The University of Utah is starting a new center to study air pollution and its impacts on health and society. The U hosted a retreat Monday, bringing academics together to talk about what they have to contribute and how they can collaborate.
The U’s Vice President for Health Affairs Vivien Lee says Utah’s academics can contribute in many ways to the study of air pollution.
“Our new proposed Center for Air Quality, Health and Society is really intended to bring together a lot of the brain power that we have here at the University of Utah and across the state, in order to try to put some science behind our understanding of what is contributing to the poor air quality and potential solutions,” said Lee.
The center’s first retreat brought together atmospheric scientists, chemical engineers, economists, and health experts. Robert Paine works in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, and he says the new center provides an opportunity to work with those from other disciplines to tackle a complex problem.
“We’ll be much stronger as a group collaborating, and I hope come up with more imaginative ways to really change our air quality and improve the circumstance for all of us here,” said Paine.
Organizers say that over the next three years, the Center for Air Quality, Health and Society aims to become a recognized, credible source for universities, business and industry, public health and policy.
Copyright 2013 KUER 90.1
