Chris Carlsten runs a human exposure lab at UBC.
His lab showed that even short term exposure can have an effect on our DNA.
His work with subjects in the lab puts them in the air of Beijing for two hours and tracked the effects on their DNA.
Chris lives in North Vancouver and bikes to Burnaby almost every day.

Greg Evans heads the Evans Research Group, a member the Southern Ontario Centre for Atmospheric Aerosol Research (SOCAAR) , an interdisciplinary centre for the study of air quality, with a focus on how aerosols impact human health and the environment. His research team travelled the streets of Toronto measuring vehicle emissions from a mobile lab that resembles a Canada Post mail truck.
Dr. Evans is also a lead on the CANUE, the Canadian Urban Environmental Health Research Consortium made up of more than 80 environmental health experts in academia, government, NGOs and the private sector, who will work together on an urban health research program to understand how cities can evolve to optimize health.

Barbara is a Professor at Lancaster University in England and Co-Director of LEC’s Centre for Magnetism Palaeomagnetism. She has received numerous awards and distinctions including a Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit award, the Institute of Physics award and is the Chair of the Rock Magnetism Group, International Union of Geophysics and Geodesy and Vice President of the Quaternary Research Association.

Barbara’s work on the detection of the particles in brain tissue raises concerns because recent research has suggested links between these magnetite particles and Alzheimer’s disease. However, the new work is still a long way from proving that the air pollution particles cause or exacerbate Alzheimer’s.

“This is a discovery finding, and now what should start is a whole new examination of this as a potentially very important environmental risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease. Now there is a reason to go on and do the epidemiology and the toxicity testing, because these particles are so prolific and people are exposed to them.”

Dr. Habre is a lead in the Children’s Health Study – which has been ongoing for more than 30 years. It showed absolutely that reducing the pollution in LA over decades resulted in fewer lung problems in children. Now they are following air quality of children starting with expectant mothers. Where you live and economic factors generally determine your air quality. Poorer homes are in worse locations, with more exhaust and worse air.

The latest discovery is that the highest levels of micro particulates are under LAX in the landing path, even worse than driving on the LA freeway. Landing has a prolonged approach, flaps down but 75% of power – dumping a lot of pollution, close to the ground – and pollution blows parallel to the flight path – and not laterally. It’s a large area – 5 K wide, and 10 – 20 long depending – Europeans are really interested and already changing protocols at airports in Europe.

USC are part of the NBIB program, developing real time sensors for air pollution, smart phone platforms, cloud based data systems, building a smartphone app to track asthma and pollution and what triggers attacks. The goal it to try and better understand the information from a research point of view – and the differences between children – with real time high dimensional data – what kicks off their asthma – exercise, pollen, particulates – get a real time evaluation of that – could help kids plan their lives – go exercise in the morning sort of thing.

Dr. Finch is a professor at the University of Southern California’s Leonard Davis School of Gerontology. He is also the co-author of the study released in 2017 showing that older women who live in places with fine particulate matter exceeding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s standard are 81 percent more at risk for global cognitive decline and 92 percent more likely to develop dementia, including Alzheimer’s.

Dr. Arvind Kumar has been contributing to the field of medical sciences for almost 30 years. Dr. Kumar is the first surgeon to start Robotic Chest Surgery in India at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi in June 2008.

He has embodied a benchmark in the history of Medical Sciences by delivering 36 years of ordained service to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.

Keith is a Program Director at Environmental Defense
He attained a Bachelor of Environmental Sciences from the University of Guelph and later earned a Masters in Environmental Studies at York University.

Keith and his young family’s home is on a street next to the rail tracks, was involved in the Clean Train Coalition, as he is concerned about the air pollution caused by the trains in the Junction Triangle.

Keith bikes to work and is very interested in monitoring on his bike route, and in the park and his neighbourhood as there is no way to know how much pollution is in the air during train runs,

Sean works on data analysis and modelling within the Environmental Research Group at King’s College in London, England. They have a model that represents six million London residents and their air pollution exposure. The models help to understand air pollution exposures, and shape policy for improving air quality in the future.

Jeffrey Gettleman, is an award-winning writer and his international reporting won him the Pulitzer Prize in 2012. He is currently a reporter for The New York Times as South Asia bureau chief, based out of New Delhi. He was previously the East Africa bureau chief, based in Kenya, from 2006 to 2017.

He is the author of “Love, Africa,” a memoir about his experiences in Africa and much more. Jeff has served as an on air commentator on CNN, BBC, PBS, NPR and ABC.