SYMPOSIA

1. Decisonmaking in the Real World

This symposium will explore the relationship between environment and health information and decisionmaking.  Decisionmakers from governments at several levels, and a variety of private sector and non-governmental organizations will discuss how they incorporate information into decisionmaking.  Discussion about opportunities and approaches to improve science-based decisionmaking will follow.  This symposium will build on the results from breakout sessions 1 – 12.

        Chair:
         Richard Joseph Jackson, Adjunct Professor, Division of Environmental Health Sciences, University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health 

         Discussants:
          Gary Erbeck, Director, Department of Environmental Health, County of San Diego 
           Henry Anderson, Chief Medical Officer, Wisconsin Division of Public Health 
          Barbara Smisko, Director, National Environmental, Health and Safety, Kaiser Permanente  PowerPoint Presentation   
           Robert Donkers, Environmental Counselor, Delegation of the European Commission to the U.S.

 2. Guiding Research about the Environment and Human Health

The amount of funding for research integrating environment and health is surprisingly small, given the importance of the issues.  The lack of a unified agenda for environment and health research may be a contributing factor to this lack of funding. This session will help advance a unified agenda through cross-sector dialogue. Representatives of the federal government and industry will present their agendas for research integrating Environment and Human Health.  State, academic and environmental health representatives will respond to these agendas.  The ensuing discussion will consider what should constitute an integrated agenda, who should carry it out and who should provide funding. This symposium will build on the results from breakout sessions 13 – 18.  See also descripton of Breakout Session 14.

        Chairs:
          Paul Gilman , Director, Oak Ridge Center for Advanced Studies,
          Ken Olden, Director Emeritus, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, NIH

        Discussants:
           Carol Henry , Vice President, American Chemistry Council 
           Nathalie Valette-Silver, National Center for Coastal Ocean Science, NOAA
           Kathy Sessions , Coordinator, Health and Environmental Funders Network  PowerPoint Presentation

        Respondents:
          Mark Horton, California State Public Health Officer
          Paul Anastas, Professor, Green Chemistry, School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, and Senior Research Scientist in Environmental Engineering, Yale University

3. Expanding Understanding

There are many different users of information and knowledge about the interaction between environment and health.  There are many successful programs to organize information and to communicate with and educate students of differing ages, consumers, decisionmakers and others. Representatives of some of these programs will describe their experiences and lessons learned.  All will participate in general discussion about how to more effectively educate and expand understanding. This symposium will build on the results from breakout sessions 19 – 25.

          Chair:
            Diane Wood, President, National Environmental Education Foundation

          Discussants:
           Mark Pokras, Director, Center for Conservation Medicine, Tufts University
           Floyd Malveaux, Executive Director, Merck Childhood Asthma Network, Inc.
          Audrey Gotsch, Dean, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, School of Public Health
         Kristen Grimm, President, Spitfire Strategies

 4. Avian Flu: The Cultural, Socio-Economic and Ecological Determinants of Avian Influenza and its Spread

        Chairs:
           Leslie Dierauf, Director, USGS National Wildlife Health Center
          Lonnie J. King, Director for the National Center for Zoonotic, Vector-Borne, and Enteric Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

        Discussants:
          Steven Salzberg , Horvitz Professor of Computer Science and Director, Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, University of Maryland   PowerPoint Presentation
          Hon Ip , Diagnostic Virologist, U.S. Geological Survey, National Wildlife Health Center
         Marguerite Pappaioanou, Professor, School of Public Health and College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota  PowerPoint Presentation      
         Sharon Kemerer , Director of Occupational Health, Baxter Healthcare Corporation  PowerPoint Presentation
           Robert A. Cook,  Chief Veterinarian & Vice President, Wildlife Conservation Society
         A. Townsend Peterson , Professor Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas and Curator of Ornithology for the Natural History Museum and Biodiversity Research Center   PowerPoint Presentation
                    

5. New Orleans and Katrina: Environment and Health Causes and Consequences

More than a year ago, Hurricane Katrina provided yet another dramatic reminder that the health and well-being of human beings is cradled in -and threatened by - the larger landscape.  The importance of science in understanding the linkages between health and the environment is evident not only in the story of this fragile coastline, but also in the immediate decisions that needed to be made in the response to the disaster, that still need to be made for long-term recovery, and that are needed to protect people against harm in the Gulf Coast and elsewhere against the inevitable future storms.  This session will explain the complex interrelationships between ecosystem dynamics and human actions that set the stage; describe the health consequences of the disaster; highlight ways science helped inform response decisions with respect to toxics, pathogens and other risks; and provide an opportunity to discuss the role of science as decision makers look forward both in New Orleans, in the region and in other landscapes where people face similar risks.

        Chair:
            Gail Bingham , President, RESOLVE

        Discussants:
           Denise J. Reed , Professor, Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of New Orleans
           Charlie R. Demas, Director, Louisana Water Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey
            Henry Falk , Director, Coordinating Center for Environmental Health and Injury Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
           Evangeline Franklin, Director, Clinical Services and Employee Health, Health Department, City of New Orleans