Environmental Health

Kirsten Schwarz is an urban ecologist working at the interface of environment, equity, and health. Her research focuses on environmental hazards and amenities in cities and how their distribution impacts minoritized communities. Her work on lead contaminated soils documents how biogeophysical and social variables relate to the spatial patterning of soil lead. Her research on urban tree canopy has revealed large scale patterns related to income and tree canopy as well as historical legacies that impact this relationship. Most recently, Dr.

Dr. Michels has expertise in epidemiologic methods, and epigenetic, nutritional, and cancer epidemiology. Her research focuses on women's health. 

Dr. Michels is one of the co-founders of the area of epigenetic epidemiology and has made seminal contributions to the methods used in this field. Her research addresses the role of epigenetics in the developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD). The Michels' lab studies the impact of events during perinatal life on the establishment of the epigenome.

Dr. Arias is the Assistant Director of the Southern California NIOSH Education and Research Center at UCLA. He has worked for over a decade as an occupational health physician in the Colombian oil industry where he directed, designed and implemented occupational health programs and developed and implemented surveillance programs for the prevention of tropical diseases, occupational musculoskeletal disorders, noise-induced hearing loss, absenteeism, psychosocial risks, and exposure to organic vapors.

Angelo J. Bellomo is Director of Environmental Health for the County of Los Angeles Department of Public Health.  He was previously Director of Environmental Health and Safety for LAUSD, where he led reforms in the areas of school emergency planning, sustainable building design, and regulatory review of proposed school sites.  Mr.

Dr. Hatfield is Professor and former Chair of Environmental and Occupational Health at the California State University, Northridge. A Registered Environmental Health Specialist (REHS), he was general chair of the National Environmental Health Science and Protection Accreditation Council, and is a subject matter expert for the California REHS exam. He is a senior Technical Editor for the Journal of Environmental Health, and has received funding from the UNEP, CDC, NIH, WHO, AID, and ATSDR.

Dr. Linda Rosenstock served from November 2000 until July 1, 2012 as  Dean of the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, one of the nation's top ranked schools with 700 graduate students and more than 200 faculty. She holds appointments as Professor in the Departments of Medicine, Health Policy & Management, and Environmental Health Sciences.  She is a recognized authority in occupational and environmental health as well as global public health and science policy.

Dr. Strassburg has had a long and successful career at the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. Most recently as Director of Web Informatics where he directed all Web Development for the Department (http://ph.lacounty.gov). In previous positions, Dr. Strassburg was Chief Epidemiologist for the Department, and Director of the Immunization Program. He has been involved in developing emergency preparedness plans and training protocols for bioterrorism, pandemic flu, and emerging diseases both for Los Angeles and other municipalities.