Launch of Mount Sinai’s Center for Excellence in Children’s Environmental Health at North Shore Medical Group

In 1999, the Mount Sinai School of Medicine established a Center for Excellence in Children’s Environmental Health. Over the past decade, this Center based in Manhattan has provided consultations for hundreds of children with toxic environmental exposures and diseases of suspected environmental origin.

On Thursday, October 15, 2009, thanks to the support of the Honorable Senator Carl L. Marcellino and in partnership with the Mount Sinai Center for Excellence in Children’s Environmental Health, a new Center for Excellence in Children’s Environmental Health in Huntington, Long Island will be established at the North Shore Medical Group.

The new Center for Excellence in Children’s Environmental Health at North Shore Medical Group will provide Huntington and the greater Long Island community with a resource of extraordinary value. The goal of the new Center will be primarily to provide consultations, referrals and medical management to children with diseases of suspected toxic environmental origin and to children who have suffered toxic exposures. The Center will also provide education and community outreach on Long Island by giving talks and presentations to school and community groups and participating in community health fairs, parent meetings and other venues.

On October 15th at 10:30 am, the launch event will take place at
Rainbow Chimes, Inc., Pre- School, 320 Broadway-Greenlawn Road, Huntington
Keynote speakers: Philip J. Landrigan, MD of Mount Sinai School of Medicine
and New York State Senator Carl L. Marcellino.

Philip J. Landrigan, MD is a pediatrician and the Ethel H. Wise Professor and Chairman for the Department of Preventive Medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. He is an international leader in public health and preventive medicine. Dr. Landrigan’s pioneering research on the effects of lead poisoning led the US government to mandate removal of lead from gasoline and paint, actions that have produced a 90% decline in incidence of childhood lead poisoning over the past quarter century. Most recently, Dr. Landrigan has been a leader in developing the National Children’s Study, the largest study of children’s health and the environment ever launched in the United States.

New York State Senator Carl Marcellino has served as the Senator from New York’s Fifth Senate District since 1995 and he served as Chairman of the New York State Senate Environmental Conservation Committee through 2008. The author of over 100 environmental laws, Senator Marcellino was the prime sponsor of the Brownfield /Superfund Reform Law, the Pesticide Notification Law, and the Nation’s first law phasing out the use of the groundwater contaminant MTBE from gasoline. Beyond the environmental arena, the Senator has sponsored many laws aimed at protecting the health and safety of all New Yorkers.

A new line of educational materials will be available at the launch, as a take home gift to all attendees. The LOOK BEFORE YOU L.E.A.P.™ educational materials offer fun and interactive activities for children. The goal of these materials is to provide environmental health information in a manner that is non-threatening, age-appropriate and also entertaining for children and families alike.

This event will provide an exciting opportunity for parents and their children to learn from and ask questions of experts in the field of environmental pediatric health as well as acting as an introduction to a terrific new community asset in the Center for Excellence in Children’s Environmental Health at North Shore Medical Group.
For more details on “Look Before You LEAP” call 631 547-1518 or visit www.ribbet.org