On Friday 15 October the Scientific Committee set up ad hoc by the General Direction of the ATS of the Po Valley to support the research activity of the Agency in environmental epidemiology.
It is a pool of experts from Lombard university and public health backgrounds, recognized nationally and internationally for their skills in the sector, who will guarantee supervision and support in the conduct of studies promoted by the ATS on the relationship between environmental risk factors and state of health (design, analysis, interpretation of results, etc.).
The Committee includes Professor Marco Vinceti, Doctor Alessandro Marcon, Doctor Antonio Russo and Doctor Alberto Zucchi.
The members of the scientific committee:
Marco Vinceti, Degree in Medicine and Surgery with specialization in Hygiene and Preventive Medicine at the University of Modena and PhD in Public Health at the State University of Milan. He is Full Professor and Head of the Research Center in Environmental, Genetic and Nutritional Epidemiology of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, as well as adjunct professor at the Department of Epidemiology of the Boston University School of Public Health, as well as being Visiting Professor at Brown University in Providence. National coordinator of the ‘Health and Environment’ Working Group of SItI (Italian Society of Hygiene, Preventive Medicine and Public Health), he has in his curriculum numerous collaborations with internationally renowned researchers, including Prof. Ken Rothman, one of the epidemiologists most influential of the last 30 years. The main themes of his extensive research activity are environmental epidemiology, nutritional epidemiology, epidemiology and prevention of neoplastic diseases with particular reference to leukemia and other childhood cancers and the epidemiology and etiology of neurodegenerative diseases.
Alessandro Marcon, Master’s Degree in Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology at the University of Padua and PhD in Biosciences at the University of Verona; currently senior researcher at the University of Verona, he has already collaborated with the former ASL of Mantua first and with the ATS of the Val Padana then as co-principal investigator of the Viadana III study. Member of Scientific Societies such as ERS (European Respiratory Society) and SISMEC (Italian Society of Medical Statistics and Clinical Epidemiology). He explored models of exposure to air pollutants based on the use of GIS data thanks to an ERS-funded Research Fellowship at Imperial College London. Expert in evaluating the short and long-term effects of exposure to atmospheric pollutants, he is the author of about one hundred scientific publications in indexed journals. His main areas of scientific interest are environmental epidemiology, the epidemiology of chronic respiratory diseases in the general population, the application of statistical and epidemiological methods to observational studies.
Antonio Russo, Degree in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Florence, Specialization in Medical Statistics at the University of Milan and Specialization in Medical Genetics also at the University of Milan. Director of the Epidemiology Unit of the ATS in Milan, whose authority has always been recognized in the Lombard healthcare panorama. He is the author of over 200 scientific publications in indexed journals, many of which in the field of environment and health and in the oncology area.
Alberto Zucchi, Degree in Medicine and Surgery and Specialization in Medical Statistics with epidemiological address at the University of Milan. Author of numerous publications and participations in national and international conferences, teacher and trainer, in 2010 he was 2nd classified at the “Meridian Awards Competition” – competition for the use of innovative methodologies and applications in the field of GIS systems (Geographic Information Systems). He is currently Director of the Company Epidemiological Service of the Bergamo ATS, active for some time on environmental issues (in particular on the communication of environmental health risk), dealing, among other things, with the assessment of the impact on health of the Airport of Bergamo; in 2000 he won the “Rosa Camuna Award – Doctor of Excellence” for the work “Cancer mortality in the province of Bergamo – Atlas of geographic epidemiology”.
MUNICIPAL PROTOCOL – ATS FOR EPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDY, UPDATE
At the same time as the inauguration, the first working session of the Committee took place on October 15, which had the epidemiological investigation in the Cremona area on the agenda.
“The Committee – affirms the Ats – has carefully evaluated the protocol drawn up at the time by the group coordinated by dr. Paolo Ricci, then Director of the Epidemiological Observatory of the ATS of the Po Valley, considering it very articulated as regards the research ideas, albeit ambitious in relation to the effective availability of historical data on emissions and on the possibility of optimally characterizing the profile of environmental risk of residents. The Committee agreed that the protocol still needs additions as regards the definition of the objectives and their declination in an analytical and operational plan in the retrospective investigation.
These aspects represent the areas on which efforts will be concentrated in this phase of the study. In particular, the ATS of the Po Valley will, on the one hand, consolidate the data relating to the emission sources of interest, in order to develop the fallout maps; on the other hand, the acquisition of satellite pollution data, through a dedicated administrative path, for a more complete and reliable mapping of the environmental risk. All this information is subject to the analysis of association between exposure and health outcomes of interest.
In November, a meeting will be held with the Mayors of the Municipalities who have signed the memorandum of understanding with ATS and with other stakeholders, for an update on the progress of the project and on the next planned actions.
Finally, the ATS is still waiting to receive feedback, hopefully positive, from the Istituto Superiore di Sanità to which an agreement has been proposed (and already requested) for a collaboration with the Environment and Health Department for the study. ; this response had been postponed pending the appointment of the new Department Director last September ”.
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