.jpg)
About Us - Our Organization
The Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment is a small group of health professionals with concerns about health risks currently present in our environment. This is based on recent articles and convincing evidence in the medical literature showing that more people have coronary and cerebrovascular (heart attacks and strokes) events when air particulates (one form of air pollution) are high.Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment is dedicated to protecting the health and well-being of the citizens of Utah by promoting science-based education and interventions that result in progressive, measurable improvements to the environment.
Since the group’s formation in March 2007, UPHE has met with Governor
Huntsman, the Air Quality Board, the Public Service Commission, local mayors, business leaders, media, and citizens. On March 30, 2007, five physicians from UPHE gave a presentation to Governor Huntsman with good evidence showing how many more people have coronary and cerebrovascular events (heart attacks and strokes) when air particulates are high. Some of the best studies on the relationship between air quality and public health
have come out of Utah. When a local steel mill closed 15 years ago, there was a landmark study in the New England Journal of Medicine showing that hospital admissions for pneumonia and asthma were halved. We feel that the technology is currently available to make Utah a healthier and cleaner place. We are striving to convince our business and government leaders that the health of Utahans comes first and foremost.
Biographies of Executive and Board Members
Brian Moench, M.D.
Undergraduate--Stanford Universtiy and U. of Utah. Chemistry major; Early acceptance to medical school after three years.Medical School--U. of Utah, graduated 1977. Internship--Internal Medicine, LDS Hospital, SLC, Utah 1977-78
Residency--Anesthesiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 1978-1980. Staff instructor in Anesthesia, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 1980-81; Fellowship--Intensive Care Medicine--Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston , MA 1981
Board Certified, Amercian Board of Anesthesiologists 1983
Private Practice Anesthesia--Holy Cross Hospital and LDS Hospital 1981-2007. Former chairman, Dept. of Anesthesia, Holy Cross Hospital.
Gerald H. Ross, MD, CCFP,
DABEM, DIBEM, FAAEM, FRSM
Board Certifications : Family Med. (Canada);Environ. Med. (USA). Former President, American Academy of Environmental Medicine; Board of Governors, American Board of Environmental Medicine; Fellow, American Academy of Environmental Medicine; Fellow, Royal Society of Medicine, London, UK.
Publications: 28: Co–authored a medical textbook chapter.
Invited speaker to ATSDR, APHA, American Chemical Society Health and Welfare Canada, Association Workers' Compinsation Boards (Canada), many other professional bodies.
Richard Kanner, M.D.
Professor of Internal Medicine, Division of Respiratory Medicine at the University of Utah School of Medicine. A Pulmonologist (Lung Doctor). Dr Kanner has research interests in the area of chronic lung disease and health effects of air pollution. He is a member of the Air Quality Board 1988-1997, Chair from 1995-1997.Dr. Kanner can be reached at:
University of Utah Hospitals and Clinics
26 North 1900 East
701 Wintrobe Building
Salt Lake City, Utah 84132-4701
Tel: (801)581-7806
Fax: (801)585-3355
Beeper: (801)339-5592
Email: richard.kanner@hsc.utah.edu
Dr. Zell A. McGee, MD, FACP
Board Certification American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) in Infectious Diseases. Fellowship: Infectious Diseases, Vanderbilt University Medical School, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research; Emeritu Professor of Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases; Past Chair of Bacetriology and Mycology Study Section I, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health
Charles (Chaz) Langelier
Charles (Chaz) Langelier received his BA in biochemistry from Colby College in 2000, Summa Cum Laude. He is currently a student in the MD/PhD program at the University of Utah completing his PhD in the Sundquist laboratory in the Department of Biochemistry. Infectious disease, molecular and structural biology and environmental health are his academic passions and he has co-authored or authored 5 publications in the fields of biochemistry, air pollution toxicology and infectious disease. Chaz served as a past President of the University of Utah student chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility and more recently has been involved in creating and directing a new medical school course in environmental toxicology and medicine