Meet Our Health Professionals

Bruce Krawisz, M.D., Retired Pathologist

Health and Climate Change Researcher, Wisconsin

Climate Change is a Health Emergency

One of the biggest threats to children’s health is destabilization of Earth’s climate. Our changing climate is already harming human health. Without serious action to prevent the worst impacts of climate change, children born today will see agricultural and seafood declines, worsening floods, droughts, and wildfires, sea level rise, and more disease spread by ticks, mosquitoes, and contaminated water. Climate change is a health emergency.

We must act. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions slows global warming and benefits our children and future generations.

Carol Ziegler, DNP, NP-C

Faculty, Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health, Vanderbilt University School of Nursing
Family Nurse Practitioner, Meharry Family Practice

My patients bear a greater burden from the health harms of climate change and air pollution. 

Climate change and air pollution disproportionately impact my patients. As a primary care provider working in low-income neighborhoods, many of my patients have health conditions and live in unsafe housing conditions with no air conditioning. They cannot escape bad air quality or extreme weather by going inside. Primary care providers must be leaders in advocating for carbon mitigation policies and safe housing conditions, as well as community adaptation solutions to climate stress.

Ying Li, MD

Associate Professor, Department of Environmental Health, College of Public Health, East Tennessee State University

Climate change harms health.

As a researcher primarily focused on the public health impacts of air pollution and global climate change, I have conducted a variety of research projects both in developed countries (U.S. and United Arab Emirates) and developing countries (Thailand and China). The results are always the same: climate change harms health. We need strong climate action to protect our communities and minimize the impacts of heat and extreme weather events.

John S. Yordy, M.D., Ph.D., 

Radiation Oncologist
Palmer, Alaska
Alaska Leadership Board member

Preserve and protect our clean air. 

We all depend upon the air we breathe for life.  There is a direct correlation between air quality and overall population health: the cleaner our air, the better our health.  It is not just us who are affected, but future generations as well.  Poor air quality impacts prenatal health and even has the potential to negatively impact the ability to learn, placing an individual at a disadvantage from birth.  Clean air is a right, not a privilege, and we all need to do whatever we can to support clean air for everyone.

Christine A. Hamilton, DHSc, RRT

Chair, Department of Respiratory Care & Health Information
Associate Professor and Director, Cardio-Respiratory Care Sciences Program
Tennessee State University

I strongly urge a united front on climate change.

Climate change poses serious threats to the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat. Extreme weather conditions have led to more frequent and intense flooding, wildfires, and drought, all of which affect our health. The impacts of climate change on children are especially harmful. We must do all we can to reduce pollution since unhealthy air affects us all. As a respiratory therapist and a college professor, I strongly urge a united effort to address climate change and decrease air pollution.

Randolph J. Lipchik, MD, MPH

Pulmonary Medicine, Center for Advanced Care
Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin

We must not underestimate the need for clean air. 

As a physician, I see how the climate and air quality affects my patients with lung disease, every day. Children and adults living in areas with poor air quality suffer even more with asthma and respiratory tract infections.   We also know that air quality affects lung development in growing children. To protect everyone, including future generations, we must not underestimate the need for clean air. We must strive for policies that limit toxic pollution from industries and vehicles.

Erika Maria Moseson, MD, MA

Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine
President, Oregon Thoracic Society
AirHealthOurHealth.org

Climate change is (quite literally) sickening 

As a lung and ICU doctor, my patients’ health is threatened by unhealthy air and climate change, and now COVID19. From catastrophic wildfires and longer, more intense pollen seasons, to air pollution worsening the severity of COVID19 infections, a warming climate can sicken and kill - causing asthma attacks, heart attacks, strokes and more. I owe it to my patients and my children to fight for a better future.

