AAAS EPI Center and the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Legislative Caucus Roundtables: Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) and Drinking Water
Speaker Biographies
Laurene Allen is a community based clinical social worker, co-founder of the Merrimack Citizens for Clean Water (Cleanwaternh.org) community action group and a founding member of the National PFAS Contamination Coalition. She started advocating for the needs of residents in Merrimack, NH after learning in 2016 that her family and community members were impacted by industry attributed PFAS contamination. In addition to community engagement, education and advocacy efforts on a local, state and federal level, Laurene has focused on raising awareness of community health impacts believed to be associated with past and ongoing PFAS exposure. Together with citizen activists from across the nation, she has also been involved in shaping a collaborative platform of the needs of all PFAS exposed communities. Laurene strongly believes that PFAS impacted community members are their own experts as illustrated by facilitating a community designed and led health survey. The co- authored paper of the process has been published in the journal, Environmental Health (https://www.readcube.com/articles/10.1186/s1294 0-019-0513-3).
Phil Brown is University Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Health Science at Northeastern University, where he directs the Social Science Environmental Health Research Institute and co- directs its PFAS Project lab. He is PI of the past NSF grant “ Perfluorinated Chemicals: The Social Discovery of a Class of Emerging Contaminants” and the current NSF grant “The New Chemical Class Activism: Mobilization Around Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances.” He is Multiple PI of an NIEHS grant which studies children’s immune responses to PFAS and community response to contamination, and develops a report-back and information exchange. He helped organize 2017 and 2019 PFAS conferences.
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