5/16/25: 2025 Planetary Health Nexus Award Recipients

Fenna Sille, Lesliam Quiros-Alcala, Kate Fitzgerald, Thomas Hartung, Paul Locke, Kirsten Koehler, Ana Rule, Keeve Nachman, Aparna Balasubramanian, Gurumurthy Ramachandran, Meredith McCormack, Alexandra Maertens, Meghan Davis, Sarah Preheim, Carsten Prasse, Peter DeCarlo, Thomas Pisanic

The exposome encompasses the environmental exposures that humans encounter throughout their lifetimes that have impacts on health and disease. This project will develop a framework and prototype of an Exposome Dashboard for Precision Medicine, integrating exposome data with patient electronic health records to provide clinicians and researchers with real-time insights into how environmental factors influence patient health. Using geospatial data, exposure-related biomarkers, and AI-driven predictive analysis, this research aims, in the long-term, to enhance predictive capabilities for disease risk assessment and personalized interventions, improve patient outcomes by guiding clinical decisions and public health actions, and enable clinicians to qualitatively assess cumulative environmental impacts and personalize medical interventions and guidelines more effectively.

Corey Oses, Avi Bregman, Steven Cohen, Jonah Erlebacher

As the existential threat of climate change looms over the collective consciousness, there is hope that groundbreaking research on energy storage, alternative fuels, and infrastructure can help curb the more disastrous side effects of our impact on the world. This convening will bring together Maryland and DC-based academics and researchers around how to transition their energy and climate-related work out of the laboratory and into the public sphere. Attendees will learn about the technology transition opportunities for scientific research– including filing IP, licensing patents to external partners, working with their institutions to commercialize innovations, and forming companies. In alignment with the Johns Hopkins Institute for Planetary Health’s strategic plan and JHU’s Ten for One initiative, the conference will foster critical conversations about climate science and energy across academic disciplines.  

 Abdulgafoor Bachani, Samuel Myers, Simon Obi, James Kumwenda

Road traffic injuries are responsible for over a million deaths per year globally and could be reduced by 40% through better land use and safer transportation systems. Environmental risks such as air pollution, unsafe infrastructure, or poorly designed urban environments contribute significantly to the global burden of disease, accounting for up to 24% of preventable deaths. Achieving safe and sustainable mobility requires integrated approaches that address road safety and Planetary Health. This convening will explore the intersections of sustainable mobility, addressing cross-cutting issues between motorization, mobility, and Planetary Health such as injury prevention and safe mobility, environmental health and air quality, sustainable urban design, and policy and governance.  

Eliana Perrin, Erin Hager, Sonia Angell, Sara Johnson, Benjamin Zaitchik, Angela Suarez, Rachel Deitch

Amid the dual crises of childhood obesity and climate change, this convening will explore their critical intersection through the lens of Planetary Health. Discussions will examine how extreme weather, pollution, and environmental degradation affect children’s movement, physical activity, screen time, and sedentary behaviors; how climate-related disruptions to food production and supply chains contribute to unhealthy diets; how environmental disasters and displacement drive chronic stress, anxiety, and inactivity; and will underscore the importance of governance structures that support healthier food systems, urban planning, and environmental policies to protect children’s health. Attendees will explore policy solutions to address these linkages, culminating in actionable strategies for policy and program development.