Yale Bulletin and Calendar

September 22, 2006|Volume 35, Number 3

Forum explored the topic of
'Biodiversity and Human Health'

The Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies Center for EcoEpidemiology (YIBSCEE) cosponsored a forum on "Biodiversity and Human Health" with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office for Research and Development on Sept. 14 at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

Co-organized by Durland Fish, professor of epidemiology in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at the School of Medicine, and Montira Pongsiri M.P.H. '98, environmental health scientist at the EPA, the forum consisted of presentations on themes related to biodiversity and human health such as epidemiology and vector ecology; climate change, biodiversity and health; wildlife trade and the spread of exotics and disease; phamocopeia; the role of biodiversity in natural catastrophes; valuation of biodiversity for public health; and applications of research to the Global Earth Observation System of Systems. These presentations will be part of an outreach effort to scientists and decision-makers to stress the importance of the connection between biodiversity and human health and to discuss the state of the science.

The event brought together experts from a variety of disciplines, academia, nongovernmental organizations and management agencies from the United States and abroad to share expertise and information and to consider new approaches to characterize the relationship between biodiversity and human health.

"The communication gap between ecologists and epidemiologists is far worse in the United States than in other countries," explains Fish. "A serious forum of this type was long overdue."

Merging the boundaries between the environmental and medical sciences is the primary mission of YIBSCEE, which was founded by Fish in 2005. He hopes the forum will initiate collaboration and research among the participants.

A webcast of the forum is available on the YIBSCEE website at www.yale.edu/yibs/research/CEE.html.

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Forum explored the topic of 'Biodiversity and Human Health'

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