APHA Annual Conference Session Delves into Effective Stakeholder Engagement & Children’s Environmental Health Research Translation
Imagine a world where children can breathe clean air, families are not concerned about hidden additives in plastics, and communities are well-informed about environmental health. Right now, children across the country are facing these threats to their health. However, there is hope. New models of community partnership, youth leadership, and research translation are transforming how we protect children’s health and the next generation.
On Wednesday, November 5th, at the 2025 American Public Health Association (APHA) annual meeting and exposition, several representatives from the Collaborative Centers for Children’s Environmental Health Research Translation (CEHRT) presented lessons learned from these new models to protect kids’ health.
CEHRT centers panel at the 2025 APHA Annual Conference (left to right: Nsedu Obot Witherspoon, Dr. Marilyn Howarth, Dr. Leonardo Trasande, Dr. Kirsten Koehler, and Rose Hayes)
Nsedu Obot Witherspoon, MPH, Executive Director of Children’s Environmental Health Network (CEHN), moderated the session– grounding the conversation and emphasizing the unique National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) program as critical to continued progress in protecting children’s environmental health.
Healing Homes, One Visit at a Time
Dr. Marilyn Howarth from the Philadelphia Regional Center for Children’s Environmental Health (PRCCEH) at the University of Pennsylvania opened the session by showing how community health workers can transform asthma care, even in areas where health systems are strained. Their Community Asthma Prevention Program equips community health workers to visit homes to provide education and conduct home evaluations for environmental health triggers - a model that succeeded in Philadelphia and was later expanded to Chester, a city a few miles south of Philadelphia, facing substantial healthcare challenges. Due to this program, many parents have reported reduced anxiety and have had fewer asthma flares for their children.
Dr Howarth also highlighted PRCCEH’s Environmental Health Consultation Program, which has provided clinicians in the Philadelphia metropolitan area with information on environmental health issues, and the Prescriptions for Prevention Program. The latter enhances environmental health literacy and equips clinicians and the public with guidance on linking medical and environmental recommendations.
Together, these programs highlight effective multi-pronged strategies that support replication in other communities.
Turning Classrooms into Public Health Powerhouses
If PRCCEH demonstrated the power of community health workers, the Bridging Research, Lung Health, and the Environment (BREATHE) Children’s Center at Johns Hopkins University illustrated what happens when others become partners in public health.
Dr. Kirsten Koehler highlighted the BREATHE Center’s focus on bringing air-quality education and engagement directly into classrooms. Their partnership with Medicine for the Greater Good includes the Lung Health Ambassador program in Baltimore, a youth education initiative that provides teachers with resources, leading to increased awareness, confidence, and motivation to make healthier choices.
BREATHE’s project addressed a critical issue: access to and permission for administering bronchodilators in schools during asthma-related emergencies in schools. It can be challenging for some children to carry an extra bronchodilator to school and complete the necessary medication paperwork for the nurse to administer it. Solutions include unassigned stock inhalers at schools, one-pager treatment protocols, and advocacy efforts for supporting Baltimore schools in this initiative.
BREATHEs has provided over 70 asthma emergency supplies donations to city schools and athletic trainers. Additional initiatives, such as Asthma Champs and partnerships with professional artists, reflect a creative approach to improving health literacy and demonstrate how partnership and empowerment can strengthen community health from the ground up.
Uncovering the Hidden Costs of Plastics on Children and the Economy
The conversation shifted toward policy by addressing the massive health and economic impacts of chemical exposures from plastics. Dr. Leonardo Trasande from the New York University (NYU) Collaborative Center for Children’s Environmental Health Research and Translation highlighted how harmful, plastic-related chemicals are increasingly detected in human blood and lung tissue. This includes:
Bisphenols, often found in hard plastics and aluminum can linings
Phthalates in food packaging
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or“PFAS,” which are also often found in food packaging, and
Flame retardants are often added to plastics.
The chemicals in these plastics are linked to obesity, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and neurodevelopmental harm. His recent study estimates that plastic-related disease costs reached $249 billion in the United States in 2018 alone, driven primarily by polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs, a group of flame-retardant chemicals), phthalates, and PFAS. Dr. Trasande emphasized that once health costs are accounted for, the global plastics industry may operate at a net economic loss—a significant insight to share with policymakers.
Reducing plastics is not only a public health imperative but also an economic one.
Community Power Drives Public Health Wins
The final presentation, by Rose Hayes from the Center for Children’s Health Assessment, Research Translation, and Combating Environmental Risk (CHARTER), a collaboration between Emory University and the University of Georgia, showcased an academic approach where research and lived experience are centered in collaboration with media organizations. This approach to research translation to the public and creates a larger impact, rooted in community voice and accessible communication. CHARTER’s public scholarship initiative helps train researchers and academics in media readiness and builds relationships with trusted media outlets, creating more opportunities for strong, prevention-oriented science to enter
the mainstream. Ms Hayes discussed how CHARTER uses the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS), which is a management system designed to foster collaboration among teams, to establish clear goals for the initiative, and maintain consistent communication.
CHARTER’s center-wide community-driven structure encompasses pilot projects, virtual reality co-design, community engagement events, and youth partnerships. The Center has recently released a children’s environmental health social media toolkit that will soon be publicly available. It features over 60 health-literacy-reviewed short-form videos and graphic social media posts covering topics such as heat safety, air quality, and safe household cleaning. These efforts show how modern public health communication can meet communities where they are—on the platforms they use every day—while ensuring accuracy, clarity, and equity.
Progress Toward a Healthy Generation
The CEHRT program has developed or supported innovative and varied research translation products and strategies to inform policy and practice. They are forming strong, trusting, and shared power relationships within their communities. These initiatives and contributions are critical to protecting children’s health and achieving health equity.
Join us in moving this work forward—by sharing these insights, supporting evidence-based policies, and standing with the growing movement to safeguard children’s health. Stay connected and subscribe to the CHERT newsletter, where you can view recent research, resources, upcoming events, and more!
Together, we can build a healthier future for every child.
Key Takeaways
Community partnerships can improve children’s health - from home visits to school-based programs
Children can be powerful health leaders - when given tools and support
Plastics carry enormous hidden costs - for children and the nation
Partnerships matter - it is essential to establish meaningful partnerships to achieve shared goals and create a greater impact.
Written by Annette Diaz