Michael Jerrett

Dr. Michael Jerrett is an internationally recognized expert in Geographic Information Science for Exposure Assessment and Spatial Epidemiology. He is professor and chair of the Department of Environmental Health Sciences in the Fielding School of Public Health at UCLA. Dr. Jerrett earned his PhD in Geography from the University of Toronto (Canada). For the past 15 years, Dr. Jerrett has researched how to characterize population exposures to air pollution and built environmental variables, how to understand the social distribution of these exposures among different groups (e.g., poor vs. wealthy), and how to assess the health effects from environmental exposures. Over the decade, Dr. Jerrett has also studied the contribution of the built and natural environment to physical activity, behavior and obesity. In 2009, the United States National Academy of Science appointed Dr. Jerrett to the Committee on “Future of Human and Environmental Exposure Science in the 21st Century.” The committee recently concluded its task with the publication of a report entitled “Exposure Science in the 21st Century: A Vision and a Strategy.” In 2013, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency appointed Dr. Jerrett to the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Sub-Committee for Nitrogen Oxides. In 2014, Dr. Jerrett was named to the Thomson Reuters List of Highly Cited Researchers, indicating he is in the top 1% of all authors in the fields of Environment/Ecology in terms of citation by other researchers.

 

Patrick Dowling

Patrick T. Dowling, M.D., M.P.H. Bio Sketch Patrick T. Dowling, MD, MPH is the Kaiser Permanente Endowed Professor of Community Medicine and Chair of the UCLA Dept. of Family Medicine. A graduate of the Medical College of Ohio and the University Of Michigan School of Public Health, he completed his residency training in Family Medicine at Cook County Hospital in Chicago under Jorge Prieto, MD and Michael Stocker, MD. He is board certified in Family Medicine, Preventive Medicine and Public Health. Prior to joining UCLA as the first permanent Chair of Family Medicine in 1998, Dr. Dowling directed Family Medicine Residency training programs at Cook County Hospital, Brown University in Rhode Island and at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. He has served on the National Advisory Council of the National Health Service Corps, as a Commissioner of Public Health for LA County and is presently a member of the Board of Trustees of the Drew University of Medicine and Science in South-Central LA. His professional interests include health policy, the science of health care delivery and the provision of care to underserved and minority communities. A common thread in his career has been the linkage of graduate medical education to underserved communities as a means to improve access and reduce health outcomes disparities among racial and ethnic minorities. Further, his research interests include chronic disease management, cross cultural and bi-national medicine and the integration of substance abuse treatment programs within primary care. He is Co-founder and Associate Director of the UCLA Department of Family Medicine IMG program, an innovative program to prepare bilingual (English-Spanish) International Medical Graduates (IMGs) to become eligible for licensure and residency training in Family Medicine in California. Ever since his days as Medical Director of the United Farm Workers Clinics (UFW) under Cesar Chavez in California?s Coachella and Imperial valleys he has believed that health care is a unique social goal and basic right. He remains optimistic that President Obama and the Congress will finally do what 7 presidents since Franklin Roosevelt tried and failed, that is to provide universal coverage for all, like the rest of the industrialized world.

Lara Cushing

Select Publications: 

Cushing LJ, K Vavra-Muser, K Chau, M Franklin, JE Johnston, Flaring from unconventional Oil and Gas Development and Birth Outcomes in the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas, Environmental Health Perspectives (2020) 128(7): 770031-770039, PMCID: PMC7362742, doi: 10.1289/EHP6394

Johnston, J.E., K. Chau, M. Franklin, L. Cushing, Environmental Justice Dimensions of Oil and Gas Flaring in South Texas: Disproportionate Exposure among Hispanic communities, Environmental Science & Technology (2020), PMID: 32338877, doi: 10.1021/acs.est.0c00410

Johnston, J., and Cushing, L., “Chemical exposures, health, and environmental justice in communities living on the fenceline of industry”, Current Environmental Health Reports (2020), PMCID: PMC7035204, doi: 10.1007/s40572-020-00263-8

Yang, J., L. Cushing, R. Morello-Frosch, “An Equity Analysis of Clean Vehicle Rebate Programs in California”Climatic Change (2020) doi: 10.1007/s10584-020-02836-w

Cushing L., Blaustein-Rejto D., Wander M., Pastor M., Sadd J., Zhu A., Morello-Frosch R. “Carbon trading, co-pollutants, and environmental equity: Evidence from California’s cap-and-trade program (2011–2015)”, PLOS Medicine (2018) 15(7): e1002604, PMCID: PMC6038989, doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1002604

Cushing, L., J. Faust, L. August, R. Cendak, W. Wieland and G. Alexeeff, “Racial/ethnic disparities in cumulative environmental health impacts in California: evidence from a state-wide environmental justice screening tool (CalEnviroScreen 1.1)”American Journal of Public Health (2015) 105(11): 2341-2348, PMCID: PMC4605180, doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2015.302643

Cushing, L., R. Morello-Frosch, M. Wander and M. Pastor, “The Haves, the Have-nots, and the Health of Everyone: The Relationship between Social Inequality and Environmental Quality”, Annual Review of Public Health (2015), 18(36): 193-209, PMID:25785890, doi: 10.1146/annurev-publhealth-031914-122646

Complete list of Publications | Google Scholar

Miriam Marlier

About: 
Miriam Marlier is an Assistant Professor of Global Environmental Change in the Environmental Health Sciences Department at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. She is an interdisciplinary environmental scientist with broad interests in examining interactions between environmental change and public health using remote sensing data and interdisciplinary modeling techniques. Some of her recent research projects include forecasting the influence of different conservation and development policies in Indonesia on fire emissions, air pollution, and regional public health outcomes, measuring the effect of agricultural waste burning on air quality in India, understanding the physical climate drivers of fire activity in the western U.S., and using remote sensing data to improve responses to natural disasters. Dr. Marlier previously worked as an Associate Physical Scientist at the RAND Corporation.

