HPH Affiliates

Shuchi Anand studies farm worker health and the impacts of heat stress and other environmental exposures on kidney disease.

Focus Areas: Climate and Health, Food Systems, Health, and the Environment

Nicole Ardoin works on mental health and wellbeing in the context of environmental challenges, exploring how time spent in nature influences health, community connection, sense of place, and environmental behavior - while also conducting research on the mental and physical health impacts of climate change and wildfire in partnership with redwood parks at the local, state, and national levels.

Focus Areas: Climate and Health, Pollution and Health, Food Systems, Health, and the Environment

Eran Bendavid researches the population-level impacts of tropical cyclones, extreme heat, and floods, with a focus on low- and middle-income countries and health policy.

Focus Areas: Climate and Health, Pollution and Health, Food Systems, Health, and the Environment

Jade Benjamin-Chung develops and evaluates scalable interventions targeting the complex interplay between infectious diseases, environmental factors, and human health in resource-limited settings, including climate resilience metrics, antimicrobial resistance, and malaria vector control.

Focus Areas: Climate and Health, Pollution and Health, Disease Ecology in a Changing World

Gordon Bloom founded the Social Entrepreneurship Collaboratory (SE Labs) and the Stanford Sustainable Societies Lab, and teaches on the design and leadership of social impact ventures in global health and environmental sustainability, with recent work focused on advancing health and environmental cooperation in the Middle East.

Focus Areas: Climate and Health, Food Systems, Health, and the Environment, Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation

Alexandria Boehm investigates pathogens in the environment, working on coastal water quality, wastewater-based epidemiology, and risk assessment and collaborating with public health agencies worldwide.

Focus Areas: Pollution and Health, Disease Ecology in a Changing World

Adam Boies measures aerosol particles in emissions and in the environment to understand impacts on climate change and health.

Focus Areas: Climate and Health, Pollution and Health

Timothy Bouley supports faculty in translating life science research for sustainability-focused commercial and policy impact, leveraging his previous experience at the World Bank and in a biotech company focused on planetary health.

Focus Areas: Climate and Health, Disease Ecology in a Changing World, Food Systems, Health, and the Environment

Andres Cardenas studies how chemical exposures affect maternal and child health, and also uses cutting-edge biomarkers to understand environmental impacts on genes, bodies, and how we age.

Focus Areas: Climate and Health, Pollution and Health

Katherine Connors supports research participant engagement within and beyond Stanford, focusing on studies about the health impacts of plastic, wildfire smoke exposure, plant-based food as medicine, and patient perspectives on climate change.

Focus Areas: Climate and Health, Pollution and Health, Disease Ecology in a Changing World, Food Systems, Health, and the Environment

Desiree LaBeaud conducts global interdisciplinary research on the health impacts of plastics, climate change, and food waste on vulnerable populations, especially children.

Focus Areas: Climate and Health, Pollution and Health, Disease Ecology in a Changing World, Food Systems, Health, and the Environment

Elizabeth DiRenzo investigates the impact of wildfire-emitted PM2.5 on upper airway health by studying its association with upper airway pathology in clinical settings and developing exposure models to understand the resulting pathophysiological changes.

Focus Areas: Climate and Health, Pollution and Health

Rodolfo Dirzo is a champion for environmental justice and studies the interconnections between human-driven biodiversity loss, ecosystem functioning, and disease risk, with research focused on the Global South, including Africa and Latin America.

Focus Area: Disease Ecology in a Changing World

James Ehlrich leads workshops and project-based learning on AI and GenAI for climate adaptability and regenerative resilience across K-12, undergraduate, master’s, and executive education programs.

Focus Areas: Climate and Health, Pollution and Health, Food Systems, Health, and the Environment

Paige Fox focuses on healthcare sustainability, identifying opportunities to decrease waste and emissions while maintaining high-quality care.

Focus Area: Climate and Health

Duana Fullwiley researches how climate change and environmental degradation, such as extractive overfishing, can impact West Africans' undertaking of deadly open-sea migration attempts.

Focus Area: Climate and Health

Lisa Goldman Rosas uses community-based participatory research to address food insecurity and diet-related chronic diseases, examining sustainability, climate change, and local economic outcomes within food systems.

Focus Area: Food Systems, Health, and the Environment

Lauren Grossman leads curriculum development and teaching to foster climate and health leadership among students, trainees, and faculty, while advancing interdisciplinary efforts in education, policy, and patient care—including work on pandemic response, diet and food systems, and whole-person health that integrates climate, nutrition, and resilience.

Focus Area: Climate and Health

Tom Hayden teaches classes in communicating complex environmental issues to non-expert audiences.

Focus Area: Climate and Health

David Hayes has worked on federal policy connecting environmental and climate factors to health impacts, including air and water pollution and extreme weather, serving in senior roles in the U.S. Department of the Interior and the White House.

Focus Areas: Climate and Health, Pollution and Health, Food Systems, Health, and the Environment

Sam Heft-Neal studies environmental drivers of health - particularly air pollution, temperature, and natural disasters - and seek to understand solutions to mitigate these health impacts.

Focus Areas: Climate and Health, Pollution and Health

Jessica Hope conducts behavioral nutrition research, with goals of fostering adoption of plant-based diets and diminishing the prevalence of large-scale animal agriculture and confined animal feeding organizations (CAFOs).

Focus Area: Food Systems, Health, and the Environment

Abraar Karan investigates zoonotic spillovers, focusing on Marburg virus in Kenya and H5N1 in California, using molecular and serologic diagnostics to trace potential human transmission events.

Focus Area: Disease Ecology in a Changing World

Aslam Khan studies the impacts of environmental pollution and climate change on the distribution and spread of infectious diseases, as well as quantifying the differences in climate-health impacts in low- and high-income settings.

Focus Areas: Climate and Health, Pollution and Health

Kyle Lane-McKinley supports research on the mental health impacts of climate change, focusing on the effectiveness of peer-led groups in transforming climate distress into collective resilience.

Focus Area: Climate and Health

Carole Lin focuses on reducing plastic waste in healthcare and assessing the health impacts of plastics, including life cycle analyses of medical supplies and sustainability initiatives in hospitals.

Focus Areas: Climate and Health, Pollution and Health

Nathan Lo focuses on infectious disease epidemiology and public health modeling to advance human and planetary health.

Focus Areas: Climate and Health, Disease Ecology in a Changing World

David Lobell focuses on understanding how climate change impacts global food security, particularly through its effects on crop yields and agricultural practices - while identifying strategies that can improve food production and resilience in the face of environmental stressors.

Focus Area: Food Systems, Health, and the Environment

Lisa Mandle studies how nature contributes to human health and well-being, with research on urban nature’s mental health benefits, land use change and disease risk, and health impacts of climate change.

Focus Areas: Climate and Health, Disease Ecology in a Changing World

Amanda has expertise in evaluation, global health, and business development. She is actively involved in fundraising, selection of the HPH postdoctoral fellows and Center for Innovation in Global Health/HPH Center research seed grants, and support of the Science Writing Advancing Planetary Health program.

Kara Meister focuses on measuring nano- and microplastics in human tissues and their health impacts.

Focus Area: Pollution and Health

Amelia Meyer works at the intersection of pollution, climate change, and health, developing nature-based solutions to reduce diseases and strengthen ecosystem resilience.

Focus Areas: Climate and Health, Pollution and Health, Disease Ecology in a Changing World, Food Systems, Health, and the Environment

Fiorenza Micheli leads initiatives on Blue Foods and the role of aquatic foods in sustainable, equitable, and healthy food systems, while also advising graduate research on climate change, marine diseases, seafood safety, and ocean acidification’s impact on nutritional quality.

Focus Areas: Climate and Health, Disease Ecology in a Changing World, Food Systems, Health, and the Environment

Grant Miller conducts global policy-relevant research and investigates environmental health issues, including water and air quality, population growth, and nutrition.

Focus Areas: Pollution and Health, Food Systems, Health, and the Environment

Dinsha Mistree studies governance in the developing world and how reforms impact public health, particularly in South Asia, with projects related to turmeric-lead contamination and its health impacts.

Focus Areas: Pollution and Health, Food Systems, Health, and the Environment

Christine Ngaruiya researches the intersections of climate change and non-communicable diseases, with a current focus on the impacts of motorcycles on chronic lung disease and emissions in Kenya.

