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Dr. Philip J. Landrigan is a pediatrician and a public health doctor. He is Professor of Biology, Director of the Program for Global Public Health and the Common Good, and Director of the Global Observatory on Planetary Health at the Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society at Boston College. He is also Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics and Preventive Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. He completed his undergraduate studies in biology at Boston College and earned his MD from Harvard Medical School. After an internship at Cleveland Metropolitan General Hospital, he completed his residency at Boston Children’s Hospital. Phil also earned a MS degree with distinction in Occupational Medicine from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and the University of London. Phil worked at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai before joining the faculty at Boston College. He also spent a sabbatical working at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Phil has earned numerous awards and honors throughout his career, including the Gold Medal for Distinguished Service to Humanity from the National Institute of Social Sciences, Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Council for Science and the Environment, the Lifetime Achievement Award from Healthy Child Healthy World, the Child Health Champion Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Meritorious Service Medal of the U.S. Public Health Service, multiple Commendation Medals from the Navy and Marine Corps, the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service, the National Defense Service Medal, and many others. He is also an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and the American Epidemiological Society. In addition, he is an elected Fellow of the American College of Preventive Medicine, New York Academy of Medicine, New York Academy of Sciences, American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, American College of Epidemiology, Royal Society of Medicine, and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
People Behind the Science Podcast Show Notes
Life Outside of Science (3:56)
When he’s not working, Phil loves to spend his free time outdoors, particularly hiking and kayaking. He is also an avid reader and enjoys sitting down with a good book in the evenings.
The Scientific Side (5:09)
In his work, Phil’s goal is to better understand how toxic exposures in the environment harm human health. As a pediatrician, he focuses primarily on the impacts on children’s health. On the public health side, he aims to harness science to prevent toxic exposures to keep kids healthy and prevent disease. His research has spanned many areas, including the health impacts of lead poisoning, air pollution, pesticides, plastic pollution, and chemical pollution.
A Dose of Motivation (6:38)
Some of Phil’s wins over the years have been sources of great joy and motivation. For example, he was part of the global campaign to eradicate smallpox, and he also played an instrumental role in demonstrating the toxic effects of lead on children and the ultimate removal of lead from gasoline and new paint. Savoring these victories and seeing how many millions of children’s lives were improved with these interventions keeps him going.
What Got You Hooked on Science? (10:10)
As a member of the Boy Scouts, Phil spent a lot of time outside as a kid, and he became fascinated by nature. When he was about ten years old, his parents bought him a microscope, and he loved getting glimpses of the microscopic world through its lens. When he was a teenager, Phil decided he wanted to be a doctor. At every stage of his path, Phil met amazing mentors who helped guide and shape his career. When he entered medical school, Phil thought he wanted to be a surgeon, but after a few months on the surgical service of a nearby hospital, he realized surgery was not a good fit. A few months later, he began a rotation in pediatrics, and it was a great experience. Phil’s interests in public health began after he was drafted into service surrounding the Vietnam War. He applied and was accepted into the U.S. Public Health Service, a branch of the U.S. Uniformed Services. Phil moved to Atlanta and began working at the headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). He planned to spend two years there learning about public health and then to return to his pediatrician career in New England. However, during those first two years, Phil became passionate about his work in public health and remained at the CDC for more than a decade.
The Low Points: Failures and Challenges (17:38)
Phil will never forget working on a program to create a statewide network of centers of excellence on children’s environmental health in New York. While he was on the faculty at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, he and several colleagues realized it would be valuable to have a statewide network of centers of excellence to assist children and families who were dealing with conditions as a result of exposure to environmental hazards like lead poisoning, pesticides, or living near toxic waste dumps. This was an issue in New York and across the country, but families didn’t really have any resources to help them with these kinds of environmental problems. Phil envisioned small, multidisciplinary teams within academic health centers could fill this gap. He and his colleagues worked with the state legislature for years to no avail. After making countless trips to meet with legislators, writing a 100-page book cataloging the burden of disease and death in children due to environmental hazards in New York, and presenting data on the cost savings that could be achieved by providing these resources, they still weren’t making any progress. After ten years of effort, they finally secured a meeting with the governor and had an opportunity to present the problem and their proposed solution. Within a few weeks after that meeting, the network was established, and it has been running ever since. Persistence was key to their success.