Recent Publications
Impacts of COVID-19 response actions on air quality in China
Marlier ME, Xing J, Zhu Y, Wang S. Impacts of COVID-19 response actions on air quality in China. Environmental Research Communications. 2020 Jul 17;2(7):075003.

Selected Publications 

Marlier, M.E., T. Liu, K. Yu, J.J. Buonocore, S.N. Koplitz, R.S. DeFries, L.J. Mickley, D.J. Jacob, J. Schwartz, B.S. Wardhana, and S.S. Myers. “Fires, smoke exposure, and public health: An integrative framework to maximize health benefits from peatland restoration.” GeoHealth. 3: 178-189. 2019.

Liu, T., M.E. Marlier, R.S. DeFries, D.M. Westervelt, K.R. Xia, A.M. Fiore, L.J. Mickley, D.C. Cusworth, and G. Milly. “Seasonal impact of regional outdoor biomass burning on air pollution in three Indian cities: Delhi, Bengaluru, and Pune.” Atmospheric Environment. 172: 83-92. 2018.

Marlier, M.E., M. Xiao, R. Engel, B. Livneh, J.T. Abatzoglou, and D.P. Lettenmaier. “The 2015 drought in Washington State: A harbinger of things to come?” Environmental Research Letters. 12: 114008. 2017.

Marlier, M.E., A.S. Jina, P.L. Kinney, and R.S. DeFries. “Extreme Air Pollution in Global Megacities.” Current Climate Change Reports. 2(1): 15–27. 2016.

Koplitz, S.N., L.J. Mickley, M.E. Marlier, J.J. Buonocore, P.S. Kim, T. Liu, M.P. Sulprizio, R.S. DeFries, D.J. Jacob, J. Schwartz, M. Pongsiri, and S.S. Myers. “Public health impacts of the severe haze in Equatorial Asia in September-October 2015: demonstration of a new framework for informing fire management strategies to reduce downwind smoke exposure.” Environmental Research Letters. 11 (9): 094023. 2016.

Marlier, M.E., R.S. DeFries, P.S. Kim, S.N. Koplitz, D.J. Jacob, L.J. Mickley, and S.S. Meyers. “Fire emissions and regional air quality impacts from fires in oil palm, timber, and logging concessions in Indonesia.” Environmental Research Letters. 10(8): 085005. 2015.

Marlier, M.E., R.S. DeFries, P.S Kim, D.L.A. Gaveau, S.N. Koplitz, D.J. Jacob, L.J. Mickley, B.A. Margono, and S.S. Myers. “Regional air quality impacts of future fire emissions in Sumatra and Kalimantan.” Environmental Research Letters. 10(5): 054010. 2015.

Marlier, M.E., R. DeFries, D. Pennington, E. Nelson, E.M. Ordway, J. Lewis, S.N. Koplitz, and L.J. Mickley. “Future fire emissions associated with projected land use change in Sumatra.” Global Change Biology. 21(1): 345–62. 2015.

Marlier, M.E., A. Voulgarakis, D.T. Shindell, G. Faluvegi, C.L. Henry, and J.T. Randerson. “The role of temporal evolution in modeling atmospheric emissions from tropical fires.” Atmospheric Environment. 89: 158-68. 2014.

Marlier, M.E., R.S. DeFries, A. Voulgarakis, P.L. Kinney, J.T. Randerson, D.T. Shindell, Y. Chen, and G. Faluvegi. “El Niño and health risks from landscape fire emissions in Southeast Asia.” Nature Climate Change. 3: 131-36. 2013.

Christina Batteate

Christina’s immersion in creating sustainable urban environments spans the last decade and globe, including work on housing, transportation and food systems in North and South America. A student of urban planning and practitioner of public health, Christina’s career functions at the intersection of two increasingly interdependent disciplines. She earned her Bachelor of Science in City and Regional Planning from California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo and joint Masters degrees in Public Health and Latin American Studies from UCLA. She currently contributes to a variety of projects addressing environmental health in the fields of transportation, agriculture and decision-science. In her role as Outreach Coordinator for COEH, she manages web and social media presence, curates videos and articles, hosts bi-annual educational symposia, and helps to connect the research, service and training of COEH to the general public.

Yifang Zhu

Dr. Yifang Zhu is a Professor of the Environmental Health Sciences Department in UCLA Fielding School of Public Health.  She graduated from Tsinghua University in 1997 and received her Ph.D. in Environmental Health Sciences from UCLA in 2003.  Her research interest is primarily in the field of air pollution, environmental exposure assessment, and aerosol science and technology.  Specifically, she is interested in quantitative exposure/risk assessments on ultrafine particles from various indoor and outdoor sources.  Her current research focuses on measuring and modeling ultrafine particle emissions, transport, and transformation on and near roadways as well as in various indoor environments.  Her scholarship and creativity has been recognized by several national awards, including the Walter A. Rosenblith New Investigator Award from the Health Effects Institute in 2007, the Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award from the National Science Foundation in 2009, and the Haagen-Smit Prize from Atmosphere Environment in 2011. Dr. Zhu was appointed to California Air Resource Board (CARB)’s Research Screening Committee in January 2014.