Research Priorities--Earth Science and Medicine

National Academy Of Sciences, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

A National Research Council ad hoc committee will assess the present status of research at the interface between medicine and earth science, and will advise on the high priority research activities that should be undertaken for optimum societal benefit. The committee will report on the most profitable areas for communication and collaboration between the earth science and medical communities, recognizing both the infectious disease and environmental components. The proposed activity will span the earth science and public health fields, seeking to provide much broader awareness and understanding of research endeavors at the interface of these fields as well as raising awareness of environmental contributions to diseases and human health. The study will provide a focus for this emerging scientific discipline to identify the most promising and important research priorities. The proposed activity will: Enhance the infrastructure for research and education, by recommending strategies for enhanced collaboration and cooperation between the earth science and medical/public health communities; Enhance scientific and technological understanding, by preparing a report for broad dissemination that will describe the connections between earth science and public health, addressing both positive and negative societal impacts over the full range from large-scale interactions to micro-scale biogeochemical processes; Provide benefits to society, by identifying basic research needs in bioscience and geoscience required to support medical geology research, and by suggesting how future efforts should be directed to anticipate and respond to public health needs and threats.