Speaker: Joseph Okeme, Chemistry & Chemical Biology, McMaster University
Abstract: This talk will focus on our effort to develop assessment tools for airborne exposures that are consistent with sustainable chemistry principles. Airborne pollution causes 1-in-6 deaths worldwide, including 150,000 Canadian deaths, per year. We urgently need, as first step in prevention, easily used tools to characterize key environmental risk factors, including chemical exposures, and identify susceptible populations to prioritize for interventions. Paradoxically, current approaches used in research labs to address this knowledge gap also contribute to environmental and occupation exposures, notably through the choice and quantity of materials used in experimental work. In this talk, I will discuss our group’s sustainable innovations to assessing exposures and physical-chemical properties that require minimal use of solvent and sample preparations.
Bio: Joseph Okeme is an Assistant Professor in Chemistry and Chemical Biology and a Scientist at the Occupational Cancer Research Centre, Cancer Care Ontario-Ontario Health (OCRC-OH). He has a BSc in Environmental Toxicology (Abeokuta, Nigeria), an MSc in Instrumental Analytical Sciences (Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen) and a PhD in Physical and Environmental Sciences (University of Toronto). After receiving his PhD in 2017, he worked as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Cancer Care Ontario-Ontario Health and a Banting Fellow at the Yale School of Public Health before starting his lab at McMaster. His interdisciplinary research program focuses on advancing our understanding of how non-genetic risks factors influence disease using novel technologies.