Our modern world exposes us to a constant stream of chemicals and environmental pollutants. How do these exposures affect health and development?
Join us for talks from two researchers studying how the environment affects the development of the brain and our mental health.
Doors open at 7:00 PM
Talks begin at 7:30 PM
Check out our speakers:
Akhgar Ghassabian, MD, PhD
Associate Professor, New York University
Talk Title: Environmental influences on child brain development
Akhgar Ghassabian, MD, PhD, is Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Population Health at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and an investigator at NYU Langone’s Center for the Investigation of Environmental Hazards. Dr. Ghassabian’s research focuses on identifying environmental exposures that contribute to the etiology of developmental disabilities and psychiatric problems in children. She is particularly interested in brain influences of endocrine disrupting chemicals and air pollution.The unique vulnerability of children to environmental hazards has been documented in many scientific studies. Exposure to environmental contaminants during early life can influence brain development, leading to behavioral problems and cognitive delays. Dr. Ghassabian will talk about her work using large observational studies in which researchers follow children and their families throughout the life course to establish harmful effects of environmental exposures on the brain.
Manish Arora, BDS, MPH, PhD
Professor, Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Talk Title: The Time Machine in Your Teeth
Manish Arora is the Baerwald Professor and Vice Chairman of Environmental Medicine and Public Health at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. He is also the founder and CEO of Linus Biotechnology, a precision medicine company. His research is focused on the study of the time dimension in human health and disease. For his work on children’s neurological conditions, including autism, he was awarded the Presidential Early Career Award by President Obama. In his talk, Dr. Arora will discuss how our environment shapes our health over our lifetimes. The biggest challenge in this field of environmental medicine has been unlocking how our body and our environment interact over time. Everything changes, so how do we measure that change? Arora will share his journey of discovery over two decades and provide insight into the life of an immigrant scientist working in a rapidly changing economic and political world.