Our department is a leader in training students to identify environmental and occupational health risks and investigate practices and policies to mitigate those harms.
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Pitt Public Health experts showcase environmental health leadership at national conference
Pitt Public Health faculty and students presented research addressing environmental health challenges and solutions at the 2026 National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) Annual Educational Conference, one of the nation's largest gatherings of environmental health professionals.
Wildfire smoke is a growing threat. Pittsburgh’s industrial pollution compounds the risk.
Sally Wenzel, chair of the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at Pitt Public Health and director of UPMC’s Asthma Environmental Lung Health Institute, said extreme air quality events, such as those caused by wildfires, exacerbate respiratory disease symptoms.
Pitt Public Health researchers find affordable air filtration improves indoor air quality in Homewood
“Air pollution is heavily associated with adverse respiratory and cardiovascular outcomes,” said Nesta Bortey-Sam, PhD, associate professor of environmental and occupational health. “We wanted to analyze local air pollution trends within Homewood because the community experiences significantly higher rates of these illnesses and asthma-related emergency department visits and hospitalization than many other neighborhoods in the Pittsburgh area.”