Climate Change and Cancer

Recorded On: 05/22/2023

Overview
Speaker(s)

Climate change is one of the biggest threats we face—with a wide range of impacts on human health. NIH has recognized the urgency of these issues and has created a relatively new Climate Change and Health Initiative. This initiative is intended to fund new research and partnerships focused on reducing health threats from climate change across the lifespan and build health resilience in individuals, communities, and nations around the world, especially among those at highest risk. Please join us on May 22^nd, 2023 at 2pm EDT for presentations from researchers involved in research supported by this initiative.

Speaker 1: Robert A Hiatt, MD, PhD, Professor, UCSF

Title: Climate Change and Its Impact Across the Cancer Continuum

Brief Summary: How will climate change likely impact cancer etiology, incidence and mortality? What can we expect locally and globally in the near future? What can we do about it? How might climate change effect cancer registration and surveillance?

Speaker 2: Leticia Nogueira, Ph.D., MPH, Scientific Director, American Cancer Society

Presentation Title: What can be measured can be changed: Cancer Surveillance and the Climate Crisis

Brief Summary: Overview of the different ways climate change impacts cancer control efforts and the role of cancer registries in understanding the problem and identifying solutions.

Speaker 3: Ana Patricia Ortiz, PhD, MPH, Investigator, University of Puerto Rico Comprehensive Cancer Center

Presentation Title: Research on the Impact of Climate Change on Cancer Prevention and Control: Puerto Rico as a Case Study

Brief Summary: Examples of research efforts in Puerto Rico on the impacts of climate change and extreme events on cancer patients, as well as on cancer prevention and control efforts in this population.

Robert A Hiatt, MD, PhD

Professor

University of California San Francisco

Dr.Hiatt is a Professor, immediate past Chair of Epidemiology and Biostatistics atUSCF, and the Associate Director of Population Sciences for the Helen DillerFamily Comprehensive Cancer Center. He is the PI of the National PrecisionMedicine Initiative, All of Us, as UCSF since the beginning of theproject. His research is in cancer epidemiology, health inequities,environmental health research, global health science, and implementation science.He is strongly interested in the conduct of and training in transdisciplinary,team and translational science and was responsible for developing the PhDprogram in Epidemiology and Translational Science at UCSF.

Leticia Nogueira, PhD, MPH

Scientific Director

American Cancer Society

Asthe Scientific Director at the Surveillance and Health equity Sciencesdepartment at the American Cancer Society, Dr. Nogueira’s research focuses oncancer disparities that can be addressed by policy changes, especially thoserelated to structural racism and climate change. She also holds an AdjunctProfessor position at Emory University and is one of the inaugural NIH ClimateChange and Health Scholars. Dr. Nogueira received the Women in Cancer ResearchAward from the American Association for Cancer Research, the NIH Fellows Awardfor Excellence, and was inducted into the University of Texas at Austin Hall ofHonors. She has pioneered research on the impact of climate-driven disasters oncancer patients – using cancer registry data.

Ana Patricia Ortiz, PhD, MPH

Epidemiologist; Investigator of the Division of Caner Control and Population Sciences

University of Puerto Rico Comprehensive Cancer Center

Dr. Ortiz is a cancer epidemiologist with over 18 years of experience in cancer prevention and control research. She is an Investigator of the Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences of the University of Puerto Rico Comprehensive Cancer Center (UPRCCC), Director of the Training and Education Programs Office of the UPRCCC, and an Ad-Honorem Professor in Epidemiology at the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology of the Graduate School of Public Health at the University of Puerto Rico-Medical Sciences Campus. Dr. Ortiz has strong interests on cancer health disparities and climate change, and has participated in NCI and NASA funded research projects related to climate change, extreme events and cancer. Her publications in the field include describing the impact of hurricanes on gynecologic cancer patients and their health services, and the need for cancer control plans to include goals and objectives that help mitigate the impact of climate change on cancer prevention and control.