George D. Thurston

Dr. George Thurston is a member of the faculty of the Departments of Environmental Medicine and Population Health at the New York University School of Medicine. He also presently serves on the US EPA's Board of Scientific Counselors (2022-2025). Professor Thurston was graduated from the College at Brown University in Environmental Engineering (ScB) and Environmental Studies (AB), independent majors he developed under Brown's Open Curriculum, and since instituted as academic programs at the school. He studied meteorology at MIT and received his doctorate in Environmental Health Sciences from the Harvard School of Public Health. His research has primarily focused on the human health effects of air pollution, especially regarding fine particulate matter (PM2.5). It has involved studies of air pollution exposure and their health effects in panels of individual human subjects, as well as large population cohorts. In 1987, he published the first research documenting the association between PM2.5 mass and its source and constituent components with mortality. His scientific awards include the 2012 "Haagen Smit Prize" from the journal Atmospheric Environment. Dr. Thurston has also brought scientists and physicians together to reach consensus on key issues, and has translated environmental science to the public through interviews on radio, television, internet blogs, and other journalistic media. He led the recent American Thoracic Society (ATS) and European Respiratory Society (ERS) Statement on "What Constitutes an Adverse Effect of Air Pollution" (2017), and received the 2017 American Thoracic Society's Public Service Award for his science translation activities on behalf of the ATS. He has also raised awareness about the human health co-benefits of climate change mitigation action, first publishing in the journal Science, and testifying before the US Congress, on the clean air human health benefits of climate action in 2001.