LLI Supports Student Interns

I greatly appreciate you and the Lifetime Learning Institute for selecting me as a recipient and generously supporting my summer internship with the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the NYCDOHMH. Over the course of summer, I worked closely with different researchers and project coordinators at Mount Sinai to expand the “My NYC Air” project, furthering my knowledge of different environmental problems front line communities face. In turn, I was also able to share what I had learned, developing new leadership qualities. 

The “My NYC Air” project uses community science to engage participants in collaborating on conducting and analyzing research to proactively identify sources of air pollution, and communicate data back to the community and policymakers. Just before summer holiday started, Mount Sinai, the Children’s Environmental Literacy Foundation, CUNY Center for Urban Environmental Reform, and the NYCDOHMH, held a citizen science symposium where middle school students and teachers presented on air pollution around their neighborhoods. After collecting air quality data outdoors throughout the school year, students developed innovative pollution prevention plans. Though I was primarily there to report on the event, I helped encourage students who were intimidated by the thought of speaking in front of such a large audience. After the presentations, I interviewed students and teachers from each of the schools. I was greatly inspired to see the passion students had for sharing and debating over creative and unique approaches for how to address such large, multi-faceted environmental issues. 

Throughout the rest of the summer, I participated in seminars and presentations held by PEHSU, the Pediatric Environmental Health Speciality Unit and NYSCEHC, the New York State Children’s Environmental Health Centers. PEHSUs are a network of meetings and consultations throughout the US and Canada which provide academic, medical information and advice on environmental hazards that influence reproductive and children’s health. During one meeting we addressed two community concerns on formaldehyde exposure in the Upper West Side, and VOCs from mattresses. Looking at reports of formaldehyde levels, we discussed the problems in the company only sampling a few rooms of the house, and not taking a control measurement outside to understand whether the levels were of concern or not. We responded to the case by explaining the limitations of the report and recommending they test levels again after moving in and additionally trying to source where readings were coming from. We compiled a list of common Phenol formaldehyde and Urea-formaldehyde resin sources including materials such as soft plywood, flake or oriented stained boards, particleboard, hardwood, and plywood paneling. For the case about VOC coating on mattresses, we discussed the plausibility of the most effective options such as ventilating new mattresses for several months, ultimately recommending to research mattress manufacturing online to safer options, and have some air ventilation whether that be a fan or open window in the room.

Another panel I had the opportunity to learn from was on communitology, a term created by Dr. Cappy Collins, an environmental health pediatrician, which refers to how the delegation of roles in each society regarding health and disease determines the efficacy of our efforts. Collins first outlined how healthcare providers invest money in the three main hospitals in NYC: NYC Langone, NYC Presbyterian, and Mount Sinai. He posed the question to us: if 96th street, dividing Harlem and the Upper East Side have access to these same hospitals, why is there an invisible line between the two neighborhoods where Harlem has disproportionate rates of chronic illness and disease? Discussing with other interns and researchers, we initially saw the problem as having the socio-economic capability to pay for primary care, that health problems be unchecked for and untreated until seriously manifesting, requiring hospitalization and tertiary or quaternary care. Collins expanded on our proposals, explaining how violence – perceived or actual – can alter genetics and interfere with organ development. 

He explained that an overarching issue is precisely the problem of lacking safe and structured positive reinforcement to combat problems such as obesity, behavioral issues, teen pregnancy, and other adverse health effects. Rather than investing money in competition between the hospitals, he argued, society needs to be addressing the roots of these health causes in the first place. What this means is that instead of placing an obligation on the individual to take care of their health, e.g. to not drink soda and to exercise every day, having access to community enforcement and engagement which provides alternative solutions and creates policy changes. Cyclopedia, for instance, is a bicycling program that combines physical activity with field science, empowering and educating youth. 

Throughout these and various other seminars, I interacted with other interns, developing meaningful relationships and connections not only between our interests but also between intersections in each of our projects. I learned from a visiting medical student summer research intern a lot about the chemistry of many pollutants in our modern-day ‘plasticine,’ and was able to connect how these chemicals not only affect environments like the ocean but how, for instance, they can connect to ambient air pollution as well. These sorts of connections prompted me to propose working on a noise pollution infographic to explain the health effects of being exposed to unwanted and harmful levels of sound. As I am wrapping up the infographic, I have also been completing training modules and surveys to provide teachers with help to learn more about and better teach subjects relating to air pollution clearly and concisely. I will also be helping organize a symposium to highlight different community science projects happening around NYC, related to air quality or not. 

I sincerely thank the Lifetime Learning Institute for graciously providing me with the opportunity to travel to and from work every week, and pick up lunches. I learned so much over the course of the summer interacting with different areas of environmental research and was greatly inspired to search for their connections and applications together.