EPA Research at NEHA Annual Educational Conference & Exhibition 2024
EPA is participating in the 2024 National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) Annual Educational Conference & Exhibition from July 15-18 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. EPA’s latest research on lead (Pb) exposure mapping, COVID-19, One Health, climate change, PFAS, and environmental health collaborations will be featured in presentations and EPA’s exhibit booth. Meet and greets with EPA researchers and tool demonstrations will also be hosted at the exhibit booth.
Presentations
Tuesday, July 16
Addressing Local Environmental Health Needs through Collaborative Research Partnerships
As federal, state, and local governments are asked to do more with less, it is important to leverage partnerships to help address environmental health challenges. Emerging contaminants have created new challenges that all levels of government must deal with, and historic challenges are reemerging in new ways that demand close collaboration and coordination across the federal government and with state and local governments. At the same time, innovation in science and technology have paved the way for new solutions to both emerging and traditional environmental health challenges. This session will provide case examples of several EPA partnership programs and how they are being leveraged to address environmental health challenges through collaborations with local, state, and Tribal partners. Three presenters will share case examples from their experience. Each presenter will describe the environmental health challenge(s), explain the type of partnership program that was leveraged, the collaboration(s) that occurred, and how it helped advance solutions to the challenge. They will also offer their perspectives on the factors that helped ensure the collaboration was feasible and successful. A moderator will facilitate a panel discussion to tease out lessons learned, best practices and challenges that environmental health practitioners should be aware of and consider, and opportunities to help advance successful collaborations in the future.
Presenters: Kacee Deener, Megan Christian, Alice Millikin, U.S. EPA Office of Research and Development; Regina Poeske, U.S. EPA Region 3
COVID is Here to Stay: EPA Findings for Monitoring Community Health for SARS-CoV-2
This session focuses on monitoring SARS-CoV-2 within a population. Research on EPA’s Facilities COVID-19 Dashboard, salivary fluid antibody assay, and SARS-CoV-2 wastewater surveillance will be presented. The first of three presentations share how EPA researchers developed an EPA Facility COVID-19 Dashboard Tool to help protect its workforce health and safety during the COVID pandemic. The tool uses publicly available and fit-for-purpose data, as well as scientifically credible sources of information. This Dashboard informed Agency leadership about the level of COVID infection in communities with EPA facilities, which was then used to inform decision-making about keeping EPA workspaces safe for staff. A second presentation provides an overview of how EPA adapted a salivary antibody test that had been previously used for potentially waterborne pathogens to test for antibodies to SARS-CoV-2. This research advanced the ability to understand how COVID spreads and can be used to complement findings from other types of community surveillance. A third presentation provides research findings on wastewater surveillance for COVID. Aside from actual testing, there were limited indicators for monitoring how COVID spread throughout communities. Through collaborative work with Ohio and CDC, EPA piloted and implemented a study to look at factors affecting the molecular signal of SARS-COV-2 in sewage as a marker of community COVID prevalence. Through this activity, EPA introduced new information into the COVID response management and developed a monitoring approach that can be used for wastewater as an early public health indicator.
Presenters: Wayne Cascio, Anne Neale, Shannon Griffin, and Nichole Brinkman, U.S. EPA Office of Research and Development
COVID is Here to Stay: EPA Findings on Surface Disinfection
Over the past three plus years of the COVID-19 pandemic and through the many SARS-CoV-2 variants, EPA has conducted a wide array of environmental public health research aimed to better understand viral transmission, methods for protection and infection prevention, and strategies for monitoring trends in community prevalence. This session focuses on surface disinfection strategies and guidance related to residual disinfectants. Panel members will present findings of COVID-related research on surface disinfection, specifically pesticide claims for new uses, novel methods and surfaces, and residual disinfectants. This research fostered ongoing relationships and close partnership with EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, local government, and transit authorities to expedite national priority needs and emergency use applications, e.g., airline tray tables, NYC/LA metro transit.
Presenters: Gregory Sayles, Shawn Ryan, and Lukas Oudejans, U.S. EPA Office of Research and Development; Kristen Willis, U.S. EPA Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention
Wednesday, July 17
One Health at EPA: Applying a One Health Approach for Environmental Research
EPA’s Office of Research and Development (ORD) exemplifies the principles of the One Health concept, which is a collaborative, multisectoral, and transdisciplinary approach that recognizes that the health of people is closely connected to the health of animals and our shared environment. Essentially, when EPA protects the environment (air, water, and soil), EPA is protecting humans, animals, crops, and ecosystems. By connecting multiple disciplines to address high-priority, environmental health challenges, ORD demonstrates a One Environment - One Health approach. The EPA One Health Coordination Team was established in Fall 2022 and in 2023, the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine made recommendations to EPA to further expand the concept across ORD, into a One Environment - One Health initiative. In this session, EPA leaders will provide an overview of the One Environment - One Health program at ORD and examples of how the framework has been applied to specific environmental challenges, like wildfire, harmful algal blooms, and antimicrobial resistance.
