Pittsburgh 2005:
Health and the Environment Conference

Idea List from the
Next Steps for Pennsylvania Session

Michael Lerner (session moderator/co-founder of Collaborative on Heath and the Environment):
(General kudos on Pittsburgh 2005: Health & Environment)

• Let's hear from people who haven't spoken in plenary sessions
• Let's hear from Pennsylvanians

What piece of your work makes sense, and what do you want to want to do, either as an individual or as a group? What do you want to do for CHE-Pennsylvania?

Laurie Mann (independent contractor):
I'd like to help develop program to involve undergraduate researchers in environmental health research, since so much undergraduate research focuses only on the genetic aspects. This program would need funding and mentors. I could start by writing a proposal and posting it on the Web.

Robbie Ali (Center for Healthy Environment and Communities, GSPH, University of Pittsburgh):
I'm willing to help facilitate undergraduate research in these areas as a mentor.

Bob Kobet (Sustainaissance International):
I'm an architect, and I've been mentored by physicians over the yeas as I develop architecture for people with chemical sensitivites. I'd like to work with Center of Environmental Oncology and take the info presented at conferences and gett it into the physical-built environment by sharing it with people who create healthy environments. I'd like to network with engineers and architects to improve building that's been making us sick to help make us better.

Deborah Landen (Pittsburgh Interfaith Impact Network):
I'm an epidemiologist working with Pittsburgh Interfaith Impact Network with their environmental justice task force. I'm concerned about getting the message out. Soon it'll be the 100th birthday of Rachel Carson I've tried to get info out about these things. I suggested the newspapers do an article on tax increment financing. I'd like to network with media-savvy people about this.

Gayle Tissue (UPCI, Chief Development Officer):
UPCI is behind all of these initiatives. If Robbie is willing to help the undergraduates, we're willing to look for funding to do the same.

Marcia Barr (Center for Environmental Oncology, UPMC):
I'm an engineer and I'd like to work on Greening the Built Environment.

Vivian Shaffer (Rachel Carson Homestead Association):
We have a new strategic plan on protecting children from pesticide exposure. We want to survey pesticide exposurs in schools, playgrounds. We'll need help from scientists, doctors, from people who can help us design surveys, from people involved with public health, from undergraduate researchers, and with money. The 100th anniversary of Rachel Carson's birth in 2007, and we expect to hold a significant celebration on May 27, 2007. We hope this will celebrating a renewal of her work.

Bernie Lynch:
I became a developer to advocate sustainable development and am building condominiums on Grandview Avenue using sustainable architecture, wind systems, geothermal, benign materials, organic food production, and so on. I'd like to offer my project to evangelize, to show what you can do if you stay committed to it. It's hard to find the people with the knowledge base to do this kind of building.
Other things: 1. Jim Ferlo is starting an initiative with Erick Beckman to rate toxicity of products, using undergraduate researchers - statewide PA rating system on products.
2. Green greenhouse, economic development project to do job creation in Pittsburgh using the Green greenhouse, perhaps housing it at Phipps.
3. Emerald Link Project, we're trying to save over 200 acres of greenspace.

Maren Cooke (GASP):
I'm working on a single-family residence using systainable architecture, and it's been harder at the residential level because there are more resources for commercial building. I'd like to help other projects with interpreting science.

Aurora Amoah (Mid-Atlantic Center for Children's Health and the Environment):
People from the 6 Mid-Atlantic states can contact our center for free consultations about toxic and chemical exposure in children.

Karen Singleton (Center for Environmental Oncology, UPMC (outreach/public policy)):
We need to get the word out, to doctors and to the public, we mostly focus on cancer, but also on environmental health. We have a new Web site - environmentaloncology.org - please give us comments.

Bob Wendelgass (Clean Water Action):
We'd be interested in working with CHE and CHA working to find policy handles to incorporate precautionary principles into policy - air toxics, pesticides at county and local levels.
Also, we're statewide and have worked with groups in the Philly areas. We can help provide contacts in the Philly Area.

