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Upcoming Meetings and Events
LDDI's Fall 2007 Teleconference Series
This seven-part teleconference series is based on the agenda of the conference, "Priming for Prevention: An Ecological Approach to Research, Education and Policy," that was to be held at the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia, in May 2007. Dial-in information will be sent to LDDI members in a separate email message before each teleconference. CME credits will not be available for these calls.
Overview: Emerging science suggests that environmental exposures, along with socioeconomic factors, gene-environment interactions and infectious disease, can undermine healthy child development. In addition, these factors can contribute to increases in learning and developmental disabilities, neurological disorders and other child health problems. This means that to ensure children's well-being, we not only need to reduce environmental contaminants but to develop a whole systems or "“ecological" understanding in order to address these complexities.
Leading researchers and advocates presenting in this teleconference series will highlight recent studies and describe how this new science is being translated into innovative solutions and public policy opportunities. Our intention is to help participants on these calls come away not only with more scientific knowledge, but with new ideas we can collectively take to "prime for prevention" and to protect the health and future of all children.
Sponsors: Collaborative on Health and the Environment's Learning and Developmental Disabilities Initiative; American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities; Autism Society of America; Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4; Institute for the Study of Disadvantage and Disability; Learning Disabilities Association of America; John Merck Fund; National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences; National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities; Southeast Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit; University of Maryland School of Nursing
1) "Priming for Prevention"
Wednesday September 12th
2:00 p.m. Eastern/11:00 a.m. Pacific
Presenters:
- Elise Miller, MEd, executive director of the Institute for Children"s Environmental Health and national coordinator of the Collaborative on Health and the Environment's Learning and Developmental Disabilities Initiative, will provide an overview of the series and LDDI's mission and activities
- Ted Schettler, MD, MPH, science director of the Science and Environmental Health Network: "An Ecological Approach for Understanding and Enhancing Child Development"
Call Materials:
2) Overview of Science Regarding Environmental Contributors to Child Development
Wednesday September 19th
5:00 p.m. Eastern/2:00 p.m. Pacific
Presenters:
- Leslie Rubin, MD, president of the Institute for the Study of Disadvantage and Disability and Visiting Scholar at the Morehouse School of Medicine Department of Pediatrics: "From Substances to Society"
- David Bellinger, PhD, MSc, professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School and Children's Hospital: "Lead, Socioeconomic Factors and Child Development"
- Jane Houlihan, vice president for research at the Environmental Working Group: "Toxics in Cord Blood and Body Burden Studies: Implications for Child Development"
Call Materials:
3) Research in Relation to Specific Learning and Developmental Disabilities
Wednesday October 3rd
2:00 p.m. Eastern/11:00 a.m. Pacific
Presenters:
- Martha Herbert, MD, PhD, clinical associate in neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Morphometric Analysis and assistant professor in neurology at Harvard Medical School: "The Emerging Whole-Body, Gene-Environment-Epigenetics Approach in Autism Research and Treatment"
- Susan Schantz, PhD, professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: "Neurodevelopmental Effects of PCBs, MeHg and Other Contaminants: Evidence from Animal and Human Studies"
- Allison Davis, PhD, RN, assistant professor at the University of Maryland School of Nursing: "A Vulnerable Population: Environmental Health Exposures and the Developmental Disabilities Community"
Call Materials:
4) Matrix of Other Emerging Research
Wednesday October 17th
2:00 p.m. Eastern/11:00 a.m. Pacific
Presenters:
- Yvonne Fry-Johnson, MD, chief of maternal and child health at the National Center for Primary Care: "Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Developmental Disabilities"
- Virginia Rauh, ScD, professor of public health and deputy director of the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health, Columbia University Joseph L. Mailman School of Public Health: "Effects of Prenatal Exposure to the Organophosphate Pesticide Chlorpyrifos in the Urban Environment"
Note: We had hoped to have Irva Hertz-Picciotto, PhD, MPH, professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, University of California, Davis, California, present on "The CHARGE Study: Childhood Autism Risks from Genetics and the Environment", but she is not available on this date. We are trying to arrange another date for her to speak.
