Naveen Rao, MD Senior Vice President for Health, Rockefeller Foundation
Dr. Naveen Rao is Senior Vice President of the Health Initiative at The Rockefeller Foundation, where he leads efforts to build climate-resilient, equitable health systems and reimagine the future of global health. He previously directed the Foundation’s Covid-19 response, global vaccination strategies, and pathogen surveillance initiatives. Prior to joining the Foundation, Dr. Rao spent 25 years at Merck & Co., where he led Merck for Mothers, a $500 million initiative to reduce maternal mortality. Earlier in his career, he practiced Internal Medicine in New York City and served as Associate Director of Medicine at Beekman-Downtown Hospital. He is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and a Fellow of the American College of Physicians.
Dr. Naveen Rao is Senior Vice President of the Health Initiative at The Rockefeller Foundation, where he leads efforts to build climate-resilient, equitable health systems and reimagine the future of global health. He previously directed the Foundation’s Covid-19 response, global vaccination strategies, and pathogen surveillance initiatives. Prior to joining the Foundation, Dr. Rao spent 25 years at Merck & Co., where he led Merck for Mothers, a $500 million initiative to reduce maternal mortality. Earlier in his career, he practiced Internal Medicine in New York City and served as Associate Director of Medicine at Beekman-Downtown Hospital. He is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and a Fellow of the American College of Physicians.
Valerie Paz-Soldan, PhD, MPH Professor and Director of Tulane Health Offices for Latin America, Tulane University Celia Scott Weatherhead School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine
Dr. Paz-Soldan is a Peruvian-American social scientist based permanently in Peru as the Director of Tulane’s Health Office for Latin America. She has been working on the intersection of climate change and health, participating as a scientist in the Lancet Countdown for Climate Change and Health for the South America region. Currently, her main research projects utilize implementation science theories, models, frameworks, and approaches to assess, prepare, implement, and evaluate strategies for: 1) improving vector borne/zoonotic disease prevention and control, especially focusing on Chagas disease, dengue, and canine rabies, and 2) improving HPV screening and cervical cancer case management in Iquitos, Peru, and now scaling up this screen-and-treat strategy at the national level. Her research takes place in underserved regions of Peru -- the Amazon rainforest and Andes mountains.
Dr. Paz-Soldan is a Peruvian-American social scientist based permanently in Peru as the Director of Tulane’s Health Office for Latin America. She has been working on the intersection of climate change and health, participating as a scientist in the Lancet Countdown for Climate Change and Health for the South America region. Currently, her main research projects utilize implementation science theories, models, frameworks, and approaches to assess, prepare, implement, and evaluate strategies for: 1) improving vector borne/zoonotic disease prevention and control, especially focusing on Chagas disease, dengue, and canine rabies, and 2) improving HPV screening and cervical cancer case management in Iquitos, Peru, and now scaling up this screen-and-treat strategy at the national level. Her research takes place in underserved regions of Peru -- the Amazon rainforest and Andes mountains.
Kathryn Grace, PhD, MA, MSPH, Professor of Geography, Environment and Society, University of Minnesota
Dr. Grace’s research fits squarely within the field of Population Geography. Her research highlights the role of context in various aspects related to maternal and child health—primarily reproductive health and family planning decision-making. Using her geographic training and quantitative background, she aims to build on past approaches and theories found in demography and public health. Dr. Grace strives to bring an alternative perspective to issues related to women’s health and development through the use of a quantitative, mixed-disciplinary approach to the examination of the way that individual, family, or household outcomes are conditioned by place; including both the culture and the natural environment. She spends a considerable amount of time exploring underlying theories of development, resource use and access, building on her own personal experiences and observations from time spent in poor countries and communities.
Dr. Grace’s research fits squarely within the field of Population Geography. Her research highlights the role of context in various aspects related to maternal and child health—primarily reproductive health and family planning decision-making. Using her geographic training and quantitative background, she aims to build on past approaches and theories found in demography and public health. Dr. Grace strives to bring an alternative perspective to issues related to women’s health and development through the use of a quantitative, mixed-disciplinary approach to the examination of the way that individual, family, or household outcomes are conditioned by place; including both the culture and the natural environment. She spends a considerable amount of time exploring underlying theories of development, resource use and access, building on her own personal experiences and observations from time spent in poor countries and communities.