Focus Areas: Climate and Health

Ellen Oh fosters collaborations with faculty, researchers, and artists on interdisciplinary projects that highlight research and promote deeper humanistic and emotional engagement, inc around the environment and sustainability.

Focus Areas: Climate and Health, Food Systems, Health, and the Environment

John Openshaw is developing a field site to study the effects of extreme heat on informal settlements, with a focus on testing potential solutions to mitigate related health impacts. He also conducts infectious disease research and has worked in pandemic response and prevention.

Focus Areas: Climate and Health, Disease Ecology in a Changing World

Khalid Osman uses interdisciplinary, community-engaged research to develop equitable, measurable solutions at the intersection of natural, built, and social environments, aiming to enhance public health through improved water equity, sustainable infrastructure, and emerging technologies in vulnerable communities.

Focus Areas: Climate and Health, Pollution and Health

Julie Parsonnet studies infectious diseases, including cocci bacteria in California's Central Valley, and the impacts of heat on kidney health.

Focus Areas: Climate and Health, Disease Ecology in a Changing World

Lisa Patel's work spans a broad range of climate and health topics, including wildfires, sustainable healthcare, climate-resilient schools, the renewable energy transition, the health impacts of climate change and fossil fuel pollution on children, plant-forward diets, health system preparedness for extreme heat, climate communications, and climate change in medical education.

Focus Areas: Climate and Health, Pollution and Health

Manu Prakash is an inventor advancing accessible, affordable solutions in climate monitoring, global health, and science education through a philosophical framework of “frugal science” to improve accessibility, partnership, and implementation.

Focus Areas: Climate and Health, Pollution and Health, Disease Ecology in a Changing World

Joelle Rosser examines the impacts of climate change and pollution on infectious disease transmission and tests interventions to mitigate associated risks.

Focus Areas: Climate and Health, Pollution and Health, Disease Ecology in a Changing World

Debra Safer studies the intersection of climate change and mental health and is interested in advancing research-focused partnerships in this area.

Focus Area: Climate and Health

Matthew Savoca studies marine pollution, particularly microplastics and PFAS, using wildlife as ecosystem sentinels to assess human exposure and risk.

Focus Areas: Pollution and Health, Food Systems, Health, and the Environment

Seth Ari Sim-Son Hoffman's research focuses on developing tools to characterize the epidemiology of mild or subclinical transmission of pathogens—particularly those that drive antimicrobial resistance or pose a risk of future pandemics, with a special focus on the impacts of climate change.
Focus Areas: Climate and Health, Pollution and Health, Disease Ecology in a Changing World, Food Systems, Health, and the Environment

Vidyani Suryadevara studies risk factors for dementia in low- and middle-income countries, with an emphasis on pollution.

Focus Areas: Climate and Health, Pollution and Health, Disease Ecology in a Changing World, Food Systems, Health, and the Environment

Jyothi Tirumalasetty researches the intersection of climate and health, focusing on reducing inhaler-related greenhouse gas emissions and exploring how pollution, heat, and climate-driven changes in pollen impact asthma and pulmonary health.

Focus Areas: Climate and Health, Pollution and Health

Shiran Victoria Shen examines how incentives and institutions shape polluting behavior from a political science and public policy perspective.

Focus Areas: Climate and Health, Pollution and Health

Yuan Wang investigates atmospheric aerosols in urban haze and wildfire smoke and their health impacts using air quality models, remote sensing, and machine learning.

Focus Areas: Climate and Health, Pollution and Health

Gabrielle Wong-Parodi conducts community-centered research on climate resilience and human beha, including on low-cost air cleaners, the development of a climate resilience metric, and the effects of repeated exposure to extreme weather events.

Focus Area: Climate and Health

Britt Wray researches climate change and mental health, studying climate distress prevalence and co-developing interventions with affected communities while training mental health professionals on climate-related impacts.

Focus Areas: Climate and Health

Ellen Yeh studies environmental microbiology, ecology, algal biotechnology, and sustainable agriculture and food systems, focusing on understudied microbial ecology as a solution for human and planetary health.

Focus Area: Food Systems, Health, and the Environment