Presenters: Megan Christian, Tonya Nichols, Wayne Cascio, Elizabeth Hilborn, and Jay Garland, U.S. EPA Office of Research and Development
Federal Climate and Health Resources to Educate, Train, and Empower Environmental Public Health Practitioners
Climate change poses a growing burden for public health, and many federal agencies are recognizing the need to address climate change health effects as part of their mission. Impacts from wildfires such as smoke and impaired water quality, inland and coastal flooding impacts on water quality, indoor air, and vector-borne disease, and others pose challenges for public health and environmental agencies and are likely to be disproportionately experienced by overburdened communities. Federal agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control, The Office of Climate and Change and Health Equity of the Department of Health and Human Services, the Office of Research and Development of the Environmental Protection Agency, and the National Institutes of Health are developing resources, often leveraging existing materials, that are available to educate, train, and empower public health practitioners. Providing this climate-health information to other groups that serve public health, including state and local health agencies, public health practitioners, non-governmental and community-based organizations, and academic researchers can also help in communicating climate health risks and risk management strategies to the public. A consistent understanding of climate change impacts on health across federal, state, and local public health agencies and practitioners is desirable to provide a holistic and coordinated perspective when interacting with the public on climate and health issues. These resources can also help when interacting with other agencies and organizations who are addressing issues of climate adaptation, GHG mitigation, and transitions to low carbon energy, transportation, and buildings, particularly in the health sector. This multi-agency panel discussion will provide information on available federal climate and health training and education resources, including trainings, webinars, and tools, as well as actions that federal agencies are taking to increase awareness of the broad range of climate-driven health impacts and ways to prevent, reduce, or respond to those impacts. The discussion will highlight existing resources and will also highlight where there are both gaps and opportunities for advancing resources to address specific needs for different audiences, populations (e.g., children), or types of climate hazards (heat, wildfires, floods). The panel will also discuss emerging challenges in developing trainings and other resources that help to address complexes of stressors, such as when compounding events - such as heat, drought, and wildfire - occur simultaneously or in sequence.
Presenters: Rebecca Dodder, U.S. EPA Office of Research and Development; Shubhayu Saha, CDC Climate and Health Program; John Balbus, HHS Office of Climate Change and Health Equity; and Gwen Collman, NIH-NIEHS Office of Scientific Coordination, Planning and Evaluation
Update on Federal Efforts to Identify and Address Lead Exposure Hotspots
Federal agencies, including Environmental Protection Agency, Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), are collaborating on a U.S. lead hotspots analysis and “blueprint” for identifying high lead (Pb) exposure risk locations using available data, methods, maps, and mapping tools. This session is a follow-up to the 2023 and 2019 NEHA lead mapping sessions on lead hotspot mapping initiatives. The agencies and state/local partners are continuing to collaborate and coordinate on (1) generalizable approaches and demonstration projects to enhance lead exposure risk mapping science and (2) communications and messaging on public facing Pb data maps and mapping tools. This session is an update on what federal agencies are doing individually, such as EPA’s efforts to produce a “blueprint” for identifying high lead exposure risk locations, HUD’s efforts to develop indices for housing quality and deteriorated paint, and CDC’s efforts to develop a lead exposure risk index. The session will also highlight the work these federal agencies are partnering on together, including national-scale efforts and pilot studies applying lead data mapping to identify and address high lead exposure risk locations. The presenters will also share updates about Federal agency-specific “fit-for-purpose” maps and applying lead data maps to identify and address high lead exposure risk locations.
