This is very much about us and our health. It involves seafood safety, yes, but also endocrine disruption. What we see in dolphins is likely parallel to what’s happening with us. So, this goes far beyond just what you see in this lab.”

    And Eric Conger, another member of this team who is a marine biology major in the Honors College, says he’s grateful for such a meaningful experience as an undergraduate student.

    “In most labs,” he explains, “you’re being trained to do something that doesn’t feel important until some time in the future. With this project, I feel like everything I’m doing, all the dissections, is actually contributing to something in the present.”

    And that raises the question of where this research might lead. Hart is clear that this work currently pertains to what’s happening in a single geographic area – Sarasota Bay. Yet that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for expansion.

    “Right now,” she says, “we’re focused on Sarasota Bay dolphins, but the potential exists for us to work with colleagues all over the world and sample different marine mammal populations. Doing that will enable us to look at the degree of contamination on a global basis, which will help us predict the risk of seafood safety issues for different coastal populations. And that would certainly make an important impact.”

  • Household Air Cleaners Improve Heart Health Among Individuals With COPD, Researchers Find

    A six-month study led by Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers concludes that the use of portable home air purifiers can improve some markers of cardiovascular health in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD.

  • PFAS Levels Lower in Buildings With Healthier Furnishings

    PFAS Levels Lower in Buildings With Healthier Furnishings

    For immediate release: November 7, 2022

    Boston, MA – Buildings renovated with healthier furnishings had significantly lower levels of the entire group of per- and polyfluoralkyl substances (PFAS)—toxic chemicals linked with many negative health effects—than buildings with conventional furnishings, according to a new study led by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

    The study was published online Nov. 4, 2022 in Environmental Science & Technology.

    “We have decades of research showing that PFAS are concerning for human health and the environment. Our findings provide desperately needed scientific evidence for the success of healthier materials—which don’t have to be more expensive or perform less well—as a real-world solution to reduce indoor exposure to forever chemicals as a whole,” said Anna Young, research associate in the Department of Environmental Health, associate director of the Healthy Buildings program, and lead author of the study.

    PFAS—dubbed “forever chemicals” because of their extreme persistence in the environment due to their characteristic fluorine-carbon backbone—are artificial compounds widely used for their stain-resistant and water-resistant properties. There are at least 12,000 different types of PFAS, and they are found in products such as furniture, carpet, textiles, food packaging, nonstick cookware, cosmetics, firefighter gear, and firefighting foam. PFAS have been detected in the blood of over 98% of Americans. Health problems linked with PFAS exposure include thyroid disease, stunted development, weakened immune system, high cholesterol, testicular cancer, obesity, and diabetes. However, there is very little published research on the effectiveness of actionable solutions to reduce indoor exposure to forever chemicals.

    To assess indoor PFAS levels, Young and her colleagues analyzed dust in buildings on a university campus. In previous research, they’d found that levels of 15 types of PFAS were lower in buildings with healthier materials. But in the new study, they wanted a way to measure all types of PFAS, because the vast majority of the thousands of PFAS in use are unknown or cannot be measured using traditional lab techniques. As a novel surrogate to measure PFAS, they used organic fluorine, which is found in all PFAS.

    Comparing 12 indoor spaces with healthier carpet and furniture to another 12 spaces with conventional furnishings, the researchers found that PFAS concentrations in dust were 66% lower in the 12 rooms with healthier materials compared to the 12 rooms furnished without particular attention to PFAS. Organic fluorine levels were also lower in the healthier spaces, showing that renovating spaces with healthier furnishings succeeded in not only lowering the 15 PFAS traditionally investigated, but the entire class of forever chemicals.

    The 15 types of PFAS that researchers could measure in the lab were significantly correlated with organic fluorine concentrations, but only accounted for up to 9% of it—suggesting the likely presence of many unidentified PFAS in the dust.

    The researchers stressed that it’s important for manufacturers to eliminate entire groups of unnecessary toxic chemicals such as PFAS from furnishings, and to make healthier furniture and carpet materials the norm. Manufacturers should also provide fully disclosed third-party-verified chemical ingredient lists for these “healthier” materials, the authors said.

    “This study addresses a key question: If we demand products without any forever chemicals, do we see a reduction in total PFAS beyond the usual 15 measured in a lab?” said Joseph Allen, associate professor of exposure assessment science, director of the Healthy Buildings program, and senior author of the study. “The answer is unequivocally, yes.”

    Other Harvard co-authors of the study included Heidi Pickard and Elsie Sunderland.

    The research was supported by National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Grant T32 ES007069, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Grant T42 OH008416, National Institutes of Health (NIH) Grant P30ES000002, and the Harvard Campus Sustainability Innovation Fund.

    “Organic fluorine as an indicator of per- and polyfluoroalkul substances in dust from buildings with healthier versus conventional materials,” Anna S. Young, Heidi M. Pickard, Elsie M. Sunderland, Joseph G. Allen, Environmental Science & Technology, online Nov. 4, 2022, doi: 10.1021/acs.est.2c05198

    Visit the Harvard Chan School website for the latest news, press releases, and multimedia offerings.

    For more information:

    Todd Datz
    tdatz@hsph.harvard.edu
    617.432.8413

    ###

    Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health brings together dedicated experts from many disciplines to educate new generations of global health leaders and produce powerful ideas that improve the lives and health of people everywhere. As a community of leading scientists, educators, and students, we work together to take innovative ideas from the laboratory to people’s lives—not only making scientific breakthroughs, but also working to change individual behaviors, public policies, and health care practices. Each year, more than 400 faculty members at Harvard Chan School teach 1,000-plus full-time students from around the world and train thousands more through online and executive education courses. Founded in 1913 as the Harvard-MIT School of Health Officers, the School is recognized as America’s oldest professional training program in public health.

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  • NIH’s Climate and Health Initiative Tackles Global Health Effects Associated With a Changing Climate

    NIH’s Climate and Health Initiative Tackles Global Health Effects Associated With a Changing Climate

    NIH Climate Change and Health Initiative Strategic Framework

    What: Leaders from the National Institutes of Health discuss the agency’s plan to address the risk to human health posed by a changing climate in a commentary published in The Lancet. As floods, hurricanes, tornados, wildfires, and heat waves become more extreme, the risk to human health grows, exacerbating existing health threats and creating new public health challenges around the world.

    The authors, a coalition of leaders at NIH, outline how the NIH Climate Change and Health Initiatives uniquely poised to lead and engage with communities and agencies globally to address the health effects associated with climate change.

    Article: The NIH Climate Change and Health Initiative and Strategic Framework: addressing the threat of climate change to health. The Lancet, November 2022..

    Who: The following NIH leaders are available for interviews:

    Richard P. Woychik, Ph.D., director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. He is the lead author on The Lancet commentary, and the chair of the Executive Committee leading the NIH Climate Change and Health Initiative.

    Diana W. Bianchi, M.D., director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

    Gary H. Gibbons, M.D., director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

    Roger I. Glass, M.D., director of the Fogarty International Center.

    Joshua A. Gordon, M.D., director of the National Institute of Mental Health

    Eliseo J. Pérez-Stable, M.D., director of the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities.

    Shannon N. Zenk, Ph.D., MPN, RN, FAAN, director of the National Institute of Nursing Research.