Environmental Health Literacy

Dr. Symma Finn received her Ph.D. in medical anthropology from the University of Florida (UF) in 2008 for her work on quantifying empowerment in a rare genetic disease community. She administers social and behavioral research, develops new areas of interest in communications and environmental health literacy, and oversees communication and outreach activities for the Breast Cancer and the Environment Research Program and for the Centers of Excellence on Environmental Health Disparities Research. Her areas of specialty include social and behavioral research, environmental health disparities, environmental health literacy, dissemination and implementation research, and community-engaged research and citizen science. Dr. Finn serves as point of contact for Tribal research at NIEHS and participates in a number of federal committees related to Tribal affairs, environmental justice and workforce diversity in biomedical and environmental health professions.

Liam O'Fallon received his Master’s degree in Latin American Studies from Tulane University in 1997, where he specialized in medical anthropology and international health .  He leads the Partnerships for Environmental Public Health program at the National Institute of Environmental Health Services. He directs the Community Engagement Cores that are a part of the network of Environmental Health Science Core Centers, the Centers for Children’s Environmental Health Program, and the Centers of Excellence on Environmental Health Disparities Research . He formerly worked at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in the Office of International and Refugee Health, where he coordinated an interagency, binational working group addressing environmental health issues along the U.S.-Mexico border.  His areas of specialty include community-engaged research, environmental justice, science education and environmental health literacy.