Bridges to Access 2022

Bridges to Access: Health and Climate was held on February 11th and 12th, 2022. It addresses the pressing issue of climate change by educating attendees on the associated health effects, health disparities, and on patient advocacy.

A joint editorial published by the New England Journal of Medicine and over 200 other health journals urge: “The greatest threat to global public health is the continued failure of world leaders to keep the global temperature rise below 1.5° C and to restore nature. Urgent, society-wide changes must be made and will lead to a fairer and healthier world.”

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Keynote Speakers

Internist Dr. Robert Haley is a Distinguished Teaching Professor. He attends on the Parkland Hospital internal medicine teaching service and teaches to medical students, young research faculty, and graduate students in the SMU-UT Southwestern joint graduate program. He served 10 years at the CDC, receiving the U.S. Public Health Service Commendation Medal and also founded the Division of Epidemiology at UT Southwestern. For the past 16 years he has studied the health effects of air pollution in Dallas from nearby coal-fired power plants, and he lectures widely on the scientific evidence for climate change. This year, he serves on Dallas County’s Public Health Advisory Committee, developing Covid-19 response policy for the County government and is advising performing arts organizations, the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank, and SMU on Covid-19 precautions.

Honors include: the SMU Dedman College Distinguished Graduate Award and the SMU Distinguished Alumnus Award; the Dallas Historical Society’s Award of Excellence in Community Service: Health Sciences/Medicine; the University of Texas Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award; Texas Medical Association’s Gold Level Award for Excellence in Academic Medicine; and the American College of Physicians’ Laureate Award. Last year he received the Texas Medical Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award for outstanding contributions to medicine through public health. He is a holder of the U.S. Armed Forces Veterans Distinguished Chair in Medical Research Honoring America’s Gulf War Veterans.

Robert W. Haley, M.D.

The science of climate change

His presentation introduces the main empirical evidence behind the scientific consensus that human-caused carbon emissions are warming the planet and threatening the health and survival of the world population. This presentation addresses 4 fundamental questions of the problem: Is the earth’s surface warming? Is the warming due to human effects or natural phenomena? Is the warming climate a serious threat to humans? Should society invest in curtailing climate change?

Dr. Elena Craft is Senior Director of Climate and Health at the Environmental Defense Fund. Based in Texas, Dr. Craft has helped public officials to identify toxicological exposures from large releases of air pollution, including during climate-fueled disasters, like hurricanes. Her work uncovered a massive leak of cancer-causing benzene in a Houston neighborhood during Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Dr. Craft initiated and led a partnership with Port Houston to secure nearly $10 million in federal funding to reduce air pollution. She also helped a historically Black neighborhood along the Houston Ship Channel to purchase and install the largest community-owned and -managed network of air quality monitors in the state of Texas. Dr. Craft serves as an adjunct assistant professor at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center and Texas A&M University, and as a Kinder fellow at Rice University. She has pushed forward research efforts to protect public health, including a leading role in the establishment of the Texas Flood Registry to understand Hurricane Harvey’s toll on people’s physical and mental health. Dr. Craft has testified extensively in local, state, and national forums, including testifying three times at Congressional House hearings on national air pollution policy. Dr. Craft holds a B.S. degree in biology from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, a M.S. degree in toxicology from North Carolina State University, and a Ph.D. from Duke University.

Elena Craft, M.S., Ph.D.

The climate vulnerability index

A New Tool to Identify Climate Vulnerable Communities across the U.S.

Her presentation focuses on using a meta-data analysis to identify health disparities exacerbated by climate change. The central focus is on a new Climate Vulnerability Index tool that will provide insights and opportunities to prioritize policies and solutions to mitigate adverse health outcomes associated with a warming climate.

Dr. Lisa Doggett is co-founder of the Austin (now Texas) chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR). As a leader for Texas PSR, she advocates for policies to reduce air pollution and climate change, works to increase health care access, and launched the first environmental health elective at the University of Texas Dell Medical School. As a family physician and patient advocate who has dedicated her career to caring for underserved communities, Dr. Doggett has worked in Austin’s community clinics for 13 years and provides clinical oversight as the senior medical director for HGS Population Health Management Solutions. Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2009, Dr. Doggett is also active with the National MS Society as a South Central Board member, MS150 cyclist, and top fundraiser. She has written a memoir, Up the Down Escalator: A Doctor Navigates Disease and Disorder, about her transition from doctor to patient. Outside of work, Austin-native Dr. Doggett loves to run at Lady Bird Lake, bike on the Southern Walnut Creek Trail and tend to her plot at the Clarksville Community Garden. She also enjoys the Austin live music scene and traveling with her husband and two daughters.

