First International Symposium on Recent Advances in Environmental Health Research

Recent developments in biomedical sciences and environmental medicine have significantly improved our understanding of risk factors associated with human diseases and health disparities. Although poor access to health care, genetic, cultural, behavioral, and socio-economic factors have been linked to disease status, environmental determinants including physical, chemical, and biological factors have also been shown to play a significant role in human health. Environmental health problems are increasingly taking center stages. Environmentally-related illnesses including infectious diseases, and chronic conditions such as cancer, are continually inflicting new health burdens. As these challenges emerge in new and more complicated forms, it is essential that we keep pace with the scientific understanding that is critical in defining strategies for sound environmental health decision-making. In its summary recommendations for improving the scientific basis for environmental decision-making, the National Academy of Science pointed out that “90% of voters believe that the environment plays a significant role in health...yet environmental science and environmental health communities are too frequently independent of one another, funded by different agencies and consisting of different researchers. If these disciplines fail to push ahead collectively with further research and prevention, the many burdens of environmentally-influenced illness imposed upon our society may become even heavier”. In response to this call for action, Jackson State University (JSU) hosted the “First International Symposium on Recent Advances in Environmental Health Research” at the Marriott Hotel in Jackson, Mississippi, from September 19 through September 22, 2004. This important event was that first World Congress held in Jackson, MS, USA, on important issues related to environmental quality and human health. Its overarching objective was to promote interdisciplinary discussions and international scientific collaborations, as well as to advance the participants’ understanding of local, regional, and global environmental issues as they relate to the quality of life and human health. In an attempt to contribute global solutions to these environmental challenges, scientists around the world, have been more and more involved in bioenvironmental research, studying the toxic mechanisms of action of various environmental agents, developing new approaches for detecting or remedying environmental damage, identifying and characterizing genes involved in the manifestation of environmentally-related diseases, and providing the public and policy makers with scientific tools that are critical for environmental health decision-making. Therefore, the “First International Symposium on Recent Advances in Environmental Health Research” served as a strong forum for environmental and biomedical scientists-biologists, chemists, toxicologists, public health scientists, engineers, and policy makers interested in bringing about substantial contributions to addressing global environmental, and sustainable development issues, to communicate the latest advances in scientific research and new developments on critical environmental and human health topics including the following: