Planetary health and exposome
Environmental Health, Climate Change, Environmental Disruption
Research aim
The goal of the Exposome and Planetary Health team is to “lean in” to the complexity of our changing world to examine its environmental systems, how those systems change, and how those changes are impacting our health around the world.
About us
It is undeniable that our environment is changing. Human activities have profoundly impacted our planet with effects ranging from a changing climate to air pollution, global pandemics, and crowded cities. These changes are complex, representing a variety of features and exposures interacting in both foreseen and unforeseen ways throughout our lives. The concepts of the Exposome and of Planetary Health are two lenses through which we examine these changes and their impacts on us. The Exposome concept aims to explore the impact of the entirety of human exposure (similar to how the genome concept aims to explore the entire human genetic makeup) throughout the lifecourse. Similarly, the Planetary Health concept examines the bi-directional interactions between humans, human activities, and our planet.
The Exposome and Planetary Health team leverages both of these concepts to explore the health effects of environmental changes, incorporating cutting edge technologies and techniques with global perspectives and collaborations. Our work is broad, covering such topics as plastics (among other environmental entities) exposure, health risk assessment, communicable and noncommunicable disease risk, causal pathway analysis, and education at various levels. We work with a broad array of local and global stakeholders including patient organizations, academic centres, and international groups to generate and share meaningful findings to inform future policy and individual decisions.