Lisa Doggett, M.D., M.P.H.

Mobilizing for Change: How to Be an Effective Advocate

Physicians, nurses, and other health professionals are among the most respected and trusted authority figures in our society. Yet when it comes to controversy, we often stand on the sidelines. Dr. Lisa Doggett, a family physician and author, will challenge and empower you to become a positive force for change, sharing her experience as co-founder of Texas Physicians for Social Responsibility and an advocate for a healthy environment and marginalized communities.

Breakout Speakers

Dr. Linda Rudolph is a nationally recognized thought leader on the integration of health equity into climate policy. She serves as Senior Advisor on Climate, Health and Equity for the Public Health Institute and for the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health, and provides consultation to local jurisdictions and non-profits. Her presentation discusses the nexus of climate change, health and health equity, and the health benefits of climate solutions.

Dr. Katrin Kuhn is an Assistant Professor at the Hudson College of Public Health. She has served as an expert consultant on infectious diseases and climate change for the World Health Organization and the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change as well as a nominated expert on food-and waterborne diseases and antimicrobial resistance for the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control. Her presentation discusses monitoring and predicting infectious disease in a changing world.

Leticia Nogueira, PhD, MPH, is a researcher at the Surveillance and Health Equity Science Department at the American Cancer Society. Her research focuses on cancer disparities that can be addressed by policy, including those caused by social determinants of health and climate change. Her presentation discusses climate change and cancer, examining how individuals diagnoses with cancer and communities targeted for marginalization are vulnerable populations to the health hazards of climate change.

Lauren Mullenbach, PhD, is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Sustainability at the University of Oklahoma. Lauren is a scholar of urban environmental justice, focused on climate adaptation, parks and green spaces, gentrification, and wellbeing. Her presentation discusses the effects of climate change on vulnerable populations and the need for environmental justice within climate change adaptation plans.

Lisa Doggett is an Austin native and a board-certified family physician who has dedicated her career to caring for underserved communities. She worked in Austin’s community clinics for 13 years and now serves as senior medical director for HGS Population Health Management Solutions/AxisPoint Health where she provides clinical oversight to care management programs across the country. Together with her husband, Dr. Williams, they present on the health consequences of pollution and the role of health professionals in advocating for change.

Donald Williams, MD is a pediatric hospitalist at Dell Children's Medical Center in Austin, TX, and an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Dell Medical School at the University of Texas in Austin. Together with his wife, Dr. Doggett, they present on the impacts of air and water pollution.

Nicole Hill, MPH (she/her), serves as the Research and Marketing Manager for ecoAmerica. In her current role, she researches climate perspectives in the United States and reports on how attitudes have changed year over year. Nicole is a recent co-author of the Mental Health and Our Changing Climate report, released by ecoAmerica and the American Psychological Association. Her presentation focuses on the mental health impacts of climate change.

Dr. Jooyeon Hwang is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, Hudson College of Public Health. She is an occupational exposure scientist with a background in the development and application of exposure-associated microbiome and epigenetics to the study of firefighters’ health. Her presentation discusses firefighters’ exposures to wildfire smoke during fire suppression.

Dr. Justin Reedy is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication and research associate in the Center for Risk & Crisis Management. Professor Reedy studies political communication and deliberation, mass and digital media, and group and organizational communication. His work in the Center for Risk & Management focuses on how people and policy makers can come together to deliberate and make better decisions on public policy issues that involve significant societal and personal risk. His presentation discusses effective communication on climate change.

Maxton Harris is an Associate Planner with the City of Oklahoma City Planning Department in the Transportation Planning Program. He received his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Geography from the University of Central Oklahoma and his Master of Regional and City Planning degree from the University of Oklahoma. Max has worked in multimodal planning, assisting with the completion of the City’s first bicycle and pedestrian master plan, bikewalkokc, as well as the implementation of the bike, trail, and sidewalk projects it created. His presentation discusses sustainable transportation and healthy streets in OKC.

Lindsey Pever is an attorney for A New Energy, where she represents a diverse array of clients in navigating legal, regulatory, and public policy issues. With a focus on renewable energy and utilities, much of her practice takes place before the Corporation Commission. Lindsey is a founding member and currently serves as President of the Oklahoma Solar Association, where she and a team of advocates work to advance solar energy in Oklahoma. Her presentation provides a primer for solar and alternative energy.

