Dr. KC Donnelly Passes Away

K.C. Donnelly, Ph.D., professor and head of environmental and occupational health at the Texas A&M Health Science Center School of Rural Public Health since 1999, passed away July 1, 2009, from complications related to cancer.

“The School of Rural Public Health and the Texas A&M Health Science Center have been blessed by his contributions to our fabric,” said Nancy W. Dickey, M.D., president of the Texas A&M Health Science Center and vice chancellor for health affairs for The Texas A&M University System, and Roderick E. McCallum, Ph.D., interim dean of the HSC-School of Rural Public Health and vice president for academic affairs.

“The coming days and weeks will be difficult, but we are all blessed to have known him. We will miss him dearly. He was truly a remarkable colleague and friend.”

Born Aug. 27, 1951, Dr. Donnelly received a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology in 1974 and a Ph.D. in Toxicology in 1988 from Texas A&M University. He directed undergraduate and graduate studies and worked to improve the public health work force by implementing continuing education workshops in environmental health for public health professionals.

With more than 30 years of experience in basic and applied research, Dr. Donnelly was the associate director for the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences-funded Superfund Basic Research Program at Texas A&M. His research included environmental exposure studies in Azerbaijan; the Czech Republic; Shanxi, China; and numerous U.S. locations, along with animal and human population studies on population exposures and the genotoxicity of complex chemical mixtures.

Additional research efforts by Dr. Donnelly included a collaborative study with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Environmental Protection Agency to conduct a study on pesticide exposure in children residing in four rural communities and studies on the use of health education as an intervention to reduce childhood exposure to pesticides in Texas colonias (rural, unincorporated border communities).

“His imprint will remain with us and those who follow in our footsteps for decades to come,” said Drs. Dickey and McCallum. “His students are among the most devoted anywhere. They, too, will undoubtedly carry his work with them as they undertake their professional careers.”

Dr. Donnelly is survived by his wife, Robin; son and daughter-in-law, Nathan and Danielle Donnelly; son, Noah Donnelly; brother, Ted; and sister, Patsy.

School of Rural Public Health receives gift from Chevron for environmental health and safety

Chevron, the international energy company, recently gave $209,500 to the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at the Texas A&M Health Science Center School of Rural Public Health to support faculty, help develop an undergraduate program in environmental health and safety, and provide student scholarships.

“The department is very pleased to have received support from Chevron to help improve the occupational safety and health program,” said K.C. Donnelly, Ph.D., head and professor of environmental and occupational health. “The funds have allowed us to provide additional support for students and to hire additional faculty. Most importantly, the guidance provided from Chevron on curriculum content and providing internships has allowed us to better prepare our students.”

Shariqu Yosufzai, president of Chevron Global Marketing, said, “Through today’s gift, Chevron continues the tradition of supporting this institution and the students and faculty who will help us tackle the issues of the 21st century.”

Global warming biggest health threat of 21st century, experts say

The warming of planet Earth is "the biggest global health threat of the 21st century," a varied group of experts warned Wednesday.

Their report is one of the latest to expound on the deepening environmental crisis, and one of the first to focus on the potential role of health-care professionals in ameliorating the problem.

"This is a bad diagnosis not just for children in different lands. It's for our children and grandchildren," Anthony Costello, a professor of international child health and director of the Institute for Global Health at University College London, said during a Wednesday teleconference. "Even the most conservative estimates are profoundly disturbing and demand action. Climate change raises an important issue of inter-generational justice, that we are setting up a world for our children and grandchildren that may be extremely frightening and turbulent."

Costello is lead author of a thick report produced jointly by The Lancet journal and University College London (UCL) and published in the May 16 issue of the journal.

"There are no institutions at the global level who can really deal effectively with devising complex solutions to these complex problems," added Lancet editor Dr. Richard Horton. "It is an urgent threat. It is a dangerous threat. It has been neglected, and requires an unprecedented response by governments and international organizations."

Among other things, the report's authors call for the involvement of health professionals, who have not yet been central to the cause.

Climate change is now a fact of life on this planet.

"The vast majority of experts, 95 percent, maybe even 99 percent, agree that global warming is taking place," said Kirby Donnelly, head of environmental and occupational health at Texas A and M Health Science Center School of Rural Public Health. "The big issue is the model: When will global warming become a problem?"

The report based its predictions on a 2- to 6-degree warming over the next century but focusing on a pessimistic 4-degree rise, said Mark Maslin, director of UCL's Environment Institute.

Among the health consequences of such a rise:

• Vector-borne diseases such as dengue fever and malaria, once confined to warmer areas, will move north and become more widespread as a result of increased temperatures.
• Heat waves will kill more people in more areas of the world (more than 70,000 people died during a heat wave in Europe in 2003).
• Crop yields will decline, leading to greater food insecurity in a world where 800 million already go to bed hungry every night.
• Water shortages will lead to more gastroenteritis and malnutrition, among other health problems.
• Extreme climactic events such as flash flooding due to changing rainfall patterns and melting ice sheets will hinder the world's sewage systems, leading to diarrhea and other problems, said Dr. Hugh Montgomery, director of UCL's Institute for Human Health and Performance. Severe cyclones and hurricanes will also take more lives.
• More people living in cities will lead to a shortage of housing, which will lead to slums, which will lead to inadequate sanitation systems and increased vulnerability to extreme weather events.

The authors propose adopting policies to reduce carbon emissions and increase carbon biosequestration and to equalize the world's health systems, among other recommendations.

"We have a moral dilemma: How do we protect the health of the poorest people in the world and allow them to develop," Maslin said.

"There are so many public health issues associated with global warming that certainly, once it becomes a significant problem, it will be the most significant public health problem at that point in time," Donnelly said.

"This is a problem that affects the entire planet, and the longer it takes 'us,' the people on this planet, to take action, the more difficult it will be to resolve the problem," Donnelly said. "We urgently need to take at least minimal action to try to reduce emissions and move toward taking more significant action to reduce global warming."

More information

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has more on global warming.

SOURCES: Kirby Donnelly, Ph.D., head, environmental and occupational health, Texas A&M Health Science Center School of Rural Public Health, College Station; May 13, 2009, teleconference with Anthony Costello, M.B., professor, international child health, and director, Institute for Global Health, University College London; Mark Maslin, Ph.D., director, Environment Institute, and head, geography, University College London; and Hugh Montgomery, M.D., director, Institute for Human Health and Performance, University College London; May 16, 2009, The Lancet

-KSLA NEWS, Amanda Gardner- HealthDay