Pediatric Psychology Lab
About Us
On July 1, 2009 the Department of Environmental and Global Health within the College of Public Health and Health Professions was established. The Department is led by Interim Chair, Natalie Freeman, PhD, and includes faculty with expertise in toxicology, chemical risk assessment, exposure assessment, air pollution, veterinary public health, water biology, and molecular biology. In January 2010, we will welcome our new Chair, Gregory C. Gray, MD, MPH, whose ongoing work on infectous diseases will enrich and expand our research.
The Environmental and Global Health department is home to the Environmental Health concentration in the Master of Public Health degree program. In this concentration, MPH students have an opportunity to develop a strong foundation in environmental health sciences and to develop a special focus in one of four critical areas: toxicology/risk assessment, pathogens, food health, or community environmental health.
The Department of Environmental and Global Health is a hub of collaboration among University of Florida scientists who are interested in the effects of factors in the environment on human health. Factors in the air, soil, and water that threaten health are rarely contained within artificially drawn political borders. Thus environmental health is global and it is our goal to explore and examine its global dimensions fully. The Department collaborates extensively with the Center for Environmental and Human Toxicology (CEHT), the Emerging Pathogens Institute (EPI), and the Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience.
The Center for Environmental and Human Toxicology serves as the focal point at the University of Florida for activities concerning the effects of chemicals on human and animal health. The Center serves as an interface between basic research and its application for evaluation of human health and environmental risks. This interface includes an educational component to transfer this knowledge to producers, consumers, and regulators. The research and teaching activities of the Center provide a resource for the State of Florida to identify and reduce risks associated with environmental pollution, food contamination, and workplace hazards. Development and improvement of risk assessment methods as well as toxicity testing and elucidation of mechanisms of action of chemical-induced adverse health effects are all activities of the Center that serve as resources for the State of Florida and the nation. The Center provides a forum for the discussion of specific and general problems concerning the potential adverse human health effects associated with chemical exposure. Using the interpretive skills of scientists and clinicians from various health disciplines, better decisions can be made for the protection of public health.
The Emerging Pathogens Institute was established as a multidisciplinary unit on the University of Florida campus in 2007 to bring together researchers from diverse fields to understand factors leading to the emergence of new pathogens and to develop methods for their control. The new institute is also charged to develop the teaching capability to train the next generation of scientists who will keep these pathogens at bay in the future, and to develop the outreach capability to educate the population on steps they can take to avoid human diseases as well as help our private sector avoid diseases that affect plants and animals. The Institute has a strong interest in understanding the role of environmental factors (including climate and other anthropogenic changes) in emergence of pathogens and in developing microbial risk assessment models, including modeling of transmission pathways and interventions.
The Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience was established in 1974 as a free-standing laboratory adjacent to Marineland, the world's first oceanarium. The Whitney Lab is the site of a variety of research projects on marine mammals and their environments, as well as the spread of vector-born diseases, such as malaria and dengue fever. Educational programs for children, the general public, and university students at all levels are also provided by the Whitney Lab.
In addition to CEHT, EPI, and the Whitney Laboratory, faculty members in the Department also collaborate with colleagues in the College of Public Health and Health Professions, the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, the College of Veterinary Medicine, the College of Law, and the departments of Sociology and Environmental Engineering.
The University of Florida has extensive resources addressed to aspects of the environment. The Department of Environmental and Global Health is in a unique position to bring these resources together to improve human health. In the near future and in collaboration with the Emerging Pathogens Institute, the Department plans to incorporate 1) other mathematical modeling approaches to predict disease risk; 2) assessment of environment/gene interactions at a community level; 3) evaluation of the health impact of anthropogenic environmental change, including global climate change; and 4) development of policy responses to minimize risk from emerging and re-emerging biological threats.