Climate change and health focus of Living Healthy with Arthritis Symposium

• What: 2024 UArizona Arthritis Center’s Living Healthy With Arthritis Symposium
• When: Saturday, May 4, 9 a.m.-12:15 p.m.
• Where: Livestream

Experts from the University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health and the UArizona College of Medicine – Tucson will talk about the critical interactions between climate and human health at the UArizona Arthritis Center’s annual Living Healthy with Arthritis Symposium on Saturday, May 4.

Kacey C. Ernst, PhD, MPH, professor and chair of the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the Zuckerman College of Public Health, will deliver the keynote address. Her presentation, “Beyond the Forecast: The Interplay of Climate Change and Health,” will describe the serious health challenges faced by people in parts of the world – including Arizona – that are becoming hotter, drier and more prone to hazards such as wildfires and dust storms.

Ernst will provide insights into the work being done by leaders at the University of Arizona to develop responsive and resilient systems that support population health regionally, nationally and around the world – now and into the future.

According to the World Health Organization, climate change fundamentally threatens human health in multiple ways, including heatwaves, storms and floods, disruptions to water and food systems, and communicable diseases. Climate risks are appearing faster and are more severe than previously expected, with 3.6 billion people already living in areas highly susceptible to climate change. Changes to the environment and climatic events – in particular those involving extreme heat and cold – have been linked with inflammation-related conditions, immune-mediated diseases, infectious diseases and their related impacts.

Ernst is one of three faculty leads of the UArizona Southwest Center on Resilience for Climate Change and Health, or SCORCH, which was funded by a $3.8 million grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. SCORCH supports cross-disciplinary research and community parnerships to create programs that help underserved communities in hot and dry geographic regions adapt to climate-driven health threats. Its applied research in the southwestern United States will build knowledge and practices to benefit communities globally.

Ernst, an infectious disease epidemiologist, has deep experience in applied epidemiology, research, and education, alongside an extensive track record of cross-disciplinary collaboration. Her research primarily focuses on how humans, their environment and their interactions shape the risk of vector-borne and zoonotic diseases. She has worked on projects throughout the globe, including in western Kenya, Indonesia, Ghana and Mexico, to understand the dynamics of dengue fever and malaria.

Her research seeks to engage communities in prevention and control by leveraging widely available and novel technologies. Ernst prioritizes collaboration because she said it is critical to bring multiple disciplines together to tackle the challenges we face in a changing climate.

Following Ernst’s presentation, a panel discussion on the critical interactions between climate and human health will feature medical experts from the College of Medicine – Tucson, including: 

• Associate Professor Fariba Donovan, MD, PhD, an infectious disease physician and BIO5 Institute member who specializes in Valley fever diagnosis, treatment and research.
• Clinical Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine Brian Drummond, MD, the co-founder and chair of the steering committee for the Arizona Health Professionals for Climate Action. He teaches the college’s senior elective on climate and health.
• Professor of Medicine Randy Horwitz, MD, PhD, who studies the impact of climate change on inflammation, inflammatory diseases and allergy-related conditions.
• Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine Julia B. Jernberg, MD, who leads the AZ Climate and Health initiative supported by the UArizona Office of Research, Innovation and Impact and teaches the college’s climate and health section. 

The complete conference schedule is available online at arthritis.arizona.edu/annual-conference.