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There is a direct relationship between our environments and our health. Our knowledge about the role of indoor exposures and human health has grown exponentially in the past 50 years. Children, because of their developmental status, are uniquely susceptible to certain chemical exposures, many of which are anthropogenic. This presentation will provide a case example of a multidisciplinary approach designed to explore, identify, and address some of these exposures, particularly the ones known to have adverse health effects in order to improve child health in the Kansas City Metro Area.
Speaker Information
Kevin Kennedy
Mr. Kennedy is the Director of the Environmental Health Program at Children’s Mercy Kansas City. The program provides patient families, childcares, and schools with resources to assist them in identifying and reducing indoor environmental exposures that may result in health problems. Mr. Kennedy has been involved in environmental health science and industrial hygiene chemistry consulting for over 30 years and has been a champion for safe and healthy housing and works to help programs integrate environmental health, energy efficiency and resiliency in the built environment through teaching, research, and advocacy.
Luke Gard, CIEC, CMC, BOC, HHS
Mr. Gard has nearly 30 years of experience in the field of environmental health. He began his career in environmental laboratories, performing various analyses and helping develop analytical methods. In 2005, Luke began working in the Environmental Health Program at Children’s Mercy Hospital and within a year, he developed the Healthy School Program and began working with districts to identify concerns through proactive audits of facilities, with recommendations for improvements. He also has developed numerous trainings for various school audiences to increase environmental awareness and provide staff with best practices for creating and maintaining optimal conditions for occupant health and performance.
Elizabeth Friedman MD MPH
Dr Friedman is an environmental physician with extensive training in pediatrics, internal medicine, preventive medicine and Occupational and Environmental medicine, as well as public health. She works as the Region 7 MidAmerica-PEHSU director and also as the medical director of the environmental health program at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, MO.
Learners will be able to:
- Recognize pediatric environmental health and understand some key themes foundation to the field of practice.
- List 3 potential sources of environmental health hazards to children in homes or schools
- Describe an example of local problem solving where cross sector and multidisciplinary collaboration has served to address particular aspects of housing insecurity