Webinars & Other Events
The Mid-Atlantic Center for Children's Health and the Environment (MACCHE) hosts webinars and other events on topics related to children's and reproductive health throughout the year. Our webinars provide relevant information for health and publlic health professionals and are open to other community members. Typically, a nursing contact hour is available for those who complete the evaluation and obtain an 80% or higher on the course post-test.
Upcoming Webinars
The Mid-Atlantic Center for Children's Health and the Environment (MACCHE)
invites you to an upcoming webinar.
Date: April 10, 2025
Time: 12 noon ET
Webinar participants who complete the evaluation and obtain an 80% or higher on the course post-test will receive a certificate for 1 nursing contact hour.
In recent years the world has seen its hottest summers, and the number of heat related morbidity and mortality has skyrocketed. During this webinar attendees will learn the physiological, environmental, and social factors that increase children's vulnerability to heat-related illnesses. Attendees will also be able to identify actionable steps to protect children and gain insight on ways to advocate for policies and community actions that promote climate resilience and health equity.
About the Presenter
Dr. Joniqua Ceasar, MD, is an internal medicine and pediatrics trained primary care physician who is a current National Clinician Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania. She is passionate about the intersection of climate justice and health equity.
Learning Objectives:
Name at least one physiological, one environmental, and one social factor that increases children's vulnerability to heat-related illnesses.
Describe at least two actionable steps that healthcare providers and caregivers can take to protect children from the effects of extreme heat.
Describe ways to advocate for policies and community actions that promote resilience to extreme heat and health equity for children.
The Mid-Atlantic Center for Children's Health and the Environment (MACCHE)
invites you to an upcoming webinar.
Date: May 14, 2025
Time: 12 noon ET
Webinar participants who complete the evaluation and obtain an 80% or higher on the course post-test will receive a certificate for 1 nursing contact hour.
Children with chronic and complex medical conditions that require ongoing medical monitoring, treatment, and support are Medically Fragile. These children are frequently at higher risk for severe consequences from even minor illnesses or injuries. This webinar will cover the unique risks that extreme weather and other environmental challenges have on this population and what health care providers and caregivers can do to mitigate these risks.
About the Presenter
Erin Johnson, MPH, MSN, RN is a public health nurse. As a Program Coordinator for Technology Assisted Children’s Home Program, Ms. Johnson works with families of children with complex medical needs across 31 counties in Pennsylvania, supporting caregivers to navigate systems, obtain necessary resources, and advocate for themselves. She gained lived experience for this work after navigating her daughter's diagnosis and treatment for infant Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL).
Ms. Johnson has taught undergraduate and graduate-level courses on topics related to environmental & human health, climate change & health, and public health. She has served on a variety of committees and developed initiatives related to urban sustainability, environmental health and policy.
She holds an MSN, MPH and RN from the University of Pennsylvania. She also holds a BA in Environmental Studies from Washington University in St. Louis, including a semester abroad with the School for Field Studies on Sustainable Development.
Learning Objectives:
Identify the population of medically fragile children in Pennsylvania that are most at risk for impacts of extreme weather events and other environmental challenges.
List at least 3 adverse effects of extreme weather on medically fragile children in Pennsylvania.
Explain at least 2 actions that healthcare providers and caregivers can take to mitigate negative impacts of extreme weather on children with medical needs.
The Mid-Atlantic Center for Children's Health and the Environment (MACCHE) invites you to an upcoming webinar.
Date: June 11, 2025
Time: 12 noon ET
It is important that all people, regardless of who they are or where they live, are involved in decision-making and other activities that affect human health and the environment. The aim of this webinar is to learn about how each community’s environment can affect human health, and children’s health specifically. The panelists for this webinar will discuss environmental factors and their effects on children from three unique perspectives.
About the Presenters
Kristin Ball Motley, PharmD, MBA, is a pharmacist and an advocate for community health. She will discuss her work as the Health Manager for the City of Chester, PA. Hailing from Chester, she holds a Doctor of Pharmacy from Florida A&M University and an MBA from the St. Joseph's University (formerly University of Sciences). Dr. Motley is the founder of Health Educated, Inc. and host of the "Keeping It 100" podcast, and dedicates herself to educating the marginalized communities on important health topics. Recognized for her impactful work, she has received several accolades, including the President’s Award from the NAACP - Chester Branch. She also received a Humanitarian Award, Health Literacy Champion Award and the Innovative Pharmacist of the Year Award. In addition to her role as the Health Manager for the City of Chester, she serves as the Compliance Coordinator & Field Supervisor at Philadelphia College of Pharmacy at St Joseph’s University.
