One of the top global health issues today is climate change, and numerous studies have found that, if current trends continue, the burden of the future would be almost cataclysmic. Future human health will suffer significantly as a result of the projected combination of rapid urbanization and population aging, which will worsen the climate change issue. Climate change, urbanization, and population aging are all happening simultaneously in East Asia.

Heatwaves have been reported to be linked to mortality and morbidity in many parts of the world, making it one of the most researched topics in the field of climate change and health study to date. While other researches show the reverse pattern, some suggest that metropolitan areas are more severely affected by heat waves in terms of health. As a result, additional research is required in light of these geographical differences.

In this talk, we'll look at the health implications of heat waves, especially in cities, and how to reduce them. Examined as well is the connection between environmental elements like urban greenness, socioeconomic elements, and demographic elements like population density. Additionally, it covers the benefits and drawbacks of urbanization in terms of climate change adaptation, which is crucial for a sustainable future.

He is a former Dean of the Graduate School of Public Health, Seoul National University. (2016.03~2019.12) He has been conducting research on the impact of air pollution and climate change on human health for more than 25 years, with a special focus on the long-term health effects of ambient air pollution and methodology developments, especially in the East Asian countries.

His current topics include health impacts of greenness and urban environment in various health outcomes including kidney diseases, and mental problems. His scientific training includes an MS in Statistics from the Seoul National University, Korea and a PhD in Biostatistics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA.

He is a former president of the Korean Society for Health Informatics and Statistics, is the current vice-presidents of the Korean Statistical Society and of the Korean Society of Climate Change. He is also an elected fellow of the National Academy of Medicine of Korea and of the Korea Academy of the Environmental Science. He is an Associate Editor of the International Journal of Epidemiology and has published more than 350 peer-reviewed articles.

Dr. Merikangas is a Distinguished Investigator and Chief of the Genetic Epidemiology Branch in the Intramural Research Program at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), and Adjunct Professor of Epidemiology, and of Mental Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She received a bachelor’s degree summa cum laude in experimental psychology and music from the University of Notre Dame, a master’s degree supported by NIAAA for training in clinical psychiatry, and a Ph.D. in chronic disease epidemiology in the psychiatric epidemiology training program from the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health. After postdoctoral training in population genetics/genetic epidemiology at the Yale University School of Medicine, she joined the faculty and became a Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health, Psychiatry and Psychology, where she also directed a training and research program in psychiatric/genetic epidemiology. Dr. Merikangas is on the scientific advisory board or council of several national and international programs, and she is the Chair of the Scientific Advisory Boards of the Cundill Centre for Child and Youth Depression in Toronto, Canada, and the Child Mind Institute where she is Co-PI of the Heathy Brain Network Study of Youth. She has authored more than 400 scientific publications and has presented lectures throughout the U.S. and in more than 20 countries. Her current research program at the NIMH Intramural Research Program focuses on: (1) population based studies of mental and physical disorders in adults and youth; (2) multigenerational family studies designed to identify the core features and biomarkers of genetic and environmental factors underlying the familial transmission of bipolar spectrum disorders: and (3) the application of mobile technologies to examine patterns of motor activity, mood and sleep in mood disorders and she is leading a collaborative network examining motor activity and health, with a particular focus on mood disorders, the Motor Activity Research Consortium on Health (mMARCH).

Dr. Youngmi Ji is a functional genomicist. Her research interests are the use of functional genomics tools to investigate human diseases to improve our understanding of pathogenic mechanisms and to identify therapeutic opportunities. Her research interests include stem cell- based (i.e., MSC, iPSC and organoid) development of disease models, regeneration, and identification of biomarkers with diagnostic or prognostic value in clinical and pre-clinical settings. Abnormal chronic inflammatory response, fibrosis and salivary gland (SG) dysfunction lead to dry mouth that is characteristic of Sjögren’s syndrome (SS), cGVHD and post-radiation Head & Neck Cancer patients. Her current research focuses on devising molecular strategies for the management of salivary gland hypofunction.