Environmental and health hazards: here is a large group of experts

Cremona – took office scientific Committee that the General Administration of ATS in Po Valley has specially established, In support of the agency’s research activity in environmental epidemiology. It is a group of experts from Lombard University and public health backgrounds, recognized nationally and internationally for their skills in this sector, who will ensure oversight and support in carrying out the studies promoted by the ATS on The relationship between environmental risk factors and health status (Design, analysis, interpretation of results, etc.). The committee includes Professor Marco Vinceti, A doctor Alessandro Marcon, A doctor Antonio Russo friendship. Alberto Zucchi.

Marco Vinceti

Marco Vinceti, MD, has a degree in Medicine and Surgery with a specialization in Hygiene and Preventive Medicine from the University of Modena and a Ph.D. in Public Health from Milan State University. He is Professor and Chair of the Center for Research in Environmental, Genetic, and Nutritional Epidemiology at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, in addition to being an Assistant Professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the Boston University School of Public Health, as well as a visiting scholar. Professor at Brown University in Providence. National Coordinator of the “Health and Environment” working group of SItI (Italian Society for Hygiene, Preventive Medicine and Public Health), and in its approach has many collaborations with internationally renowned researchers, including Professor Ken Rothman, one of the most influential epidemiologists of the past 30 years. The main topics of his extensive research activity are environmental epidemiology, nutritional epidemiology, epidemiology and prevention of oncological diseases with particular reference to leukemia and other childhood cancers, epidemiology and neurodegenerative pathogens.

Alessandro Marcon

Alessandro Marcon, holds a Master’s degree in Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology from the University of Padua and a Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from the University of Verona; Currently a senior researcher at the University of Verona, he has already collaborated with the former ASL of Mantua first and with the ATS in Val Padana and then as co-principal investigator on the Viadana III study. Member of scientific societies such as ERS (European Society of Respiratory System) and SISMEC (Italian Society of Medical Statistics and Clinical Epidemiology). He investigated models of exposure to air pollutants based on the use of GIS data thanks to an ERS-funded research fellowship at Imperial College London. An expert in assessing the short and long-term effects of exposure to atmospheric pollutants, he is the author of nearly one hundred scientific publications in indexed journals. His main scientific areas of interest are environmental epidemiology, the epidemiology of chronic respiratory diseases in the general population, and the application of statistical and epidemiological methods to observational studies.

Antonio Russo

Antonio Russo, MD, has a degree in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Florence, majored in Medical Statistics at the University of Milan and majored in Medical Genetics also at the University of Milan. Director of the Epidemiology Unit at ATS in Milan, whose authority has long been recognized in the Lombard Healthcare Panorama. He has over 200 scientific publications in indexed journals, many in the field of environment, health and oncology.

Alberto Zucchi

Alberto Zucchi, MD, has a degree in Medicine and Surgery majoring in Medical Statistics with an epidemiological title at the University of Milan. Author of numerous publications and participation in national and international conferences, teacher and trainer, in 2010 he was awarded the second place in the “Meridian Awards Competition” – a competition for the use of innovative methodologies and applications in the field of GIS (Geographical Information Systems) . He is currently the Director of the Epidemiological Service for Bergamo ATS, has been active for some time on environmental issues (particularly with regard to the communication of environmental health risks), and deals, among other things, with the assessment of the impact on the health of the Bergamo airport. In 2000 he received the “Rosa Camona Award – Doctor of Excellence” for the work “Cancer Mortality in the Province of Bergamo – Atlas of Geographical Epidemiology”.

Settlement and first cycle

At the same time as the opening, the commission’s first working session was held, which was on the agendaEpidemiological survey in the Cremonese region. The committee carefully evaluated the protocol established at the time by the group coordinated by Dr. Paolo Ricci, then director of the epidemiological observatory of ATS in the Po Valley, considering it too complex in terms of research ideas, albeit ambitious with regard to the effective availability of historical data on emissions and on the possibility of optimal characterization of the environmental risk profile of the population. The Committee agreed that the Protocol still needed additions with regard to the definition of targets and their deviation in an analytical and operational plan in the retrospective investigation. These aspects represent the areas on which efforts will be focused at this stage of the study. In particular, the ATS of the Po Valley will, on the one hand, consolidate data on emissions sources of interest, in order to develop spillover maps; On the other hand, obtaining pollution data via satellite, through a dedicated management pathway, for more complete and reliable mapping of environmental risks. All this information is subject to a correlation analysis 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, to get an update on the progress of the project and planned future actions. In the end, ATS is still waiting to receive feedback, which we hope will be positive, from the Istituto Superiore di Sanità that an agreement has been proposed (and already requested) for cooperation with the Department of Environment and Health for the study.; This response has been postponed pending the appointment of the new Director of Administration last September.