Daniel Taylor, D.O., FAAP, is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Drexel University College of Medicine and general pediatrician at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children for the past 17 years. Dr. Taylor is also course director of Community Pediatrics and Child Advocacy at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children and is the Medical Director of the medical legal partnership at St. Chris. Dr. Taylor is also the co-director of the Reach Out and Read program at St. Chris and directs the homeless healthcare for children initiative at St. Chris’s as well.
Dr. Taylor is the founder of the Children’s Advocacy Project of Philadelphia (Cap4Kids) which is an online on-line resource directory for providers, child advocates and families to find resources in their community to help address various social determinants of health that can affect the health, safety, and long term outcomes of the children we serve. This site gets hundreds of hits daily and has been replicated in a dozen communities nationally.
Dr. Taylor is also a prolific writer and has authored over 60 articles for the Health and Science section of the Philadelphia Inquirer that focuses on the health of the most vulnerable populations we serve, as well as articles in JAMA, Contemporary Pediatrics and several other prominent journals.
Dr. Taylor speaks locally and nationally on issues that affect vulnerable populations, especially those that have to do with children affected by poverty and violence. Dr. Taylor also has garnered many local and national awards for his work including several teaching awards; awards from several of the organizations that he works so closely with in the community; the President’s Award for Drexel University; the Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics Pediatrician of the Yea; rand the Tenet Hero Award.
Dr. Taylor’s passion is children and their families, especially those that are underserved, living on the fringes, and those most vulnerable. His impact on this population ripples throughout St. Chris, Philadelphia, and in the pediatric community nationwide.
Dong Yoon Kim is the Special Projects Coordinator with the PA Department of Environmental Protection’s Office of Environmental Justice, focused on AAPI outreach and engagement. His previous experience in PA includes engaging with government and local municipalities, politics, policy, civic engagement, advocacy and direct services within the Korean, AAPI, immigrant and the broader under-served communities. He has previously worked for Woori Center, Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition, and For our Future PA in PA.
Learning Objectives:
Name two ways environmental factors affect children’s health.
Identify one strategy to address the environmental factors that affect children’s health.
The Mid-Atlantic Center for Children's Health and the Environment (MACCHE) invites you to an upcoming webinar.
Date: July 9, 2025
Time: 12 noon ET
Healthy Horizons: Addressing Environmental Health for Children with Disabilities, provides an overview of the impact of environmental health factors on pediatric disability, both globally and within the United States. The presentation will explore the prevalence and types of disabilities in children and examine the impact of environmental health factors, such as pollution, extreme weather, and natural disasters, on pediatric disability. Participants will gain insights into effective strategies for mitigating these risks through policy recommendations and community actions. Additionally, the session will equip attendees with the knowledge to develop inclusive emergency plans that address the specific needs of children with disabilities, ensuring preparedness and resilience.
About the Presenter
Jane Tobias, DNP, CRNP, CPNP-PC, is an Associate Professor at Thomas Jefferson University's Jefferson College of Nursing. She serves as a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner at the Jefferson Center for Autism and Neurodiversity and is a Golisano Fellow in Developmental Disability Nursing. Dr. Tobias holds a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree from Thomas Jefferson University and brings over two decades of experience in pediatric primary care.
Dr. Tobias has held various academic roles, with a focus on graduate nursing education. Her clinical expertise lies in caring for children and adolescents with neurodevelopmental disabilities. She is actively involved in nursing research, focused on intellectual and developmental disorders, and serves as a consultant for the Golisano Institute of Developmental Disability Nursing. Additionally, Dr. Tobias is a member of the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners.
Learning Objectives
Participants will be able to identify the various types of disabilities affecting children and understand the prevalence of these conditions globally and within the U.S.
Participants will explore how environmental factors such as pollution, extreme weather, and natural disasters disproportionately affect children with disabilities.
Participants will develop strategies for mitigating the impact of environmental health risks on children and adolescents with disabilities.
Participants will be equipped with knowledge on creating inclusive emergency plans that address the specific needs of children with disabilities, including communication, coordination, and essential emergency supplies.
Webinar Recordings
An overview of the scientific and medical evidence about lead, other heavy metals, and chemicals used in artificial turf and synthetic playground surfaces, and the impact of those exposures on children. The presentation will include the myths and realities regarding the benefits and risks of these products, whether used indoors or outdoors.
