RTI International added a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention veteran to head its new program for researching the health effects of climate change.
Michael McGeehin, former director of environmental hazards and health effects at the CDC, will now work at RTI on public health issues, such as how people are affected by flooding, drought, ground-level ozone and diseases.
Although RTI has done research on climate change before, the new program will bring a multidisciplinary approach to the work aiming for a broad understanding of how human health is affected by climate change, McGeehin said in prepared remarks. The new program could seek collaborations with agencies including the National Institutes of Health, the Environmental Protection Agency in addition to the CDC.
In his 32 year career at the CDC, McGeehin has worked on a number of environmental health issues including childhood lead poisoning, air pollution health impacts, cancer clusters and heat wave mortality, among others. McGeehin will continue to be based in Atlanta, working from RTI’s regional office there.
RTI is a non-profit research institute based in North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park. The institute reported $759 million in fiscal 2010 revenue, which included contract work for an array of federal agencies.
