"GREEN WORLD, WHITE COAT: The Links Between Human Health and Environment"

Diagnosing sick buildings, sending medical residents into corn fields to learn "agromedicine," diagnosing patients referred with lead exposure, teaching medical students how to diagnose occupational asthma... these are among the responsibilities of Emory University environmental and occupational health expert Howard Frumkin, M.D., Dr.P.H.

GREEN WORLD, WHITE COAT: The Links Between Human Health and the Environment is the title of the provocative talk Dr. Frumkin will present Oct. 15 at Emory University's Cannon Chapel, 515 Kilgo Circle, Atlanta. The lecture is part of the Emory University Great Teachers Lecture Series and will begin at 7:30 p.m. Call 404/727-6216.

Dr. Frumkin established both of Emory's programs in environmental health: the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at Emory's Rollins School of Public Health, which he chairs, and the Environmental and Occupational Medicine program at Emory Healthcare, where he continues to direct the consultative clinic.

Dr. Frumkin also founded Emorys Occupational Medicine Residency, the only such physician training program in Georgia.

Nationally recognized for his expertise, Dr. Frumkin is often called upon to evaluate situations associated with possible environmental or occupational health threats, such as the Glynn County superfund site in Brunswick; "cancer clusters" in industrial settings, or carbon disulfide-related health problems among employees at a rayon plant near Mobile, Al. The media call upon Dr. Frumkin to comment on topics ranging from the health effects of mercury in dental fillings, to radiation exposure to subjects of Department of Energy atomic bomb experiments conducted during the 1950s, to the possible toxicity of alternative medicines.

Dr. Frumkin's own research focuses on the toxicity of metals, solvents, asbestos, and pesticides; specific diseases such as occupational asthma; and policy issues in environmental and occupational health. He has a special interest in hazardous exposures sustained by disenfranchised communities and workers. His research uses both epidemiologic and clinical methods.

Dr. Frumkin holds leadership positions in many statewide, national and international organizations and contributes to a number of peer-reviewed medical journals through original research and as an editor and reviewer. He chairs the Science Board of the American Public Health Association, which seeks to support public health policy with the best available scientific data. He chairs the Environment Committee of Physicians for Social Responsibility, the nationwide physician organization that advocates for cleaner environments, peace, and an end to domestic violence.

He recently completed a term as president of the Association of Occupational and Environmental Clinics, based in Washington. He has been named to two state commissions in Georgia, the Hazardous Waste Management Authority and the Pesticide Advisory Committee.

Dr. Frumkin has served on two high-level committees of the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine, the Committee to End Lead Toxicity in the Americas and the Roundtable on Environmental Health Sciences, Research, and Medicine.

He has lectured at medical schools and schools of public health in Spain, India, Indonesia, Mexico and Chile.

Dr. Frumkin received a Bachelor of Arts in Science and Society magna cum laude with honors from Brown University, his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania and his master's and doctoral degrees in public health from Harvard.

He completed his internal medical residency at the University of Pennsylvania and at Harvard, and an occupational medicine residency at Harvard.