A Shining Success! (21:58)
In the late 1990s, Phil chaired a committee at the National Academy of Sciences that examined children’s exposure to pesticides in the U.S. They found children were more heavily exposed to pesticides than adults, they are much more vulnerable to negative health impacts during growth and development, and that the laws in place were not doing enough to protect children from pesticides. Their report was published in 1993, and absolutely nothing happened for three years. In 1996, Congress passed a piece of legislation called the Food Quality Protection Act of 1996 with a unanimous vote. This legislation embodied all of the recommendations from their report, recognizing that pesticide regulation needed to consider children’s unique susceptibilities and build in more safety measures, such as testing pesticides used. This was a remarkable achievement and a source of great pride for Phil.
Book Recommendations (4:29)
Any of Robert B. Parker’s detective stories, and any book by Bill Bryson.
Most Treasured Travel (29:25)
During his career, Phil has been to Nigeria, El Salvador, Monaco, Australia, Italy, Thailand, and other wonderful places to conduct his work and meet with researchers and stakeholders. Most recently, he traveled to the Scientific Center of Monaco where a group of about 25 scientists gathered to start planning for The Lancet Countdown on Health and Plastics collaboration that will be starting this year. The United Nations is in the final stages of negotiating a global plastics treaty that will likely come into force in 2025 or 2026. The meetings in Monaco were productive and exciting, and it is a wonderful place to visit. One of the sights that Phil particularly enjoys is the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco, which is a spectacular collection of history and artifacts. There are also many great day-trips you can take from Monaco, including to the city of Nice, the town of Villefranche-sur-Mer, and the Village of Eze.
Quirky Traditions and Funny Memories (33:21)
Within the past year, Phil has had the opportunity to be part of a unique partnership at Boston College with some of the world-class theologians and ethicists there. It occurred to him one day that it would be interesting to partner with these individuals on campus to examine global problems like plastic pollution and climate change through the lens of ethics and morality. They held a two-day conference last October where they discussed these issues. The group concluded that current patterns of chemical and plastic production and disposal are not moral. The scientists, theologians, and ethicists all agreed that the reckless pollution of the planet without heed to consequence was not a moral thing to do. They issued a powerful statement on the topic that was signed by prominent individuals spanning many faiths and backgrounds. All of these voices came together and determined that these are not just scientific issues, they are human issues and moral issues that we need to work together across boundaries to solve. This was a poignant example of how science and faith can co-exist together and how scientists can work with people from other backgrounds to help drive change.
Advice For Us All (39:02)
Seek out multiple mentors. Pay attention to who is doing really good work in the area that you are interested in, and don’t be afraid to connect with them. The worst that could happen is that someone says no. In terms of general life advice, try to reduce your carbon footprint, your chemical footprint, and your plastic footprint. You won’t be able to eliminate any of these completely, but if many of us reduce our usage, collectively, it can make a difference. Also, work with other people in your community to reduce pesticide use, ban plastic bags in your town’s supermarkets, and make other local changes. Being an engaged citizen is critical. Democracy is not a spectator sport. We have to vote to bring about changes that will protect our children and preserve this planet for future generations.
Guest Bio
Phil‘s research is mainly focused on understanding how harmful exposures in the environment harm human health, especially children’s health. This work draws on Phil‘s training and long experience in pediatrics, public health, and environmental & occupational medicine. He is deeply committed to translating findings from his research into public policies that protect children against toxic hazards and other environmental threats. Outside of work, Phil loves the outdoors. He is a former marathoner and now a dedicated walker. He fishes, and he kayaks. He divides his time between Boston, Quincy, Massachusetts, and Cape Cod.
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