Maureen Heffernan is the CEO and President of Scissortail Park Foundation as well as the Myriad Gardens Foundation. She was previously director of the Coastal Maine Gardens in Boothbay, Maine, and has worked for other gardens including Blooms of Bressingham in Europe, a great castle estate in Ireland, Cleveland Botanical Garden, and New York Botanical Garden. Maureen grew up in Ohio on a large family farm as a “free-range child” and was surrounded by outdoor spaces and Concord grape farming. She received her bachelor's in sociology from Fordham University and then studied horticulture at Ohio State University. Shortly after graduating from Fordham, Maureen spent time in Fairbanks, Alaska, with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps working on projects serving poor, underserved areas, including working on experimental farms.

Thomas G. Coon joined Oklahoma State University as vice president, dean and director of the Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources in 2014. Before that, he was director of Michigan State University Cooperative Extension and a professor of fisheries and wildlife at MSU. He received his doctorate from the University of California-Davis and served on the faculty at the University of Missouri before his move to Michigan State.

Isaac Rutel, Ph.D, DABR is the president of the Oklahoma Sustainability Network (OSN), a group dedicated to pursuing the “3 E’s” of sustainability for all Oklahomans. OSN serves to connect, educate and be a catalyst for improvement for Oklahoma’s economy, ecology, and equity. He is also employed as a medical physicist at OUHSC/OUMC in Oklahoma City, OK, working to ensure high image quality and low radiation dose for physicians and patients using medical imaging modalities. His research interests include AI, workflow improvements, nanoparticles, and bomb squad imaging.

Kirsten de Beurs is a Presidential Professor in Geography and Environmental Sustainability at the University of Oklahoma. Her research focuses on the analysis of earth observation data to detect, assess, and attribute ongoing changes in terrestrial ecosystems. She is an author on 92 research papers and peer-reviewed book chapters, and she has been the PI or Co-PI on several successful nationally competitive proposals totaling more than $3 million. She is also an editor for AGU’s journal Earth’s Future.

Executive Team

Alice Moon | Chair
University of Oklahoma College of Medicine Class of 2024
alice-moon@ouhsc.edu

Willa Xie | Vice-Chair
University of Oklahoma College of Medicine Class of 2024
willa-xie@ouhsc.edu

Speakers Committee
*Joy Suh, Vice Chair*
Pictured: Joy Suh // Evan Mooney, Sullivan Marks, Nishit Garg, Tate Atkinson // Maren Anderson, Rachel Wenger, Amy Kliewer, Christine Hoang

Marketing Committee
*Audrey Vu, Vice Chair*
Pictured: BreAnna Le, Audrey Vu, Raven Shipley, Emily Marcum

Health Fair Committee
*Brandon Reed, Vice Chair*
Pictured: Brandon Reed, Kayla Stromsodt, Elyse Wyatt, Randall Nesom // Lauren Oliver, Emily Tran, Paige Leigh, Andrew Kulbiski // Madalyn Phillips, Megan Hseih, Kavya Boyina, Abbey Wegrzynski
Not pictured: Aaron Parrott, Saad Ahmed, Saleem Batman, Umar Sandhu

Logistics Committee
*Christopher Loerke and Sheeva Sowdagar, Vice Chairs*
Pictured: Samuel Feher, Arjun Nanda, Chase Coley // Christopher Loerke, Briana Liu, Cole McDonald, Hayden Jackson, Sheeva Sowdagar
Not pictured: Riley Stayton

Committees composed of students from University of Oklahoma College of Medicine and College of Public Health

Outreach Committee
Pictured: Hadley Clower // Baylee Stevens, Grace Mendros-Ruffner, Isha Jhingan, Kiki Greene, Claire Abbott // Fred Kwon, Deborah Samkutty, Jessica Naegele, Logesvar Balaguru, Melissa Eldredge
Not pictured: Kara Cornell

Fundraising & Treasury Committee
*Carson Taber and Jenny Swinton, Vice Chairs*
Pictured: Carson Taber and Jenny Swinton // Jake Neighbors, Brasen Raney, Marlee Hill, Austin Walker, Z (Zhennan) Zhong
Not pictured: Rylee Barber and Aamr Hasanjee

Our Planet, Our Health Art Contest

We had the privilege to invite middle school and high school students from OKCPS to submit their own artwork for display at our conference. Artwork responds to the theme: Our Planet, Our Health: The Intersection of Health and Climate.

Learn about our artists and their responses here.