Glenn R. Singer, MD, FACP, FCCP, FAASM

Medical Director, Pulmonary Rehabilitation, Broward Medical Center, Fort Lauderdale, FL
Board Member, Past President, American Lung Association Southeast Florida

Right now, the air we breathe is in crisis 

Health care professionals have a responsibility to help diagnose and treat patients, and to help the community at large when there is a crisis. Right now, the air we breathe is in crisis. 

In the current era of deregulation and administrative disregard of scientific data, the medical community must stand up to present rational policy and evidence-based recommendations to make sure the public is safeguarded and the air we breathe is safe.

David Hill, MD

Director, Clinical Research, Waterbury Pulmonary Associates
National Board Member, American Lung Association
Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine

Climate change is a public health emergency 

Climate change is a public health emergency, and poses a dire threat to lung health. 

High temperatures alone will worsen morbidity and mortality particularly in children, the elderly, and those with preexisting lung or heart disease.  Increased ground level ozone – or smog – due to higher temperatures, and smoke from more intense and frequent wildfires will worsen asthma and COPD outcomes and put more lives in danger.   We must take action immediately to mitigate these changes and protect the air for everyone who breathes.

Mallory Higginbotham, BA, RRT, RRT-ACCS

Registered Respiratory Therapist
Assistant Professor/Director of Clinical Education
Volunteer State Community College &
Respiratory Care Practitioner
Sumner Regional Medical Center, Tennessee

Let’s all work to promote clean air

It is my role as an educator and respiratory practitioner to teach students and patients about the importance of monitoring the air quality reports. Poor air quality puts everyone at risk, especially patients with lung disease. And climate change will only worsen our air quality and make it even more dangerous to breathe.  I see firsthand the effects air pollution and climate change is already having on patients, including breathlessness, anxiety, and fear. No one should have to struggle to breathe because the air quality where they live is dangerous. Let’s all work to promote clean air for the betterment of all our lives. 

Jessie Weiler, MSN, APRN, FNP-BC, OCN

Nurse Practitioner, Hematology & Oncology, Portland, Oregon

We must unite together to protect our patients

As I walk among the towering trees, listening quietly, breathing deep the moist air, I am reminded of the interconnected web of life. The planet’s health reflects our own. With air pollution on the rise due to industry and climate change, we cannot take clean air for granted. Over time, breathing toxic air may elevate the risk of cancer.  Prescribing time in nature cannot lead to healing if it also jeopardizes our health. We, as healthcare providers, can bring a voice to this urgent crisis at the local, regional and national level. Are you ready to unite together to protect our patients?

Bernadette Mae Longo, PhD, R.N., PHNA-BC, FAAN

Chair, Environmental Health Committee
Nevada Nurses Association

We are all in this together.

Human health is linked to the environment. As a nurse epidemiologist, I see the mounting evidence of the association between air pollution, accelerated climate change, and adverse health effects. Today across Nevada, we are breathing high levels of ozone and particulate matter, along with facing the threat of wildfires. Healthcare professionals have an ethical responsibility to advocate and collaborate for a healthy environment. We must direct our efforts to rapidly reduce emissions of heat trapping gases that are driving climate change. Together, our actions can prevent harm to health and lost quality-of-life for all. 

Juanita Mora, MD

Chicago Allergy Center
Volunteer National Spokesperson, American Lung Association

We must support action on climate change to protect Latino community

Latinos across this country, especially children, the elderly, and those with chronic lung diseases like asthma, face numerous health risks associated with air pollution, and climate change is making air quality worse. Given the recent emerging evidence showing that long-term exposure to air pollution is associated with an increased mortality rate from COVID-19, addressing air pollution and climate change is even more important, especially as nearly 17% of reported deaths from COVID-19 in the United States reported thus far have been from the Latino community (CDC). It is critical to fully implement the Clean Air Act, and support action on climate change to make sure that all Americans, including Latino Americans, have healthy air to breathe. It is part of the fight against COVID-19.    

