Wildfire and Health: Impacts on the Most Vulnerable

Toxic smoke from wildfires has disproportionate impacts on children, pregnant women and under-resourced communities. 

The Center for Innovation in Global Health’s Action Lab for Planetary Health (ALPHA) and the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment hosted a webinar with Stanford researchers and experts in wildfire and public health to discuss the latest scientific findings highlighting the urgent need for investment in infrastructure that decreases vulnerable populations’ smoke exposure and increases wildfire prevention strategies. Webinar topics include: children’s health and the need to upgrade school air filtration and ventilation systems, especially in low-income districts; prioritizing awareness of the risks to vulnerable populations such as pregnant women; and the opportunities and challenges for short- and long-term responses to build greater wildfire resiliency.

Featured Panelists:

Marshall Burke, Senior Fellow, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment; Associate Professor, Department of Earth System Science

Mary Prunicki, Director, Air Pollution and Health Research, Sean N. Parker Center for Allergy & Asthma Research

Michael Wara, Director, Climate & Energy Policy Program, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment; Faculty Fellow CIGH

Amee Raval, Policy & Research Director, Asian Pacific Enviornmental Network (APEN)

Moderator:

Lisa Patel, M.D., Co-Director, Climate, Health and Equity Task Force, Sean N. Parker Center for Allergy & Asthma Research; Faculty Fellow CIGH