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Beyond TEDX

October 23, 2019
12:00 pm US Eastern Time

During TEDX’s final webinar we celebrated 16 years of championing safe environments for healthy hormone functioning. We heard stories about TEDX's successes, listened to expert opinions about what’s next for EDCs and fracking chemicals, and learned how to stay connected to the latest resources. 

Laura Vandenberg, PhD, Associate Professor and Graduate Program Director in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences in the University of Massachusetts Amherst School of Public Health and Health Sciences, provided a 10,000-foot view of the field of endocrine disruption, including what she sees on the horizon for the science, policy, and public awareness of this class of chemicals. She discussed new approaches to identify endocrine disruptors and the effects they have on human health, a better understanding of vulnerable life periods, and the important issue of regrettable replacements. Dr. Vandenberg's talk celebrated the work of researchers, clinicians, and health advocates and described a path forward for these stakeholders. 

Genon Jensen, Founder and Executive Director of the Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL), shared how TEDX’s scientific and communication resources and the foundation Theo Colborn and Carol Kwiatkowski built around EDCs has influenced and supported policies in the European Union, and contributed to the EDC-Free Europe coalition’s work over the past decade. She also offered a perspective on ramping up this progress in light of the EU Commission’s political priorities, which set out a zero-pollution strategy including reducing everyday exposures to EDCs.

Sara Wylie, PhD, Assistant Professor of Anthropology/Sociology and Health Science at Northeastern University, discussed how engaged, collaborative and caring research will continue the work of TEDX and Theo Colborn by building public research archives, informing federal agencies and decision-makers on emerging environmental public health issues, and developing informed public engagement on environmental health topics.

Featured Speakers

Laura Vandenberg, PhD, is an Associate Professor and Graduate Program Director in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences in the University of Massachusetts Amherst School of Public Health and Health Sciences. Trained as a developmental biologist and endocrinologist, Dr. Vandenberg’s laboratory research focuses on how low level exposures to endocrine disrupting chemicals, and in particular compounds that mimic estrogens, can induce diseases. She is especially interested in the effects of estrogenic compounds on breast cancer and works to determine when individuals are most susceptible to these exposures. Outside of the lab, her research critically evaluates issues that affect risk and hazard assessments for endocrine disrupting chemicals including low dose effects, non-monotonic dose responses, critical windows of susceptibility, routes of exposure, and testing methods. Dr. Vandenberg is an author on more than 85 peer reviewed papers and ten book chapters. She has served on a number of US and international expert panels to assess endocrine disrupting chemicals and is regularly asked to speak at conferences around the world.

Genon Jensen, is the founder and Executive Director of the Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL), with 20+ years of experience on environmental health issues. Genon leads on HEAL’s work towards a toxic-free future, free of health-harming chemicals. She has been an official member of the WHO’s European Environment and Health process representing the health sector since 2000. She is a founding force behind EDC-Free Europe, a coalition of 70 NGOs across Europe who share a concern about endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and their impact on our health and wildlife. Recent examples of her leadership in environmental health include publications on toxic chemicals in children’s toys. She is a frequent contributor to radio, TV and print media on the opportunities to prevent diseases through more ambitious EU policy action.

Sara Wylie, PhD, is Assistant Professor of Anthropology/Sociology and Health Science at Northeastern University. She authored an awarding winning book Fractivism: Corporate Bodies and Chemicals Bonds, about working with TEDX to develop the first database of fracking chemicals and their health effects. She also co-founded two researched based non profits Public Lab and the Environmental Data and Governance Initiative. 

 

 

This webinar is one in a monthly series sponsored by the Collaborative on Health and the Environment’s EDC Strategies Partnership. The CHE EDC Strategies Partnership is chaired by Carol Kwiatkowski and Katie Pelch (TEDX), Sharyle Patton (Commonweal Biomonitoring Resource Center), Jerry Heindel (Commonweal's HEEDS), and Genon Jensen (HEAL) and coordinated by Hannah Donart (Collaborative on Health and the Environment, a Commonweal program). To see a full list of past calls and webinars related to EDCs and listen to or view recordings, please visit our partnership page.

This webinar was moderated by Sharyle Patton, Director of the Commonweal Biomonitoring Resource Center. It lasted for 60 minutes and was recorded for our call and webinar archive.