'Women on Wednesdays'

JOHNSON CITY (Jan. 22, 2018) – Human exposure to environmental contaminants is common.  While studies demonstrate that some people may be at higher risk of exposure than others, everyone is exposed to some degree.  East Tennessee State University epidemiologist Dr. Mildred Maisonet will discuss this critical issue in a free public lecture on Wednesday, Jan. 31.

“Environmental Contamination and Human Health: Does It Matter?” is the fifth talk in the 2017-18 “Women on Wednesdays” lecture series sponsored by ETSU’s Women’s Studies Program.  It will begin at noon in the presentation room of the Multicultural Center, located on the second level of the D.P. Culp University Center, and a light lunch will be provided.

Maisonet, an assistant professor in ETSU’s College of Public Health, will discuss the current research on environmental contamination and human health.  She will highlight how and why some people are more vulnerable than others to environmental health risks and provide useful strategies for minimizing those risks.

Prior to joining ETSU in 2014, Maisonet completed her doctoral degree in epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.  In addition to her work at ETSU and Johns Hopkins, she has worked at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Rollins School of Public Health in Atlanta and the University of Oulu Faculty of Medicine in Finland.  Her research specialties include fetal origin of disease and children’s environmental health.

The “Women on Wednesdays” series is designed to raise awareness about the research, scholarship and community engagement that women at ETSU are doing; to provide a venue where women on campus and in the community can discuss and support each other’s work; and to give students an opportunity to meet faculty who could become mentors for their studies.