Cassandra Thiel, New York University, presents this week's seminar.

About Dr. Thiel
Dr. Cassandra Thiel is an Assistant Professor at New York University in the School of Medicine, the Wagner School of Public Service, and the Tandon School of Engineering. Her research utilizes life cycle assessment and principles of industrial ecology to analyze and improve the environmental performance of medical systems, hospital design, healthcare practice, and medical technologies. As a 2014-2015 Fulbright-Nehru Academic and Professional Excellence fellow, Dr. Thiel calculated the environmental footprint of cataract surgery at Aravind Eye Care System in southern India, finding that Aravind’s carbon footprint for phacoemulsification was 5% of the same surgery done in the United Kingdom.  She received her PhD from the University of Pittsburgh and BS from Michigan Technological University, both in Civil Engineering. Her graduate training was supported by the Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation and an NSF Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT).

About the Seminar
Healthcare systems are a critical part of society. Yet, sadly, the vast amounts of energy, water, and physical supplies used in medicine contribute to human disease and planetary degradation. US healthcare is responsible for 10% of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions and 9% of air pollutants, but the sector is beginning to adopt more environmental sustainable practices. This lecture will explore current Life Cycle Assessment based research to quantify emissions and increase efficiency in clinical care. We will discuss model health systems and the challenges of implementing sustainability in this unique field.

This event will be held online via Zoom.