Presenters: Megan Christian and Valerie Zartarian, U.S. EPA Office of Research and Development; Carol Ann Gross-Davis, U.S. EPA Region 3; Alexa Burnett, U.S. EPA Region 5; Peter Han, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
COVID is Here to Stay: EPA Findings on Distribution, Cleaning, and Facemasks
This session focuses on the distribution of contaminated particles, cleaning indoor air, and personal protection strategies. Research will be presented on aerosol spray in the workplace, indoor air cleaning (HEPA filtering, UV treatment), and facemask effectiveness and facial structure. The first presentation will discuss Aerosol Computational Fluid Dynamic Modeling: Informing Workspace Health and Safety. EPA researchers studied indoor air pathways to determine how exhaled aerosols spread over distance in an office environment, estimates of a baseline level of exposure, and the effectiveness of practical office modifications that might reduce viral exposure. This research informs decision-making about how to effectively protect employees in an open office workspace using practical strategies.A second presentation will provide findings of a study looking at the influence of facemask type and facial structure on effectiveness of a facemask to filter aerosol particles. EPA-ORD examined the fit, effectiveness, and reusability of a range of face coverings and learned how different types of masks perform. The research has informed partners and the public about which type of face coverings have the greatest potential to reduce transmission of COVID. The third presentation will provide findings of research on the cleaning and treatment of indoor air using HEPA filtration, UV treatment, and DIY air cleaners. There are an increasing number of technologies marketed for reducing concentrations of infectious aerosols, but it can be challenging to predict how well they perform in different settings. ORD has been conducting research in a large-scale bioaerosol test chamber to evaluate the effectiveness of these technologies under conditions that are more translatable to real-world conditions.
Presenters: Gregory Sayles, Paul White, Steven Prince, and Shawn Ryan, U.S. EPA Office of Research and Development
Thursday, July 18
Bacterial Visualization Software Application: For use during extreme flooding events
Recent reports indicate an increase in the projection of storms as a result of climate change. The 2022 hurricane season started May 15, in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, and June 1 in the Atlantic Ocean. In September 2022, the Atlantic hurricane season peaked with 5 storms. Cities in Puerto Rico and Florida were in the path of several storms (https://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/news/earth-orbit-2022-hurricane-season-begins). Climate change uncertainty has created the need to assess the distribution and concentration of microbial and chemical contaminants during flood events to inform public safety decisions. During these events, stormwater overwhelms local sewer systems, leading to potentially widespread fecal contamination. Overflow of combined sanitary and stormwater sewers presents acute infection risks to both emergency responders and resident populations. These events disproportionally impact underserved communities and communities with a higher composition of Black and Latino citizens. Because of elevated occurrences of gastrointestinal illness following urban floods, there is a need to accurately determine the distribution of these contaminated waters. Pathogens were discovered in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in the floodwaters that inundated 80% of the city (Pressley et al., 2006). The impact of harmful algal bacteria has also been documented during these storms (Phlips et al., 2020). Better tools for assessing the distribution of fecal pathogens and chemical contaminants, that can assess microbial risk exposure during flood events, are required. This project addresses this need by developing a novel application that can provide rapid microbial contaminant information, along with fecal source characterization, integrated into a geospatial platform.
Presenter: Eric Hall, U.S. EPA Office of Research and Development
Exhibit Booth Demonstrations
Visit us at the EPA Booth #803 in the exhibition hall!
Monday, July 15
- 6:30 pm – 7:00 pm: One Health Talks with Tonya Nichols and Garland Waleko
- 7:00 pm – 7:30 pm: Meet the Director event with Wayne Cascio, Greg Sayles, and Kacee Deener
- 7:30 pm – 8:00 pm: EnviroAtlas Demo with Anne Neale
Presenter Biographies
Dr. Nichole Brinkman is a Biologist in the Biological Contaminants Branch in the Center for Environmental Solutions and Emergency Response in the Office of Research and Development at the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). She holds a PhD in Biological Sciences from the University of Cincinnati. At the EPA, Dr. Brinkman conducts environmental research to address issues related to the occurrence and dissemination of waterborne microbial contaminants through the engineered water cycle in order to support the Agency’s mission to protect human health and the environment.
Alexa Burnett has spent her career at multiple government agencies, including the Virginia Department of Health where she worked as an Environmental Health Specialist, and her current position as a Life Scientist at U.S. EPA Region 5. In her role she evaluates human health and environmental problems related to cumulative and disproportionate impacts in our region and leads capacity-building efforts for underserved communities. She also serves as a project officer for environmental justice grant programs and seeks to build partnerships and conduct outreach activities as Environmental Justice Liaison for the state of Michigan.
Dr. Wayne Cascio is the Director for the EPA’s Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment within the Office of Research and Development. Dr. Cascio spent more than 25 years as a clinical cardiologist, research scientist and in later years as an administrator for cardiovascular care in rural eastern North Carolina. Now he brings a broader view of public health to EPA by building relationships with federal and non-federal partners to develop and apply solutions to environmental health challenges while leading environmental health research highlighting the links between our health, environmental exposures, and social and behavioral factors.
Megan Christian, MPH, is the Chief of Staff and Senior Public Health Scientist in the EPA’s Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment within the Office of Research and Development. During her time with EPA, she has focused on public health partnerships and engagement, science translation and communication, rural health, community engagement, program management, external grants, and peer review policy and practices. Megan also spent time working in the fields of marine biology with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and microbiology and environmental engineering within the private sector. Megan received her MPH in Environmental Health Sciences and Policy from the George Washington University.
