Research Priorities--Earth Science and Medicine

国家研究理事会特设委员会将评估医学和地球科学之间的研究现状，并将就为实现最佳社会效益而应开展的优先研究活动提出建议。该委员会将报告地球科学和医学界之间最有利可图的交流和合作领域，承认传染性疾病和环境成分。拟议的活动将跨越地球科学和公共卫生领域，寻求提供更广泛的认识和了解这些领域的研究工作，并提高对环境对疾病和人类健康的贡献的认识。这项研究将为这一新兴科学学科确定最有希望和最重要的研究优先事项提供重点。拟议的活动将：通过建议加强地球科学与医学界/公共卫生界之间的协作和合作的战略，加强研究和教育的基础设施；通过编写一份广泛传播的报告，说明地球科学与公共卫生之间的联系，处理从大规模相互作用到微型生物地球化学过程的各种积极和消极的社会影响，从而增进对科学和技术的了解；通过确定支持医学地质学研究所需的生物科学和地球科学方面的基本研究需求，并建议如何指导未来的努力以预测和应对公共卫生需求和威胁，为社会提供利益。

A National Research Council ad hoc committee will assess the present status of researchat the interface between medicine and earth science, and will advise on the high priorityresearch activities that should be undertaken for optimum societal benefit. Thecommittee will report on the most profitable areas for communication and collaborationbetween the earth science and medical communities, recognizing both the infectiousdisease and environmental components.The proposed activity will span the earth science and public health fields, seeking toprovide much broader awareness and understanding of research endeavors at the interfaceof these fields as well as raising awareness of environmental contributions to diseases andhuman health. The study will provide a focus for this emerging scientific discipline toidentify the most promising and important research priorities.The proposed activity will:Enhance the infrastructure for research and education, by recommendingstrategies for enhanced collaboration and cooperation between the earth scienceand medical/public health communities;Enhance scientific and technological understanding, by preparing a report forbroad dissemination that will describe the connections between earth science andpublic health, addressing both positive and negative societal impacts over the fullrange from large-scale interactions to micro-scale biogeochemical processes;Provide benefits to society, by identifying basic research needs in bioscience andgeoscience required to support medical geology research, and by suggesting howfuture efforts should be directed to anticipate and respond to public health needsand threats.