Amanda Millstein, MD, FAAP

Primary Care Pediatrician
UBCP Hilltop Pediatrics Richmond, CA
Climate Health Now

The climate crisis is a health crisis, specifically for our kids

The climate crisis is here and it is harming our health and the health of our children. In order to prevent the most catastrophic impacts of climate change we must stop burning fossil fuels and transition to clean, renewable energy as quickly as possible. Health professionals, especially pediatricians, must educate families and speak out about this crisis loudly and clearly. There is still time to prevent the most dire effects of climate change, but we must act now.

Ashley E. McClure, MD, FACP

Primary Care Physician, Oakland, CA

Clean air policies are healthy climate policies

As a primary care doctor, I have taken an oath to prevent sickness and to protect human health and safety. As an individual physician, there is only so much medical care I can provide to address the health issues my patients have as a result of breathing unhealthy air in an unstable climate. The only rational treatment is collectively advocating for upstream clean air policies which are also healthy climate policies. History has its eyes on this decade, and the legacy we leave through clean air and climate-stabilizing policies will determine the health of our children and all future generations.

Peggy Pennoyer, M.D., FAAAI

Asthma and Allergy Specialist
Portland, Maine
New England Board Member, American Lung Association

We need policymakers as partners to achieve healthy air. 

It’s hard telling my patients they shouldn’t exercise outside on bad air quality days. Air pollution can trigger scary symptoms for individuals with asthma, and it can prevent them from doing what they love. Seeing a disappointed asthmatic in my office due to poor air quality when he should have been at lacrosse practice is heart-breaking. I work with my asthma patients to help them lead lives that are as active as possible. While physicians can support their asthma patients with good care and medicine, they need state and federal policymakers as partners in making sure the air is healthy. For my patients, healthy air can be the difference between a winning goal and a trip to the emergency room.

Cindy Russell, M.D.

Chair, Environmental Health Committee
Santa Clara County Medical Association

To do so we need to extract ourselves from the use of oil, gas and coal, implementingcradle to cradle clean energy systems in concert with conservation measures. Oil wells and pipelines will not create a clean energy future. Walkable cities, expanded bike routes, solar power and local organic sustainable food systems address not only climate change and air pollution but also the major health threats we see as physicians such as asthma, cancer, heart disease and obesity. Industry, governments and individuals alike need to think about transforming their habits of consumption and travel. Together we can preserve a healthy, beautiful, livable planet.

Anthony DeLucia, M.D.

Professor of Surgery
Quillen College of Medicine, East Tennessee State University
Johnson City, Tennessee

Every child born today will be affected by climate change.

As a 30-year volunteer of the American Lung Association, including former chairman of the nationwide organization, I understand the threats of air pollution on lung health and the devastating impacts of lung disease on our families and communities. That’s why fighting climate change is so important to me. The link between air pollution, climate change and lung health could not be more clear. The 2019 Lancet Report tells us: Every child born today will be affected by climate change. We must act now to protect our children and future generations. Will you join me?

Robert Byron, M.D., MPH, FACP

Vice Chair
Montana Health Professionals for a Healthy Climate
 Hardin, Montana

Air pollution endangers our patients’ health.

Air pollution endangers our patients' health and contributes to approximately 107,000 premature deaths every year in the United States alone. Climate change, for which air pollution is the primary driver, is already increasing those negative health impacts, affecting everyone from fetuses in their mothers' wombs to the eldest and all those in between. We can find solutions and lessen those impacts but we must take action now.

Josephine Mei, M.D.

Pulmonologist
Kentuckiana Pulmonary Associates
 Louisville, Kentucky

Clean air cannot be taken for granted.

The quality of the air we breathe is critical to everyone's health, but in particular, to persons with respiratory and cardiac limitations and to children, who have developing lungs. Air pollution and climate change are impacted by our decisions and actions on an individual basis, as well as on an organizational basis, and by policy decisions made by our government on a local, state, or federal level and the international community. I choose to advocate for clean air for those who cannot, for my patients, and for my community.