Kacee Deener, MPH, is the Acting Director of the Office of Science Advisor, Policy and Engagement (OSAPE) in EPA’s Office of Research and Development (ORD). OSAPE advances the development and use of science to inform decisions at EPA and engages the scientific community and partners in research for health and environmental solutions. Kacee has more than 25 years of experience working at the intersection of science, policy, and communication. Prior to joining OSAPE, Kacee served as Deputy Director of ORD’s Office of Science Policy, as Senior Science Advisor to ORD’s Deputy Assistant Administrator, as Director of Communications for EPA’s National Center for Environmental Assessment, and as Assistant Center Director for Human Health Research in EPA’s National Center for Environmental Research. In 2014, she completed a one-year stint at the White House Council on Environmental Quality as Deputy Associate Director for Chemicals and Public Health, and in 2005, she was the recipient of a Brookings Institution Congressional LEGIS Fellowship. Kacee holds an MPH, with specialization in Environmental Health, the Risk Sciences and Public Policy, from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She also holds B.S. degrees in Chemistry and French.
Dr. Rebecca Dodder is the Associate National Program Director for Air, Climate, and Energy, part of U.S. EPA’s Office of Research and Development. In that role, she helps to coordinate and plan EPA’s climate research portfolio, with a focus on how climate change affects the environment and human health. She also serves as EPA’s representative to the U.S. Global Change Research Program, which facilitates collaboration and cooperation across 15 federal member agencies to advance a whole-of-government response to global environmental change. Her own research was on energy transitions and decarbonization pathways and impacts on air and water and she served as the Federal Coordinating Lead Author for the Mitigation chapter of the 5th National Climate Assessment released November 2023. Rebecca is also highly involved in climate communication through STEM education and community outreach, utilizing interactive games as a platform for conversations about climate and energy. She started as a postdoc in 2007 with EPA, after receiving her PhD in Technology, Management, and Policy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Dr. Jay L. Garland joined the EPA’s Office of Research and Development in 2011. Dr. Garland received a Ph.D. in Environment Science from the University of Virginia and spent over 20 years working on NASA’s efforts to develop closed, bioregenerative life support systems for extended human spaceflight. NASA recognized him for innovative technical achievements four separate times. He has worked on a range of topics, including methods for microbial community analysis, factors affecting survival of human associated pathogens, and various biological approaches for recycling wastes. Dr. Garland has completed visiting fellowships and professorships at the Institute for Environment Sciences in Japan, the University of Innsbruck in Austria, and the University of Buenos Aires in Argentina. His current efforts focus on advancing innovative approaches to water infrastructure, including decentralized water reuse, and mitigating risks associated with antimicrobial resistance in the water cycle.
Shannon Griffin is a biologist in EPA’s Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment. As part of her research, she has developed novel methods using salivary antibody responses as indicators of disease, including surveillance efforts for COVID-19. Shannon holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in biological sciences from the University of Cincinnati and is currently pursuing a PhD in Epidemiology at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.
Dr. Carol Ann Gross-Davis, MS, serves as a senior scientist and Epidemiologist in the Office of Community Tribes and Environmental Assessment, EPA Region 3. Dr. Gross-Davis currently serves as a board member in the Air Pollution Control Board for the City of Philadelphia Health Department. Dr. Gross-Davis also holds an Affiliate appointment with Drexel University Dornsife School of Public Health. Dr. Gross-Davis earned a PhD in Epidemiology at Drexel University School of Public Health in 2014, received her MS from Drexel University, College of Engineering, in 2001.
Mr. Eric Hall is a physical scientist in EPA's Office of Research and Development and has a diverse and extensive expertise in exposure science. He has worked in air pollution monitoring doing statistical analysis of concentration data, method development/field analysis of monitors/monitor data in support of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards [NAAQS] under the Clean Air Act [CAA]), and UV Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy [DOAS] analysis. He has worked to improve environmental health justice through improving cumulative impact assessments and developing user interface-based Hierarchical Bayesian Model tool to generate combined model/monitor/satellite aerosol optical depth [AOD] concentration estimates for ozone and PM2.5. Mr. Hall has also researched solar ultraviolet radiations and how to improve sustainability across transportation, land use, buildings and infrastructure, and materials management. Mr. Hall develops methodological approaches and models to support remediation of polluted waterbodies, especially those experiencing Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) and cyanobacteria. He has managed $38.80 million dollars of environmental and public health research at EPA, he has 35 scientific publications (journal articles, technical reports, book chapter), and he is a reviewer for more than 40 scientific journals. Mr. Hall's work has been cited more than 240 times.
