Emergency Department IV Fluid Conservation During a National Shortage
A multisite retrospective study examined how three emergency departments adapted IV fluid use during the 2024 national shortage triggered by Hurricane Helene. Conservation strategies included prioritizing IV fluids for clear clinical indications, shifting appropriate therapies to oral/enteral routes, using smaller-volume boluses, and tightening order sets, substantially reduced fluid consumption, hospital costs, and associated carbon emissions. The study has been published in the Western Journal of Emergency Medicine and presented at three regional symposia.
Climate Health Education in Pulmonary & Critical Care Fellowship Training
This project combined a national needs assessment (surveying program directors and fellows) with development of a digital, module-based climate health curriculum for pulmonary/critical care fellows. The curriculum has been formally approved and funded by the Association of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Program Directors and is currently under development. The scholar has also delivered multiple invited lectures at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, given an international lecture for a course for health care providers on climate and health, and reviewed a textbook chapter for a PAHO climate and health pocket guide for clinicians. The scholar also presented on the health impacts of climate change on pulmonary and critical care in a global training course entitled: Climate and Health Medicine: A Clinical Training Program for Healthcare Educators.
Regulated Medical Waste (RMW) Sorting in Intensive Care Units
In partnership with Columbia Mailman School of Public Health MPH students, this mixed-methods project assessed accuracy of waste segregation for regulated medical waste (RMW) across six inpatient units (five ICUs plus Labor & Delivery) before and after a set of low-cost educational interventions including brief huddle presentations, bin signage, and integration into a sustainability curriculum for internal medicine residents. RMW is both highly resource and cost intensive to dispose of, as such this project increasing waste segregation accuracy works to ensure that only waste that requires special disposal practices is put into the RMW collection bins. The project demonstrates a scalable, low-resource model for improving waste segregation practices.
Applying a Climate Lens to Global Maternal Health Guidance
Two scholars made substantive contributions to a peer-reviewed analysis published in Pregnancy in 2026 that developed and applied a standardized climate lens to 298 WHO maternal and perinatal health recommendations across 10 clinical topics. Using six criteria—climate sensitivity, sustainability, climate-improved alternatives, mitigation, community resilience, and accountability—the study identified important vulnerabilities in common obstetric interventions, including temperature sensitivity, dependence on cold-chain infrastructure, and susceptibility to climate-related supply-chain disruptions. The authors proposed integrating climate considerations into WHO’s Evidence-to-Decision framework, creating a practical approach for strengthening the resilience and sustainability of maternal and perinatal guidelines, particularly in highly climate-affected settings. Through this work, the scholars extended the program’s impact beyond education and scholarship into global clinical guidance, research priority-setting, and health policy.
Palliative Care and Climate Change
This project involves the development of a manuscript examining the unique vulnerabilities of patients with serious illnesses amid environmental shifts. The scholar brought together a team of experts in palliative care, hospice and climate and health to explore the disproportionate impact of climate change on patients living with serious illness. The manuscript, entitled “The Role of Hospice and Palliative Care in Addressing Climate Change” highlights how hospice and palliative care can address this crisis, and offers actionable strategies at the individual, organizational, and societal levels to drive meaningful change. The manuscript has been accepted for publication in the American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Additionally, the scholar is now a 2026-27 Climate and Health Science Policy Fellow at the University of Colorado Anschutz School of Medicine. In this role, they are engaging with the Environmental Defense Fund and the Federation of American Scientists to advance climate-health policy initiatives at both the state and national levels.
