The Age of Big Wildfires: Confronting an Urgent Health Threat

Date: 
March 18, 2021
Time: 
2:30-4pm PDT
Place: 
tiny.ucsf.edu/wildfire

This is the first session of a 3-part Climate Change and Health Speaker Series hosted by the UCSF Office of Population Health and Health Equity and the UCSF Center for Climate, Health, and Equity. See here for information on the full series.

2020 marked the West’s worst fire season in modern history, with over four million acres burned in California alone. This session explores the role of climate change in accelerating the frequency and scale of wildfires, new evidence of the health and equity impacts of wildfire exposure, and the opportunities and challenges we face in mitigating the threat of wildfire disasters and protecting human health and the environment.

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Agenda

  • 2:30-2:35pm PDT Series Introduction by Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, PhD, MD, MAS, UCSF
  • 2:35-2:40pm PDT Session Introduction by Sheri Weiser, MD, MPH, MA, UCSF
  • 2:40-3:15pm PDT Presentations
    • Marshall Burke, PhD, Stanford University
    • Stephanie Holm, MD, MPH, UCSF
    • Ashley Conrad-Saydah, MS, Sowing Change Strategies
  • 3:15-3:55pm PDT Panel Discussion Moderated by Gina Solomon, MD, MPH, UCSF
    • Ranyee Chiang, PhD, Bay Area Air Quality Management District
    • Richard Jackson, MD, MPH, UCLA
    • Marshall Burke, PhD, Stanford University
    • Stephanie Holm, MD, MPH, UCSF
    • Ashley Conrad-Saydah, MS, Sowing Change Strategies
  • 3:55-4pm PDT Closing Remarks by Talmadge E. King, Jr., MD, UCSF

Speakers

Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, PhD, MD, MAS

Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, PhD, MD, MAS is Professor and Chair of the UCSF Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics. She is also inaugural Vice Dean for Population Health and Health Equity in the UCSF School of Medicine. She is co-founder and core faculty at the UCSF Center for Vulnerable Populations at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital. @KBibbinsDomingo

 

Marshall Burke, PhD

Marshall Burke, PhD is an Associate Professor in the Department of Earth System Science, Deputy Director at the Center on Food Security and the Environment, and Center Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University. His research focuses on understanding how changes in environmental conditions affect a range of social and economic outcomes. @MarshallBBurke

 

Ranyee Chiang, PhD

Ranyee Chiang, PhD is Director of Meteorology and Measurement for the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, where she leads the analysis, monitoring, and forecasting of air quality in the Bay Area. She has been internationally recognized for her leadership and contributions to the development and implementation of clean cookstove standards. She is a UCSF alumna, having completed her PhD in Biological and Medical Informatics at UCSF. @RanyeeChiang

 

Ashley Conrad-Saydah, MS

Ashley Conrad-Saydah, MS is founder and principal of Sowing Change Strategies and an affiliate of the California-China Climate Institute at UC Berkeley. She partners with academic, public, and private sector clients to deliver cross-sectoral solutions to seemingly intractable climate and energy challenges. She previously served as the Deputy Secretary for Climate and energy Policy at the California Environmental Protection Agency and Renewable Energy Program Manager and Presidential Management Fellow at the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. @ACSinCA

 

Stephanie Holm, MD, MPH is an Assistant Professor in the UCSF Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. She also co-directs the Western States Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit, where she helps to advise on how to reduce wildfire smoke exposure for children. @steph_holm

 

Richard Jackson, MD, MPH

Richard Jackson, MD, MPH is a UCSF-trained pediatrician and Professor Emeritus in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. He served as director of the CDC's National Center for Environmental Health for nine years and as a state public health officer of the California Department of Health Services. He has received numerous honors, including the Presidential Distinguished Service Award.

 

Talmadge E. King, Jr., MD is Dean of the UCSF School of Medicine and Vice Chancellor for Medical Affairs. He began his career at UCSF in 1997 as Chief of Medical Services at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital. From 2006 to 2015 he served as Chair of the UCSF Department of Medicine. A physician-scientist, his research has focused on inflammatory and immunologic lung injury, and he is best known for his pioneering work in the management of the interstitial pneumonias. @TalmadgeKing

 

Gina Solomon, MD, MPH

Gina Solomon, MD, MPH is a Clinical Professor in the UCSF Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine and a principal investigator at the Public Health Institute, where she leads the Achieving Resilient Communities project. She served as the Deputy Secretary for Science and Health at the California Environmental Protection Agency from 2012-2018, and as a senior scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council from 1996-2012. @GinaSolomonMD

 

Sheri Weiser, MD, MPH, MS

Sheri Weiser, MD, MPH, MA is a Professor and Internist in the UCSF Division of HIV, Infectious Disease, and Global Medicine and is founding Co-Director of UCSF's new Center for Climate, Health, and Equity. She is a leading international researcher on food insecurity, social and structural drivers of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and, more recently, on links between climate change, food insecurity, and infectious diseases. She has worked closely with Dr. Arianne Teherani to spearhead educational initiatives across UCSF and the UC system to incorporate climate change and sustainability into health professional education.

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