Purpose
The Public Health Subcommittee contributes to the mission of the Learning from Earthquakes program and fosters post-earthquake learning across diverse disciplines and areas of study. Public health is inextricably tied to the natural, built, social, and political environments and constitutes a key component of resilience. The subcommittee aims to:
- Identify and address gaps in knowledge about the public health and healthcare impacts of earthquakes, as well as the implementation and effectiveness of preparedness, mitigation, response and recovery solutions
- Integrate public health and healthcare disaster experts into interdisciplinary earthquake reconnaissance and research
- Bolster the next generation of public health- and healthcare-focused disaster scientists and engineers
Activities
Current subcommittee activities include:
- Developing and refining the Data Collection Tool: Post-Earthquake Social Determinants of Health Assessment
- Assembling and geolocating a global database of pre-disaster hospital assessments
- Developing an integrative research agenda at the intersection of earthquake engineering and public health, including a grant proposal on earthquake casualty data collection and modeling
- Creating a database of public health experts for reconnaissance
Committee Members
Co-Chairs:
- Courtney Welton-Mitchell, Natural Hazards Center & Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado
- Luis Ceferino, New York University
Members:
- Megan Archer, University of Washington
- Kristen Blowes, University of British Columbia
- Lauren Clay, D'Youville College
- Nicole Errett, University of Washington (founding chair)
- Felianne Hipol, University of Utah
- Amber Khan, University of Washington
- Yvonne Merino Pena, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
- Judith Mitrani-Reiser, NIST
- Carlos Molina Hutt, University of British Columbia
- Ashley Morales-Cartagena, Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra
- Janise Rodgers, Geohazards International
- Kimberley Shoaf, University of Utah
- Courtney Welton-Mitchell, Natural Hazards Center & Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado