Baby, It is Hot Outside: The Impact and Interventions to Mitigate Climate Change Effects in the First Year of Life

Monday, April 28, 2025

2:00pm – 3:30pm HST

Location: Convention Center: 311

CE: 1.5

Selected By: APS
Co-sponsored By: PIDS, ISCHE

Chair(s)

Heather Brumberg, MD, MPH (she/her/hers)

Professor of Pediatrics and Clinical Public Health
New York Medical College/Maria Fareri Children's Hospital at Westchester Medical Center
Valhalla, New York, United States
Rasheda Vereen, MD, MBS (she/her/hers)

Assistant Professor of Pediatrics; Staff Neonatologist
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine
Fort Cavazos, Texas, United States

Disclosure(s):

Heather L. Brumberg, MD, MPH: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.

Rasheda J. Vereen, MD, MBS: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.

Climate change increasingly impacts children’s health and well-being. However, there is a gap in understanding specific health outcomes and preventive actions around climate change that target the perinatal period into the first year of life.
This panel session will review how climate change can affect pregnant people and their infants. Further the session will discuss opportunities to prepare providers and families to mitigate exposure as well as delineate biopolitical (the intersection of government, legislation, and health and well-being) and community actions to prevent climate change. Participants will hear from and interact with neonatologists, pediatric hospitalists (or intensivists), emergency medicine physicians, and community sustainability and biopolitical researchers who will give an in-depth examination of how climate change affects infants and what can be done. The discussion will include the pathophysiology of climate and air pollution and how they synergistically cause adverse health outcomes. Additionally, there will be an in-depth delineation of specific effects of natural disasters and related emerging infectious diseases on the healthy infant and those dependent on technology (i.e. mechanical ventilation or gastrostomy feeding). These issues will be given context in the history of structural racism toward Black and Indigenous populations. Finally, constructive actions will be considered at the individual, family, hospital-based, community level, and policy levels.

Learning Objectives:

To review how air pollution and climate change are linked and the pathophysiology of related impacts on the health of pregnant people and infants.
To describe the impact of climate-related emergencies, including weather and infectious disease on the vulnerable infant.
Develop action plans to mitigate exposure, prevent worsening climate change, and advocate for policies to protect families, especially minoritized populations affected by structural racism.

Presentations:

2:00pm – 2:10pm HST

A Neonatologist's Perspective: How Air Pollution and Climate Change Linked and Why Should We Care
Speaker: Heather L. Brumberg, MD, MPH (she/her/hers) – New York Medical College/Maria Fareri Children's Hospital at Westchester Medical Center
2:10pm – 2:25pm HST

Natural Disaster Emergency Preparedness: How Can We Protect Infants
Speaker: Mark x. Cicero, MD – Yale School of Medicine
2:25pm – 2:40pm HST

Primer on Emerging Infectious Diseases Due to Climate Change to Prepare Those Caring for Infants
Speaker: Melanie Leong, MD, MS, FAAP – New York Medical College/Maria Fareri Children's Hospital at Westchester Medical Center
2:40pm – 2:50pm HST

First Panel Session: Q&A on Pathophysiology and Identifying Risks
Speaker: Rasheda J. Vereen, MD, MBS (she/her/hers) – Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine
Speaker: Heather L. Brumberg, MD, MPH (she/her/hers) – New York Medical College/Maria Fareri Children's Hospital at Westchester Medical Center
2:50pm – 3:05pm HST

All Are Not Equally Affected: Climate Change as a Health Justice Issue
Speaker: Kimberley Greeson, PhD (she/her/hers) – Prescott College
3:05pm – 3:15pm HST

Greening Hospitals L&D, NICU and Beyond
Speaker: Rasheda J. Vereen, MD, MBS (she/her/hers) – Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine
3:15pm – 3:30pm HST

Wrap-up and Second Panel Q&A Discussion on Sustainability and Justice