Events

Virtual Talk: Exploring the Intersections Between the Natural Environment and Human Health – the Emergent Discipline of Medical Geology

Jose A. Centeno, MSc, PhD, FRSC

Abstract

The role of geoenvironmental variables in disease causation has long been recognized worldwide, but only relatively recently has the importance of this role been strongly demonstrated. The geosciences and public health communities have historically examined processes that occur in the “natural” environment, i.e., devoid of humans. But human modifications to environments yield unique and important problems that need a different approach by geoscientists and public health professionals as they explore the myriad links between natural materials and processes and human health. The emergence field of medical geology as a global science discipline reflects this new approach. There are a number of critical natural environmental risk factors as they apply to the emergence discipline of medical geology. For example, dust storms and natural as well as human-influenced aerosols and gases that are further influenced by climate change have profound global impacts on global health, some of which are still not well-known. Natural disasters have always played a role in human health, but many of them are exacerbated by human activities and can play an outsize role in death and disease in concentrated urban environments. Occupational protection of workers is also a key responsibility in public health, but one which is often inadequate to ensure the safety of workers from exposures to a myriad of naturally occurring organic and inorganic toxicants in soils, water and air such as toxic metals including lead, arsenic, mercury and fluoride.  This presentation will discuss the natural history of medical geology, its origins, as well as its current and future impacts.

For further information, please visit the following websites:

International Environmental and Sciences Consortium (IEHSC); www.iehsconsortium.org

International Medical Geology Association (IMGA); www.medicalgeology.org

Jose A Centeno International Center for Medical Geology Research (JACMEDGEO; www.jacmedgeo.com.ng

Bio

Dr. Jose A. Centeno is a Physical Chemist (Toxicologist) by training, with international and nationally recognized expertise in biophysical toxicology, environmental and toxicologic pathology, nanotechnology, medical devices, regulatory science and medical geology. He is graduate from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez (BS Chemistry) and MS (Physical Chemistry), a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from Michigan State University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship training in molecular biophysics and environmental and toxicologic pathology at the U.S. Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Washington, DC.

Dr. Centeno is a retired US Federal Government scientist with over 32 years of service. He served the US Government in several scientific and senior managerial appointments. Most recently, he served as the Director of the Division of Biology, Chemistry and Materials Science (DBCMS) within the Office of Sciences and Engineering Laboratories (OSEL), Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH), US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA), from June 2015 to December 2019. As DBCMS Director, he had the responsibility of managing and lead a scientific team composed of over 30 senior level government scientists, postdoctoral fellows, students and visiting scientists, as well as overseen all the Division operational activities, budget allocations and laboratory research activities which included research programs in the areas of biocompatibility and toxicology, microbiology and infection control, materials science, and nanotechnology. He served as director of the CDRH-OSEL Advanced Characterization Facility and managed the research and training activities in nanotechnology. As DBCMS Director, Dr. Centeno managed a regulatory research portfolio with over 40 projects aimed at ensuring the safety and efficacy of medical devices. DBCMS research program contributes to regulatory decision-making in CDRH and directly impacts the development of CDRH guidance documents and international standards in the areas of biocompatibility, toxicological risk assessment, and nanotechnology. During his tenure at the FDA, Dr. Centeno represented the Agency in a wide range of national and international regulatory and scientific committees including serving as FDA Primary Liaison to the International Standard Organization Technical Committee on Nanotechnology (ISO TC 229 Nanotechnologies), Chair of the US Technical Advisory Committee (US TAG ISO TC 229 Nanotechnologies) Working Group 5 on “Performance and Applications”, CDRH Delegate to the US Pharmacopeial Convention (USP), and member of the Interagency Working Group on Asbestos in Consumer Products (IWGACP).