REGISTER

As part of the new Academic Health Department Initiative between CDPHE and the Colorado School of Public Health, we are starting a monthly Symposium Series where a Public Health and Environment related topic will be discussed with speakers from both agencies. The Symposium Series will be held in a hybrid format, but we invite staff from each agency to attend in person if possible (Colorado SPH Education 2 North Room P28-2302). Food will be provided and time before and after the presentations will be available for networking. Our Symposium Series in October will focus on Infectious Disease Modeling. Please register ahead of time.

Speakers

Elizabeth Carlton, PhD, MPH

Associate Professor

Department of Environmental & Occupational Health

Elizabeth Carlton is an associate professor in the Department of Environmental & Occupational Health at the Colorado School of Public Health. She is an environmental epidemiologist who studies how infectious diseases spread and why, at times, they persist despite control efforts. Her research focuses on improving surveillance tools for infectious diseases including COVID-19 and schistosomiasis. She values transdisciplinary approaches and working with her collaborative research group that includes masters and doctoral students, as well as postdoctoral fellows. Dr. Carlton currently leads a research program using next generation genomics, epidemiology and ecology to understand barriers to schistosomiasis elimination in residual transmission hotspots. Since the start of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, she has been a core member of the Colorado COVID-19 modeling group, providing rapid analysis and evidence synthesis to Colorado leadership. She leads a program working to improve surveillance tools for SARS-CoV-2 in the Rocky Mountain West, using rapid literature review, data analysis and mathematical modeling

Nisha Alden, MPH

Viral Respiratory Disease Surveillance Program Manager

Colorado Department of Public Health & Environmental 

Nisha Alden has a master's in public health with a focus on epidemiology from George Washington University. She has worked at the local and state public health level for almost 20 years. Her main area of interest is infectious diseases, and she currently serves as the Viral Respiratory Disease Surveillance Program Manager for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. She was involved in pre-pandemic influenza forecasting/modeling efforts, was the COVID surveillance and data lead for CDPHE during the pandemic,  and also is a co-chair for the CSTE Forecasting Workgroup.

Jonathan Samet, MD, MS

Professor

Department of Environmental & Occupational Health and Department of Epidemiology

Jonathan M. Samet, MD, MS, a pulmonary physician and epidemiologist, is the past dean of the Colorado School of Public Health. Previously, Dr. Samet was the Flora L. Thornton Chair for the Department of Preventive Medicine at the University of Southern California and Director of the USC Institute for Global Health.  

Dr. Samet received a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry and Physics from Harvard College, an MD degree from the University of Rochester's School of Medicine and Dentistry, and a Master of Science degree in Epidemiology from the Harvard School of Public Health.  

His research focuses on the health risks of inhaled pollutants—particles and ozone in outdoor air and indoor pollutants including secondhand smoke and radon. He has also investigated the occurrence and causes of cancer and respiratory diseases, emphasizing the risks of active and passive smoking. For several decades, he has been involved in global health, focusing on tobacco control, air pollution, and chronic disease prevention.  

Dr. Samet has served and chaired numerous committees of the National Research Council and Institute of Medicine, and as chair of the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee of the U.S. EPA and the FDA’s Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee. For the National Research Council, he chaired, among others, the Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation (BEIR) VI Committee; the Committee on Research Priorities for Airborne Particulate Matter, Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology; the Committee to Review the Draft IRIS Assessment on Formaldehyde; the Committee to Develop a Research Strategy for Environmental Health and Safety Aspects of Engineered Nanomaterials; the Committee to Review the IRIS Process; and the Committee on Incorporating 21st Century Science into Risk-Based Evaluations.  

Dr. Samet has served as editor and author for Reports of the Surgeon General on Smoking and Health since 1984, receiving the Surgeon General’s Medallion in 1990 and 2006 for these contributions. He was the Senior Scientific Editor for the 50th Anniversary 2014 report.

Colorado School of Public Health

13001 East 17th Place, 3rd Floor, Mail Stop B119

Aurora, CO 80045

[email protected]