DANVILLE, PA. – Two national leaders in health announced a joint institute to investigate some of this country’s most pressing environmental health problems with the intention of developing real-world sustainable solutions to those problems.
The Geisinger Center for Health Research and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have formed the Environmental Health Institute, which will study links between land use, ecosystem health, community health, and human health and to translate knowledge about health and the environment into sustainable solutions.
The co-directors of the Danville-based Institute are Brian Schwartz, MD, MS, a Professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Walter Stewart, PhD, MPH, director of Geisinger’s Center for Health Research.
The vision for the Institute will be presented at a June 6 meeting at the Geisinger Center for Health Research in Danville.
Dr. Schwartz explained “Over the past several years, Dr. Stewart and I have initiated a number of projects studying the important environmental challenges in central and northern Pennsylvania. The Environmental Health Institute now allows us to formalize the relationships between our two institutions, while at the same time motivating us to work with the other college and university, governmental, and non-governmental organization-related efforts in the region. We hope to develop many strong partnerships with these other active groups, and have already begun to do so.”
Stewart added, “We will leverage unique strengths of Geisinger and John Hopkins to better understand links between the environment and human health with an eye towards improving life in the region.”
The Institute will focus on research, education, community outreach, and resource development, in partnership with other regional efforts.
Like many corners of the country and world, poorly managed industrial, manufacturing and commercial growth have contributed to ecosystem degradation in northern and central Pennsylvania.
The Institute will investigate a wide range of environmental health issues relating to that growth, including:
- Poisons (toxicants) in the environment, such as pesticides and metals
- Land use issues such as sprawl – approaches to design that foster community and individual health
- The role of abandoned mines on ecosystem and community health
- Agricultural and animal husbandry issues such as farm runoff of fertilizer nutrients and pesticides
- The role that green building design may play in promoting worker and community health
Stewart, a former Hopkins faculty member, and Schwartz have been jointly conducting studies of the environment and health for two decades.
As part of the work, Institute researchers will tap into Geisinger’s $90 million Electronic Health Record to understand how a person’s health is affected by environmental exposures and important co-factors such as sex, aging, diet, physical activity, medical conditions and genetics.
About Geisinger Health System
Geisinger Health System is one of the nation's leading fully integrated healthcare providers. Founded in 1915, Geisinger serves more than two million residents throughout central and northeastern Pennsylvania. The physician-led organization is at the forefront of the country's rapidly emerging electronic health records movement. Geisinger includes three major regional medical centers, a 650-member group practice, a not-for-profit health insurance company, and the Geisinger Center for Health Research—dedicated to creating innovative new models for patient care, satisfaction and clinical outcomes.
About Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
As a leading international authority on public health, the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is dedicated to protecting health and saving lives. Every day, the School works to keep millions around the world safe from illness and injury by pioneering new research, deploying its knowledge and expertise in the field and educating tomorrow's scientists and practitioners in the global defense of human life.