Paul R. Epstein, M.D., M.P.H.
Instructor in Medicine
Harvard Medical School
Paul R. Epstein, M.D., M.P.H. is Associate Director of the Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School (http://chge.med.harvard.edu) and is a medical doctor trained in tropical public health. Paul has worked in medical, teaching and research capacities in Africa, Asia and Latin America and in 1993, coordinated an eight-part series on Health and Climate Change for the British medical journal, Lancet. He has worked with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to assess the health impacts of climate change and develop health applications of climate forecasting and remote sensing.
Dr. Epstein also served as a reviewer for the Health chapter of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and coordinated Climate Change Futures: Health, Ecological and Economic Dimensions, an international project with Swiss Re and the United Nations Development Programme assessing the new risks and opportunities presented by a changing climate. He has also prepared the report Healthy Solutions for the Low Carbon Economy: Guidelines for Investors, Insurers and Policy Makers that examines the "stabilization wedges" through the lens of health and ecological safety.
He has coordinated two Cat Modeling Forums with A.I.G., Lloyd's of London and other insurers and insurance brokers, facilitating integration of dynamic and statistical models for better risk assessment and reduction. Paul received recognition for his contributions to the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007.
Visit the Center's media page for appearances of Dr. Epstein and other Center staff in the news. Selected journal articles are below.
Selected Publications
Almendares J and Epstein PR. Climate Change and Health Vulnerabilities. State of the World 2009 Climate Connections. Worldwatch Institute.
Epstein PR. Climate change and human health. In: IOM (Institute of Medicine) Global climate change and extreme weather events: understanding the contributions to infectious disease emergence. Washington, DC: National Academies Press; 2008:75-78.
Epstein PR. Climate change futures: health ecological and economic dimensions. In: IOM (Institute of Medicine) Global climate change and extreme weather events: understanding the contributions to infectious disease emergence. Washington, DC: National Academies Press; 2008:79-89.
Epstein PR. Fossil fuels, allergies and a host of other ills. (Editorial). Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. 2008; 122(3):471-2. PDF
Epstein PR. Climate Change: Healthy Solutions (Guest Editorial). Environmental Health Perspectives. 2007;115(4): A180. PDF
Epstein PR. Editorial: Chikungunya Fever Resurgence and Global Warming. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. 2007;76(3): 403-404. PDF
Epstein PR. Climate change and human health. New England Journal of Medicine. October 2005; 353:1433-1436. PDF
Epstein, P.R., Mills, E. (Eds.). Climate Change Futures: Health, Ecological and Economic Dimensions, Center for Health and the Global Environment, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA., Nov 2005. PDF
Epstein PR. Book Review: Climate change and human health: risks and responses. Bulletin of the World Health Organization. May 2005;85:396-397. PDF
Anderson PK, Cunningham AA, Patel NG, Morales FJ, Epstein PR, Daszak P. Emerging infectious diseases of plants: Pathogen pollution, climate change and agriculture drivers. Trends. Ecol. Evol. 2004;19:536-544. PDF
Epstein P. Climate Change and Public Health: Emerging Infectious Diseases. Encycolpedia of Energy. 2004;1:381-392. PDF
Epstein PR, McCarthy JJ. Assessing Climate Stability. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. December 2004;1863-1870. PDF
Epstein PR, Chivian E, Frith K. Emerging diseases threaten conservation. Environmental Health Perspectives. 2003;111:A506-A507. PDF
Epstein PR. Climate change and infectious disease: stormy weather ahead? Epidemiology. 2002;13:373-375. PDF
Epstein PR. Biodiversity, climate change and emerging infectious diseases. In: Aguirre AA, Ostfeld RS, Tabor GM, House C, Pearl MC. Conservation Medicine: Ecological Health in Practice. New York, NY:Oxford University Press; 2002:27-39.
Wayne P, Foster S, Connolly J, Bazzaz F, Epstein P. Production of allergenic pollen by ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia L.) is increased in CO2-enriched atmospheres. Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. 2002;8:279-282. PDF
Epstein PR, Defilippo C. West Nile virus and drought. Global Change & Human Health. 2001;2:105-107. PDF
Rose JB, Epstein PR, Lipp EK, Sherman BH, Bernard SM, Patz JA. Climate Variability and Change in the United States: Potential Impacts on Water and Foodborne Diseases Caused by Microbiologic Agents. Environmental Health Perspectives. 2001;109(suppl 2):211-221. PDF
Rosenzweig C, Iglesias A, Yang XB, Epstein PR, Chivian E. Climate change and extreme weather events: Implications for food production, plant diseases, and pests. Global Change & Human Health. 2001;2:90-104. PDF
Epstein PR. Is Global Warming Harmful to Health? Scientific American. August 2000:36-43. PDF
Epstein PR. Climate and health. Science. 1999;285:347-348. PDF
Harvell CD, Kim K, Burkholder JM, et al. Emerging Marine Diseases - Climate Links and Anthropogenic Factors. Science. 1999;285:1505-1510. PDF
Epstein PR, Diaz HF, Elias S, et al. Biological and Physical Signs of Climate Change: Focus on Mosquito-Borne Diseases. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. 1998;79:409-417. PDF
(Photo by Liza Green. © 2007 President and Fellows of Harvard College on behalf of HMS Media Services, All Rights Reserved.) |
