Partnerships for Environmental Public Health (PEPH)
Incorporating the Environment Into Maternal and Child Health Care
February 26, 2024
Interviewees: Lisa Thompson, Ph.D., R.N., and Belise Livingston-Burns, M.D.
In this episode, we’ll learn how the NIEHS Pediatric and Reproductive Environmental Health Scholars (PREHS) program is teaching health care professionals about the many interactions that occur between children, pregnant women, new mothers, and their environment.
Incorporating the Environment Into Maternal and Child Health Care
Children and infants are particularly vulnerable to the health impacts of pollution and other environmental factors. Their rapid development and distinct biology and behavior make children especially susceptible to environmental exposures. Building a network of health care providers knowledgeable in pediatric and reproductive environmental health issues is key to helping families recognize, manage, and prevent harmful exposures in a child’s environment.
To help create this network, NIEHS launched the Pediatric and Reproductive Environmental Health Scholars (PREHS) program in 2021. Through research experiences and coursework, the program teaches health care professionals about the many interactions that occur between children, pregnant women, and new mothers and their environment.
In this episode, we talk with Lisa Thompson, Ph.D., R.N., who directs the PREHS program at Emory University. We’ll also hear from Belise Livingston-Burns, M.D., a scholar in the Emory PREHS program who is interested in designing and implementing public health strategies to improve health disparities.
Lisa Thompson, Ph.D., R.N., is a professor at the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing and Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health at Emory University. Thompson also directs the university’s NIEHS-funded PREHS Southeastern Environmental Exposures and Disparities Program (SEED). Her areas of research and education are focused on air pollution, climate change, and implementation science. She is a member of the Emory Climate Research Initiative, which brings together faculty with diverse expertise to advance climate-related research and curricula across the Emory campus. She is also a member of Emory’s Network for Evaluation and Implementation Sciences and is a fellow of the American Academy of Nurses.
Belise Livingston-Burns, M.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of General Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine at the Emory University School of Medicine. She is also the medical director of the primary care clinic at the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Hughes Spalding Hospital.
Recognizing the importance of addressing the social determinants of health in primary care, Livingston-Burn’s research examines the impact of environmental factors on pediatric health and well-being. Her PREHS research project, “Just Water: Water Trust and Consumption Patterns for Child Health,” evaluates how drinking water preferences affect behaviors linked to pediatric health outcomes.
Resources:
- Check out the Collaborative Centers in Children’s Environmental Health Research and Translation program to learn about other ways NIEHS supports children’s environmental health research and translation.
- Learn more about the Pediatric and Environmental Health Specialty Units.
- Visit the PREHS webpage.