Climate Change and Lung Health Training Program

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Climate change is one of the most important global problems of our time. The consequences for human health are already being felt, and pulmonary morbidity and mortality are increasingly impacted by wildfires, urban and rural air pollution, altered aero-allergen exposures, the repercussions of severe storms and flooding, the changing patterns and severity of pulmonary infections, and other factors. The harms disproportionately affect children, older people, the socioeconomically disadvantaged, and people with underlying lung disease. Although we have known this for some time, efforts to understand the diverse pulmonary responses and injuries from climate change and to alter their course have been woefully inadequate. There are multiple explanations for why we have not made more progress, but one contributor is that we have not been training the next generation to tackle the lung health consequences of climate change. Thus, our goal is to train students and postdoctoral fellows for cutting edge research in the pulmonary impact of climate change and strategies to mitigate the effects. We have outstanding leadership with complementary and synergistic skills; Dr. David Stoltz in the College of Medicine in basic and translational lung biology, and Dr. Peter Thorne in the College of Public Health in pulmonary toxicology and environmental epidemiology. We have creative and innovative mentors in four areas of emphasis: air pollution; allergens, airway biology, and environmental challenges; extreme weather, disasters, and global warming; and lung infections. In addition to accepting post-doctoral fellows, we take a forward-looking approach by accepting predoctoral graduate students and offering a summer program for medical students. We strive to recruit, train, and retain a racially, gender, geographically (including rural), and socioeconomically diverse group of trainees who are prepared to tackle the health consequences of climate change, especially because those are the groups most vulnerable. Our existing expertise, programs and interests position us exceedingly well for this direction, and our trainees will benefit from multidisciplinary research teams and programs including the Environmental Health Sciences Research Center, Iowa Superfund Research Program, Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases, Center for Global & Regional Environmental Research, and a Collaboratory on Illuminating the Nexus Between Climate Change and Public Health. Our program is focused on comprehensive training in research to understand and mitigate the impact of climate change on lung health via multiple modalities that include active mentored research, didactic courses, activities that enhance writing and presentation skills, community engagement, and endeavors that facilitate career development. We encourage collaboration, networking, and creative partnerships with multiple scientists, healthcare providers, and community members to advance solutions to the pulmonary harms of the accelerating climate crisis. The program also benefits from the perspective and advice of an External Advisory Committee composed of world leaders in the health risks of climate change and lung biology.