Free and open to the public, ‘Climate Change Health Risks Revealed’ event on October 26 to feature expert talks and demonstrations.
The National University of Natural Medicine (NUNM) is set to host a free, public event to explore the links between climate change, disease and illness on Saturday, October 26.
Entitled “Climate Change Health Risks Revealed,” NUNM’s Discovery Day aims to bring the public to campus for TED-style talks from physicians, faculty and naturopathic medicine students on topics ranging from wildfires to fast fashion.
Discussions will focus on the potential for climate change to both exacerbate pre-existing health issues and create new health concerns, and the natural medicine solutions available to combat these effects.
Dr. Marianne Marchese, an associate professor at NUNM and leader in environmental medicine for over two decades, said she organized the event to educate the public and build conversation around the environmental links to health.
“The topic is so important,” said Marchese, who is a naturopathic physician and expert in integrative medicine. “I really want to bring people to the campus and clinic to not only provide information but also solutions to the health effects of climate change.”
The goal of the event, taking place at NUNM’s Academic Building, is to bring together an array of experts in both western and eastern medicine to provide evidence-based information on the health risks associated with a changing climate.
Noteworthy discussions will include:
- Climate change-related health impacts – Dr. Marianne Marchese, Associate Professor and Attending Physician
- Burning issues: Health consequences of wildfires – Maggi Weiseman, Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine Student
- Fast Fashion impacts on a fast-changing climate – Dr. Nozomi Gonzalez, Chief Medical Resident
- Environmental Impacts on a sustainable food system and health – Dr. Kimberly Queen, Associate Professor
- Inside climate change: Insight from Chinese Medicine – Brandt Stickley, LAc, Associate Professor
- Unveiling climate change through lab testing – Eden Jeffries, Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine Student
- Climate Medicine: Natural treatments for health effects of climate change – Dr. Marianne Marchese, Associate Professor and Attending Physician
Attendees will have an opportunity to view demonstrations, visit vendor tables, and tour the NUNM campus and clinics.
Marchese said the impacts of climate change have become impossible to deny, as more people have seen the effects of heat, drought, floods and other extreme weather events on their health. These events, she added, have collectively polluted the air, water, and food that we eat.
“We are seeing gastrointestinal disease more often due to climate change and illness from bacteria, viruses and fungus.” Marchese said. “Think of the outbreaks of West Nile virus in the Southwest, Lyme disease is on the rise, more effects from mold, and we are even seeing valley fever in the Pacific Northwest now.”
Marchese, author of the 2011 best-selling book 8 Weeks to Women’s Wellness, said she hoped attendees leave the event able to better connect the dots around their health, and feel empowered to find solutions through natural medicine.
“NUNM is the leader in natural medicine education and integrative healthcare in the greater Portland area,” she said. “It is one of the few medical schools in the US whose medical education and patient care also focuses on environmental health and environmental medicine. We have solutions.”
Editor’s Note: Find a full event schedule and register for NUNM’s Discovery Day 2024: Climate Change Health Risks Revealed.
by Ashley Villarreal, Marketing Content Specialist