Dr. Elizabeth Hilborn is a senior health scientist/epidemiologist in the Office of Research and Development at the US Environmental Protection Agency. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a Master of Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She earned her Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine at North Carolina State University. She served as a Fellow in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Epidemic Intelligence Service. Dr. Hilborn is board certified with the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine. Her expertise is in the health effects of emerging infections, environmental and waterborne contaminants including harmful algal blooms.
Dr. Alice Millikin is a biologist in the Tribal Program for the Office of Research and Development (ORD), Office of Science Advisor and Policy Engagement. She helps facilitate work with the National EPA-Tribal Science Council, and ORD engagement with Tribal partnership groups and Tribal Colleges and Universities. She has a B.S. in Parks and Recreation from George Mason University, M.S. in Biology from the University of South Dakota, and Ph.D. in Wildlife Resources from West Virginia University. Her graduate research was on prairie and wetland restoration.
Anne Neale is a research scientist in the EPA’s Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment, within the Office of Research and Development. She currently leads EPA’s EnviroAtlas, a web-based interactive tool that provides many geospatial data layers, tools, and other resources in an easy-to-use application. Anne has a background in geospatial science and statistics and contributed to the development of the EPA Status Facility Dashboard to help inform staff and EPA management of COVID-19 prevalence in areas surrounding EPA workplaces.
Dr. Lukas Oudejans is a Research Physical Scientist with the US EPA Office of Research and Development’s Center for Environmental Solutions and Emergency Response. Over the past 15 years, he has gained vast experience in homeland security programs related to research, development and evaluation of innovative technologies for the decontamination of materials contaminated with chemical or biological agents. He is a co-author of EPA’s Fentanyl Fact Sheet for U.S. EPA Federal On-Scene Coordinators who are providing technical support to state and local responders who may encounter environmental contamination from the fentanyl class of synthetic opioids (including fentanyl analogs). Currently, he is leading research efforts to assess decontamination options for fentanyl analog contaminated building materials and approaches for effective decontamination of contaminated gear and PPE. Dr. Oudejans holds a Ph.D. in Experimental Physics from Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands (1994).
Dr. Shawn Ryan is the National Program Director for EPA’s Homeland Security Research Program. Shawn has over 23 years of experience at EPA, including 19 years leading research to support EPA’s Homeland Security mission. He has initiated and led several large-scale interagency projects that have made significant advances in Homeland Security and served as models of partnership. His research has focused on biological and chemical agent-related decontamination.
Dr. Gregory Sayles directs EPA’s Center for Environmental Solutions and Emergency Response (CESER), one of four research centers in the Office of Research and Development. CESER conducts applied, stakeholder-driven research and provides responsive technical support to help solve the Nation’s environmental challenges. Dr. Sayles brings over 30 years of experience in hands-on research, strategic planning, and management to this position. Early in his research career, Greg developed bioremediation processes to clean soils and sediments, and risk management approaches for endocrine disrupting chemicals in the environment. Before standing up CESER, Dr. Sayles directed ORD’s National Homeland Security Research Center (NHSRC). Greg earned Bachelors, Masters, and Doctoral degrees in Chemical Engineering from the California Institute of Technology, the University of California at Davis, and North Carolina State University, respectively.
Dr. Kristen Willis received her B.S. in microbiology from Cornell University in 2003 and her Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2010. Kristen was a National Research Council Post-doctoral fellow from 2010-2013 working for the Department of Defense, followed by a research microbiologist with Defense Threat Reduction Agency. Kristen joined the EPA in 2016 as a senior scientist and is currently the deputy director of the Antimicrobials Division in the Office of Pesticide Programs.
Dr. Valerie Zartarian is a Senior Scientist and Advisor and the Lead (Pb) lead in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s Office of Research and Development (ORD), Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment (CPHEA). She is also serving as the EPA Science-Policy Liaison for US-International Lead Efforts through EPA’s Office of International Affairs. Dr. Zartarian coauthored the 2022 EPA Strategy to Reduce Lead Exposures and Disparities in U.S. Communities and the 2018 U.S. Federal Action Plan to Reduce Childhood Lead Exposure. She leads cross-EPA and cross-Federal agency workgroups to identify high exposure risk locations, and co-chairs the International Lead Exposure Working Group of the President’s Task Force (PTF) on Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks to Children. Dr. Zartarian previously served as ORD’s Executive Lead for Lead (Pb) research and as the EPA research co-chair for the PTF Federal Lead Action Plan.