Learning objectives:
Name the chemicals and metals in artificial turf and rubber playground surfaces that are most likely to harm human health.
Describe what is known and not known about the short-term and long-term risks to children and the environment.
Explain the risks and benefits of alternatives, including natural grass and engineered wood fiber.
About the Presenter
Dr. Diana Zuckerman, PhD, is President of the National Center for Health Research, a nonprofit public health think tank that conducts and analyzes research on a wide range of healthcare and health policy issues and uses the results to inform policies, programs, and services affecting the health of adults and children. She has testified about the safety and effectiveness of medical and consumer products before U.S. Congressional Committees; federal agencies; state legislators; the Canadian Parliament; and has briefed Canadian and European officials and nonprofit organizations in the U.S. and abroad.
On issues pertaining to the safety of artificial turf, playground surfaces, and similar indoor products, she was a key speaker at a national CDC meeting on lead exposure and testified at two national meetings of the Consumer Product Safety Commission and at hearings and meetings of the EPA and state and local government policy makers.
Trained as a post-doctoral fellow in epidemiology and public health at Yale Medical School, Dr. Zuckerman served on the faculty of Vassar and Yale and as a research director at Harvard. She left academia to work on Capitol Hill as an AAAS Congressional Science Fellow and subsequently worked for a dozen years as a Congressional staffer in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate and was a senior policy advisor in the White House. While in her current position, she was also a fellow at the University of Pennsylvania Center for Bioethics and was the first non-physician elected to the Women in Medicine International Hall of Fame. She previously chaired Maryland’s Women’s Health Promotion Council and served on the CMS Medicare Evidence Development & Coverage Advisory Committee (MEDCAC) and the Board of Directors of the Reagan-Udall Foundation. She is a founding Board Member of the nonprofit Alliance for a Stronger FDA, a coalition of industry and nonprofit organizations that educates Congress about the work of the FDA. She is the author of five books, 13 Congressional reports, and dozens of book chapters and articles in medical and academic journals and newspapers, has appeared in numerous documentaries on health issues, and is widely quoted in the media.
Preconception and pregnancy are times in which a person may be more vulnerable to environmental exposures. It is also a time where nurses and other health providers can provide assessment and anticipatory guidance to help their patients reduce exposures, have healthier pregnancies, and prevent disease. In this webinar you will learn about burgeoning environmental health issues and how nurses can incorporate this information into their nursing practice.
Learning Objectives
Describe at least three environmental health issues that impact health during preconception and pregnancy.
Demonstrate how to incorporate environmental health into nursing practice.
About the Presenter
Katie Huffling, DNP, RN, CNM, FAAN is a Certified Nurse-Midwife and the Executive Director of the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments (ANHE). With ANHE, Dr. Huffling works with nurses and nursing organizations to elevate environmental health issues, such as climate change, toxic chemicals, and sustainability in healthcare, amongst the nursing profession. Dr. Huffling is a passionate supporter of nurse-led advocacy in support of healthier environments for all.
Dr. Huffling received her DNP in Health Innovation and Leadership from the University of Minnesota. She is an appointed member of the US Environmental Protection Agency Children’s Health Protection Advisory Council and is a member of the National Academy of Medicine’s Action Collaborative on Decarbonizing the U.S. Health Sector. She was a recipient of the 2018 Charlotte Brody Award which recognizes nurses who go beyond everyday nursing endeavors to proactively promote and protect environmental health.
Ruth McDermott-Levy, PhD, MPH, RN, FAAN, Professor & Co-Director for the Mid-Atlantic Center for Children's Health and the Environment and Michelle Kelly, PhD, CRNP, CNE, FAANP, FAAN, Associate Professor & Co-Director of the Mid-Atlantic Center for Children’s Health & the Environment will cover PFAS, Extreme cold, and stresses and challenges for the caregiver in addressing EH issues.
Learning objectives
- State two services provided by a Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit (PEHSU).
- Describe actions to take to reduce exposure to PFAS compounds.
- Identify an action to reduce workplace related stress.
This webinar provides an overview of the unique vulnerabilities of children to environmental health hazards. It describes the environmental health risks for students and staff in the school environment focusing on both legacy and emerging threats. We discuss practical prevention strategies and health promotion interventions that can be implemented to reduce environmental health risks in schools.
Learning objectives
- Describe environmental health vulnerabilities of children.
- Identify environmental health risks in schools for children and staff.
- Discuss strategies to reduce environmental health risks in schools.