Call Materials:
5) More Emerging Research
Wednesday October 31st
2:00 p.m. Eastern/11:00 a.m. Pacific
Presenters:
- Tom Zoeller, PhD, professor and chair of the University of Massachusetts Amherst Biology Department: "Classes and Consequences of Thyroid Disruptors"
- Sandra Steingraber, PhD, distinguished visiting scholar in the Division of Interdisciplinary Studies, Ithaca College: "Consequences of Early Puberty in U.S. Girls -- Implications for Learning"
Call Materials:
6) Leading Learning and Developmental Disabilities Organizations: New Model Environmental Health Initiatives
Thursday November 8th
2:00 p.m. Eastern/11:00 a.m. Pacific
Presenters:
- Maureen Swanson, director of the Healthy Children Project, Learning Disabilities Association of America
- Laura Abulafia, MHS, director of the Environmental Health Initiative, American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
- Lee Grossman, president and CEO of the Autism Society of America
- Rob Fletcher, executive director of the National Association for the Dually Diagnosed
Call Materials:
7) Innovative Approaches: What Do a Community-based Researcher, an Environmental Design Analyst and a Chemist Have in Common?
Monday November 19th
2:00 p.m. Eastern/11:00 a.m. Pacific
Presenters:
- Peggy Shepard, executive director of West Harlem Environmental Action, Inc.: "Translating Research Findings into Policy"
- Lorraine Maxwell, PhD, associate professor of graduate studies in the Cornell University Department of Design and Environmental Analysis: "Addressing the Physical Environment's Role in Children's Learning and Health"
- Terry Collins, PhD, Lord Professor of Chemistry at Carnegie Mellon University: "Green Chemistry and the Future"
Call Materials:
Updates will be posted here as they become available.
ICEH maintains a comprehensive environmental health calendar. Please use the button here to view a list of upcoming LDDI-related events.
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Past Meetings and Events
Conference Call June 20, 2006
Conference Call April 10, 2006
Regional Meeting: Minnesota, January 21, 2006
"Preventing Harm to Growing Brains: Environmental Contributors to Learning & Developmental Disabilities in Children" is the title of this one-day meeting for educators, parents, children's advocates, researchers, policymakers, health professionals and others. Keynote Speakers were
- Leonardo Trasande, MD, MPP, assistant professor, Community & Preventive Medicine and Pediatrics at Mt. Sinai Medical Center in New York City and assistant director for the Mount Sinai Center for Children's Health and the Environment
- Ted Schettler, MD, MPH, science director of the Science and Environmental Health Network
Regional Meeting: California, October 27, 2005
Meeting materials:
- meeting agenda (300 KB)
- Time Out For Toxins by Jo Rupert Behm, MS, RN (21.3 MB)
- Time-Out para Toxinas (Español) por Jo Rupert Behm, MS, RN (21.2 MB)
- Learning and Developmental Disabilities Initiative: An Overview by Elise Miller, MEd (10.6 MB)
- Neurodevelopment and Environmental Chemicals by Mark Miller, MD, MPH (6.5 MB)
- Emerging Science on Neurotoxicant by Isaac N. Pessah, PhD (29.5 MB)
- Mercury in SF Bay by Andria Ventura (3.4 MB)
Presentation files have been removed to conserve space. If you would like a PowerPoint file, please send a request to iceh@iceh.org
Regional Meeting: New York City, June 9, 2005
LDDI's third regional meeting saw almost 80 people attend, some of whom were new to environmental health. The energy and engagement were notable throughout the day, right up until Elise Miller had to bring the "wrap-up/next steps" session to a close to begin the CHE reception.
