Grand Rounds
The Department of Environmental Health and Engineering holds monthly grand round during the academic year. The series explores the critical intersections between environmental health and engineering. Experts from academia, industry, and government present on a range of topics that highlight pressing environmental challenges and promote sustainable, healthy solutions.
Each session features a 45-minute presentation followed by a Q&A period. The goal is to foster interdisciplinary dialogue, showcase innovative research, and equip attendees with knowledge to drive change at the environment-health nexus. Presentations are open to students, faculty, and the public.
Academic Year 2024–25
Chemicals of Concern: The Inevitability of Exposure and Counter-Actions
Miriam L. Diamond is a professor at the University of Toronto. For over 30 years, her research has advanced knowledge of chemical emissions, their transport processes, and resultant human and ecological exposure. Her current efforts are focusing on chemicals management.
No Backsliding: Environmental Justice, Science and the Role of Academia
Feb. 14, 2025
Jalonne L. White-Newsome, PhD is a nationally recognized visionary, problem solver, and passionate leader who recently served in the Biden-Harris Administration. White-Newsome’s personal and professional experience spans across multiple sectors, disciplines, and geographies advancing environmental justice, equity, and environmental health for the last three decades.
The Ideas That Shape Transportation and What They Mean For Health
Dec. 13, 2024
Susan Handy, PhD, is a professor in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy at UC Davis, where she teaches in the Environmental Policy Analysis and Planning major and in the Transportation Technology and Policy Program. She is also the director of the National Center for Sustainable Transportation.
Using a One Health Approach With Advanced Technology to Address the Planet's Wicked Problems
Nov. 8, 2024
Jonna Mazet, DVM, MPVM, PhD, is the Vice Provost – Grand Challenges at the University of California, Davis. She is Chancellor’s Leadership Distinguished Professor of Epidemiology and Disease Ecology and founded the One Health Institute in the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, where she focused on global health problem solving, especially for emerging infectious disease and conservation challenges. Mazet is active in international One Health education, service, and research programs, most notably in relation to disease transmission among wildlife, domestic animals, and people and the ecological drivers of novel disease dynamics.
Tiered Approach Hazard Assessment of Advanced Materials by High-Throughput Screening and Omics
Oct. 11, 2024
Artificial intelligence (AI) is set to revolutionize hazard and risk assessments by leveraging "Big Data" and advanced modeling techniques. However, the diverse and growing field of materials presents a challenge due to the scarcity of extensive datasets necessary for AI. The EU-funded HARMLESS project introduces a tiered new approach methodology to navigate this complexity. Cooperation within this project employs a two-tiered approach, starting with a "high-throughput screening" to define dose-response relationships across 72 diverse materials. This is followed by "high-throughput transcriptomics" for a deeper analysis of toxic modes of action.
About the presenter
Roland Grafström is a professor at the Karolinska Institute of Environmental Medicine. His work has involved use of human cell models for toxicity analyses and omics-based biomarker discovery, including methods development, standardization, pilot marketing, and IPR.
Climate Change and Implications for Defense & Security
Sept. 13, 2024
Sherri Goodman is a senior fellow at the Wilson Center’s Environmental Change and Security Program and Polar Institute, and secretary general of the International Military Council on Climate and Security. She is credited with educating a generation of U.S. military and government officials about the nexus between climate change and national security, using her famous coinage, “threat multiplier,” to fundamentally reshape the national discourse on the topic.