Mostafijur Rahman, PhD, MS Assistant Professor of Environmental Health Sciences, Tulane University Celia Scott Weatherhead School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine
Mostafijur Rahman is an assistant professor of environmental health sciences in the Tulane University Celia Scott Weatherhead School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. His research interests lie in leveraging large longitudinal environmental health data to develop a data-driven solution for climate and health. Relying on multidisciplinary approaches in exposure assessment and environmental epidemiology, he used a combination of publicly available air pollution and meteorological data (temperature, relative humidity, etc.) and newly acquired and digitized public health data to evaluate the impact of environmental exposures on various health outcomes, including neurodevelopment, mental health, and cardiovascular and respiratory morbidity, and mortality, among the citizens of Dhaka, Bangladesh, and California, the two most climate vulnerable regions. The work yielded significant evidence of the negative health effects of air pollution sources and compositions coupled with the simultaneous occurrence of high heat and air pollution, temperature increases, and temperature variability.
Mostafijur Rahman is an assistant professor of environmental health sciences in the Tulane University Celia Scott Weatherhead School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. His research interests lie in leveraging large longitudinal environmental health data to develop a data-driven solution for climate and health. Relying on multidisciplinary approaches in exposure assessment and environmental epidemiology, he used a combination of publicly available air pollution and meteorological data (temperature, relative humidity, etc.) and newly acquired and digitized public health data to evaluate the impact of environmental exposures on various health outcomes, including neurodevelopment, mental health, and cardiovascular and respiratory morbidity, and mortality, among the citizens of Dhaka, Bangladesh, and California, the two most climate vulnerable regions. The work yielded significant evidence of the negative health effects of air pollution sources and compositions coupled with the simultaneous occurrence of high heat and air pollution, temperature increases, and temperature variability.
Brooke Anderson, PhD Associate Professor, Colorado State University
Dr. Anderson is an Associate Professor at Colorado State University in the Department of Environmental & Radiological Health Sciences, as well as a Faculty Associate in the Graduate Program of Cell & Molecular Biology and the Data Science Research Institute. Her research focuses on the health risks associated with climate-related exposures, including hurricanes, heat waves, and air pollution, for which she has conducted several national-level studies. She has worked jointly with atmospheric scientist to develop novel approaches to assess exposure to tropical cyclones for epidemiological research. As part of her research, she has also published a number of open source R software packages to facilitate environmental epidemiologic research. Previously, she completed a postdoctoral appointment in Biostatistics at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public and a PhD in Engineering at Yale University.
Dr. Anderson is an Associate Professor at Colorado State University in the Department of Environmental & Radiological Health Sciences, as well as a Faculty Associate in the Graduate Program of Cell & Molecular Biology and the Data Science Research Institute. Her research focuses on the health risks associated with climate-related exposures, including hurricanes, heat waves, and air pollution, for which she has conducted several national-level studies. She has worked jointly with atmospheric scientist to develop novel approaches to assess exposure to tropical cyclones for epidemiological research. As part of her research, she has also published a number of open source R software packages to facilitate environmental epidemiologic research. Previously, she completed a postdoctoral appointment in Biostatistics at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public and a PhD in Engineering at Yale University.
Panel Discussion Moderator Kelly E. Murray, PhD candidate Tulane University Celia Scott Weatherhead School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Department of International Health and Sustainable Development; freelance journalist
Kelly Murray is a journalist and public health researcher whose work bridges science and storytelling. Before pursuing her doctorate, she spent more than a decade with CNN and CNN International, including three years based in Hong Kong, covering global issues such as the 2014 Ebola outbreak, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Rohingya refugee crisis. She is most passionate about translating scientific evidence into compelling narratives that inform and inspire action. She continues to freelance as a journalist, writing about geopolitics, U.S. national news, science, and health, drawing directly on insights from scientists and public health experts to make complex issues accessible to diverse audiences. As a Dean’s Research Council scholar, her dissertation examines the intersection of climate shocks and intimate partner violence in lower- and lower middle-income countries, with a special focus on young women in Kampala’s urban slums, conducted in collaboration with the NIH-funded TOPOWA study. She has also published research on child marriage and maternal and reproductive health in West Africa and conducted data analysis for MOMENTUM, a gender-transformative family planning and nutrition initiative in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Kelly Murray is a journalist and public health researcher whose work bridges science and storytelling. Before pursuing her doctorate, she spent more than a decade with CNN and CNN International, including three years based in Hong Kong, covering global issues such as the 2014 Ebola outbreak, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Rohingya refugee crisis. She is most passionate about translating scientific evidence into compelling narratives that inform and inspire action. She continues to freelance as a journalist, writing about geopolitics, U.S. national news, science, and health, drawing directly on insights from scientists and public health experts to make complex issues accessible to diverse audiences. As a Dean’s Research Council scholar, her dissertation examines the intersection of climate shocks and intimate partner violence in lower- and lower middle-income countries, with a special focus on young women in Kampala’s urban slums, conducted in collaboration with the NIH-funded TOPOWA study. She has also published research on child marriage and maternal and reproductive health in West Africa and conducted data analysis for MOMENTUM, a gender-transformative family planning and nutrition initiative in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