Meeting documents and presentations:
- meeting agenda (42 KB)
- meeting notes (85 KB)
- Neurotoxicity in Children from Low Dose Exposures to PCBs by David Carpenter (5.2 MB)
- Citizens' Environmental Coalition by Kathy Curtis (6.9 MB)
- Of Mercury, Microbes, Mice and Men: Animal Models of Neurodevelopmental Damage and Hypothesis-Driven Interpretation of Data by Mady Hornig (1.3 MB)
- Learning Disabilities & the Environment by Heather Loukmas (42 KB)
- Learning and Developmental Disabilities Initiative: An Overview by Elise Miller (812 KB)
- Learning and Developmental Disabilities and the Environment: An Overview by Ted Schettler (4 MB)
- Healthy Living: Environmental Exposures & Adults with Developmental Disabilities by Sheryl White-Scott (1.5 MB)
Presentation files have been removed to conserve space. If you would like a PowerPoint file, please send a request to iceh@iceh.org
Congressional Briefing on Pollutants and Disabilities, May 10, 2005
Members of the Learning and Developmental Disabilities Initiative (LDDI), a national working group of the Collaborative on Health and the Environment, organized a Congressional Briefing on Tuesday, May 10, 2005, from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. in the Senate Dirksen Building. The Briefing, entitled "Chemical Exposure, Children's Health and Disability," was cosponsored by Senators Lautenberg, DeWine, Kerry, Snowe and Jeffords. For more information about the organizers and presenters, please see these PDF documents:
Regional Meeting: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, April 9, 2005
The Learning and Developmental Disabilities Initiative (LDDI) held its second regional meeting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on April 9th as part of the inaugural CHE-PENN conference. Approximately 40 people attended this half-day workshop, including researchers, health professionals, learning and developmental groups, public health representatives, environmental health and justice advocates and other concerned citizens. Ted Schettler, MD, MPH; Herbert Needleman, MD; and Laura Hewitson, PhD, provided science overviews and updates on neurotoxicants, followed by a panel of national, state and local nonprofits, represented by Kathy Lawson, Myron Arnowitt and Amy Stiffey, MA, who is working to protect communities from neurotoxicants through education and policy efforts. Kathy Lawson, who directs the Learning Disabilities Association's Healthy Children Project, will be the point person in Pennsylvania to follow up with participants on potential collective LDDI activities.
Meeting documents:
Regional Meeting: East Lansing, Michigan, October 27, 2004
The first LDDI Regional Meeting was held Wednesday, October 27, 2004, on the Michigan State Univeristy campus in East Lansing, Michigan. The purpose of this meeting was to foster effective collaboration between researchers, health care professionals, health-affected groups, environmental health and justice advocates and other concerned citizens in order protect all children in the region from environmental pollutants that can undermine their healthy development.
Meeting documents and photo:
National Meeting: May 19, 2004
The first major national meeting of the Learning and Developmental Disabilities Initiative (LDDI) was held at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD, on May 19, 2004.
Meeting Materials
Slides from PowerPoint Presentations
Because several of these files are very large, we have removed them from the website to conserve space. If you would like a PowerPoint file, please send a request to iceh@iceh.org
Presenter |
Presentation Title |
File Size |
John Balbus, MD, MPH |
Healthy Brain Partners : LDDI and Environmental Advocacy Groups |
5.6 MB |
| Jo Behm, RN, MS |
Importance of Taking Personal & Agency Inventory and Getting Organized As First Steps Toward Engaging Critical Mass |
244 KB |
Sallie Bernard |
Advancing the Science |
784 KB |
Doreen Croser |
Collaborating for ACTION: Pollution, Toxic Chemicals and Mental Retardation |
196 KB |
Sharon Davis, PhD |
Outreach Strategies of The Arc of the United States |
68 KB |
Michael Friedlander, PhD |
PCBs and Neural Development: Hijacking the Brain's Pathways |
16 MB |
Lynn Goldman, MD, MPH |
Translating the Science on Neurotoxicants into Effective Policy |
524 KB |
Martha Herbert, MD, PhD |
The Science of Autism: Why We'll Never Understand Autism If We Don't Consider the Environment |
1.2 MB |
Bruce Lanphear, MD, MPH |
The Search for Environmental Causes of Learning Disabilities in Children |
508 KB |
Kathy Lawson |
Healthy Children Project: Learn More – Do More For Environmental Health |
1.7 MB |
Betty Mekdeci |
Pattern of Functional Deficits Identified in Vietnam Veterans' Children |
880 KB |
Pete Myers, PhD |
New Directions in Research – New Opportunities for Prevention |
1.1 MB |
Wendy Nehring, RN, PhD, FAAN |
Education for Professionals Who Specialize in Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities |
800 KB |
Jennifer Nyland, PhD |
Low Dose Mercury: Implications for the Nervous System |
684 KB |
Ted Schettler, MD, MPH |
The Developing Brain: Vulnerability to Environmental Agents |
208 KB |
David Wallinga, MD, MPA |
Neurodevelopmental Toxins: More Science, and the Context of Science |
2 MB |
Tom Zoeller, PhD |
Research Opportunities/Needs: Thyroid Hormones and Brain Development |
1.2 MB |
National Meeting: March 21, 2003
National Meeting: May 23, 2002
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