Title: Inferential challenges in climate change and maternal, child and reproductive health: traditional and contemporary issues

Speaker: Stefania Papatheodorou, PhD, MD, MSc

Assistant Professor, Rutgers School of Public Health

The climate crisis is the biggest threat of the 21st century. The combined effects of rising temperature averages, air and water pollution, and the increasing risk of displacement and disruption due to extreme weather, combined with already inadequate (and worsening in many US states) access to reproductive health services, contributes to higher rates of maternal and infant mortality among women of color, and Black women particularly. In addition to short-term reproductive health impacts, climate-related events will influence the risks of long-term and intergenerational mortality and morbidity for both birthing parents and offspring. Epidemiologists need to respond to this challenge and perform studies using novel data sources and methods to accurately quantify the health risks associated with climate change as well as evaluate effective policy interventions. This talk will elaborate on the current methodological challenges existing in this field, including pregnancy and pediatric cohort specific biases associated with time-varying exposures and inferential challenges using popular analytic strategies such as distributed lag models.