About the Presenter
Kathy L. Reiner received her MPH from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, her BA in biology and chemistry from Valley City State University, and her BSN from the University of Colorado. She is currently a School Nurse Specialist at the Colorado Department of Education. A strong advocate for healthy school environments and environmental justice, Kathy is a 2019-20 Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments (ANHE) Fellow, represents the National Association of School Nurses (NASN) on the ANHE Nursing Collaborative for Climate Change and Health, serves on the Climate Change and Advocacy work groups, and is an executive board member of the Healthy Schools Network. Her professional interests focus on climate change and planetary health impacts on child health, and her current projects include co-authoring a chapter on Emergency and Disaster Preparedness for the Comprehensive School Nurse Textbook 4th edition (in process) and co-leading a standards-based, best practice, school asthma management professional learning collaborative of Colorado school nurses. She was a contributing author to School Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice, 4th edition, for which she received a NASN distinguished services award and was recently named a fellow with the National Academy of School Nurses.
The summer of 2023 was Earth's hottest since global records began in 1880 and projections for 2024 are for the trend to continue with temperatures to be among the 10 hottest summers on record. Climate change has been a driver of hotter summers. Extreme and consistent heat has health impacts on everyone, but children and pregnant people have unique risks.
This webinar will delve into the physiological impact of heat on children and pregnant people, focusing on particularly vulnerable populations. The presenters will also share some tips for keeping vulnerable populations and others safer on days that are dangerously hot.
Learning Objectives
- Identify the physiological impact of heat.
- State population vulnerabilities to heat related illness.
- Describe three actions to reduce the health risks of heat.
About the Presenters
Daniel J. Smith, PhD, AGPCNP-BC, CNE, Assistant Professor, Villanova University M. Louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing is a doctorally prepared nurse practitioner and was a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Future of Nursing Scholar. His overarching research interest lies at the intersection of understanding the effects of climate change on the health outcomes of disenfranchised populations and how we can build climate resilience and adaptation skills in communities & health systems. He also has expertise on the environmental determinants of health and has been the academic lead for community-based participatory research projects examining the impact of the lead exposure of immigrant families in Philadelphia, PA, and heat exposure on migrant farmworker families in Southeastern Georgia. He continues to hold a clinical practice one day per week and is fluent in Spanish.
Katie Huffling, DNP, RN, CNM, FAAN is a Certified Nurse-Midwife and the Executive Director of the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments (ANHE). With ANHE, Dr. Huffling works with nurses and nursing organizations to elevate environmental health issues, such as climate change, toxic chemicals, and sustainability in healthcare, amongst the nursing profession. Dr. Huffling is a passionate supporter of nurse-led advocacy in support of healthier environments for all.
Dr. Huffling received her DNP in Health Innovation and Leadership from the University of Minnesota. She is an appointed member of the US Environmental Protection Agency Children’s Health Protection Advisory Council and is a member of the National Academy of Medicine’s Action Collaborative on Decarbonizing the U.S. Health Sector. She was a recipient of the 2018 Charlotte Brody Award which recognizes nurses who go beyond everyday nursing endeavors to proactively promote and protect environmental health.
Promoting more plant-based foods in our children's diets is healthier for them, the family, and the planet. Climate change is already here, as evidenced by the trend of hotter summers - 2023 was Earth's hottest since global records began in 1880 and 2024 is projected to continue this trend. Adding more plant-based foods has the potential to reduce your carbon footprint and improve human health by decreasing obesity and chronic diseases. Modeling healthy eating habits for our kids and starting them on healthy diets at a young age can have a positive effect on their diet choices later in life.
Learning objectives
- Educate and empower children about what they can do to help protect the planet
- Model behaviors for children that support them in protecting the planet
- Influence children's eating patterns and empower them to think critically about their food choices
About the Presenter
A trained leader with more than thirty years of experience as a public health nurse, Meryl Fury, MS, RN, specializes in healthcare for vulnerable populations. Meryl holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and a Master of Science in Nursing from North Park University. She also holds certificates in Applied Project Management (Villanova Online University), and Plant Based Nutrition (T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies, eCornell). Meryl is a member of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine and an active member of the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Medical Advisory Board. She has been a proponent of plant-based eating since she was a teenager. Currently, Meryl serves as president and CEO of Plant Based Nutrition Movement, an Illonois-based 501c3, that focuses on educating the public about the benefits of plant based eating patterns to enhance and protect our children's health. Meryl relies on evidence based scientific research to deliver excellent programs on the life-giving benefits of diet to increase the human health-span, increase compassion for all beings, and protect the planet.