Jeanne Clark (PennFuture Communications Director and Environmental Resource Center of Western Pennsylvania):
I'm available to you as media resource, can help you craft your message, can help you get it out to the public, can help you with video and audio training and we also run periodic media training classes. Please contact me if I can help you.

Doer Dearborn (Case Western Reserve University):
My background is pediatric pulmonology. We have a new center, the Sweatland Center for Environmental Health at the Case Western School of Medicine in Cleveland. We need to develop a 4 year vertical cirriculum in environmental medicine; most medical schools don't do a very good job in this. Our Dean, Ralph Horwitz, wants to integrate preventative medicine and civic professionalism into all four years of medical education. I wish I had your resources in Cleveland to train our medical students!

Jonathan:
I am interested in organic gardening and bought a 50 acre farm in Dorseyville. My main interest is helping to keep Pittsburgh green and I'd like to offer encouragement.

Dan Hollenbeck (Fighting Autism):
We measured my autistic son's blood for metals and found he was mercury toxic. I want to get groups together to do clinical testing as a community. There's about 8,000 Pennsylvania families dealing with a diagnosis of autism. So, far, we've parterned with about 2,000 families who want to measure the heavy metal burden in their children. I want to pursue ways to facilitate research, create a tissue bank for testing to measure pesticides, heavy metals. We're looking for a $40,000 grant to help this.

Michael Lerner (session moderator/Collaborative on Heath and the Environment):
Don't forget to talk to Elise Miller at LDDI about this. Also Martha Herbert, at Harvard, a clinical researcher designing trials in this area. You want to design this so it'll wind up in a major research publication.

Kay Pogue-Geile (University of Pittsburgh researcher):
I'm interested in looking for biomarkers. Different people have different reactions to the same exposures. We need to monitor changes in blood or easily accessible tissues. I do microarrays, the expertise is there, it's a matter of getting things together. It sounds like the materials could be made available.

Joanne Pasenelli:
My husband died of glioblastoma last year. We need to include the economic development piece in all this. I want to develop an economic model with all that everyone else is doing. I look at this as an ecosystem. Our economy needs to be an ecosystem, that's something that's fundamentally missing here. The one piece of corporate funding that's always left out is the corporate responsibility piece.

Herbert Needleman (UPMC):
We need to bring the outside world in a little bit. We're going to be in a big slump, we're running out of oil, but this is an opportunity for a new progressive era to emerge. I'm willing to get involved with CHE-Penn.

Unknown Male:
We want to develop an environmental careers academy in the Pittsburgh School District, so we can move Pittsburgh towards a green economy and work with people who usually don't get involved in this sort of thing.

Ernest Sternglass (University of Pittsburgh):
Rachel Carson called strontium-90 the silent helper of chemicals and pesticides. Women marching around the White House in 1962 with baby carriages forced the government to sign the Test-Ban Treaty. That thing could happen again.

Jan Jarrett (PennFuture):
One thing I noticed was - who isn't here who really should be involved - PA Dept of Health, PA Dept of EPA. PennFuture would be willing to help connect with those groups. Also health care insurers have a stake in this, but I have no connections with there.

Michael Lerner (session moderator):
Membership in CHE is free, you'll only get 2 E-mails a month from CHE national, and you can be a part of high-quality scientific calls every month.
We want to raise the level of dialogue on impact of environment on health, focused on the science, and practice civility. CHE brings together a wide range of groups. Our commitment to mutual respect is important. We want to be in community with the other organizations around the country. This is a safe space for scientific, governmental and patient groups. What's unique with CHE-Penn is the involvement of the Heinz Endowment - it's really remarkable. That effort can be destroyed by attacks by external forces, and it can be hurt from within by turf battles, lack of communication, et.c. This is more likely to be damaged from within than from without because it's hard to attack a collaborative from without.