Mother/Earth Under the Microscope (2023)

Climate change is a significant threat to global health due to heat exposure, poor air and water quality, food security, vector-borne diseases, and extreme weather events. Women, pregnant women, children, and the elderly are particularly vulnerable due to socioeconomic, cultural, and physiologic factors, threatening to widen gender-based health disparities. The research and medical communities need to recognize climate change as a threat to patient health and address it as a public health, social justice, human rights, political, and gender issue. This presentation focused on the effects of climate change on women's health and reframe the role of healthcare providers and researchers in addressing both climate change and its disparities.

Nutrition is a fundamental human right and should be prioritized in young children and women of childbearing age. In this lecture, Salibatu Mansaray explored the intergenerational cycle of malnutrition, the role of food insecurity and poverty, prevention methods, and the overall impacts of nutrition on maternal-child health around the world.

Climate change often appeared to be a global collective "we" problem. However, Christopher "Todd" Beer, PhD, emphasized that not everyone held the same responsibility for greenhouse gas emissions, experienced the same impacts of rising temperatures, or responded to the crisis in the same way. In his talk, he explored the foundations of climate justice—both globally and domestically—as a lens to understand the current causes and consequences of climate change for women and health. He encouraged attendees to carry this perspective forward when examining climate crises throughout their lives and careers. Additionally, he introduced two frameworks that examined gendered responses which hindered the speed and magnitude of the necessary transition away from fossil fuels.

Speakers

September 14, 2023, Keynote & Panelist: Cecilia Sorensen, MD
Director, Global Consortium on Climate and Health Education, Columbia University Associate Professor, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health Associate Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, Columbia University Irving Medical Center - “Re-thinking Women's Health in a Changing Climate”
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Panel Discussion: "Is climate change a gender issue?"

• Panelist: Christopher 'Todd' Beer, PhD, MA, BFA, Associate Professor of Sociology and Anthropology, Lake Forest College
• Panelist: Jim Burgess, Director of Sustainability, Medline
• Panelist: Neha Basti, Class of 2025, Chicago School of Medicine, RFUMS
• Moderator: Regina de Leon Gomez, MD, FACOG, LSSGB, Clinical Foundations of Medicine Course Director & Assistant Professor, Chicago Medical School, RFUMS

Seminar Series

January 17, 2024: Saibatu Mansaray, PA-C, Founder and CEO, The Mansaray Foundation - "Impacts of Nutrition on Maternal and Child Health"
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May 7, 2024: Christopher "Todd" Beer, PhD, Associate Professor of Sociology and Anthropology, Lake Forest College - "Understanding and Reducing Gender Bias in STEM and Healthcare"
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