Impartial Science in an Era of Skepticism: Energy and Health Research

Donna Vorhees

Director, Health Effects Institute

Abstract
Emerging technologies and alternative fuels are being deployed across the power, industrial, transportation, and other sectors, accompanied by substantial investments aimed at transforming energy systems and supply chains. At the Health Effects Institute (HEI), a nonprofit and independent research organization jointly funded by government, industry, and philanthropy, we support research to assess how changing technologies and fuels may affect human health. While such changes offer opportunities to reduce environmental exposures and enhance public health, they may also introduce new sources of pollution that pose novel health risks or exacerbate existing ones. For over four decades, HEI has funded, overseen, and evaluated research through a rigorous model that has yielded impartial, high-quality science that has informed key technological and policy decisions. The model’s credibility—especially in addressing complex and sometimes controversial topics—has been central to HEI’s success. This presentation will outline the core elements of HEI’s research model and demonstrate its application through examples related to energy development and transportation.

Bio
Donna Vorhees leads HEI Energy’s work in providing impartial science about potential community exposures and health effects associated with energy production, with an initial focus on unconventional oil and gas development. In this role, she oversees educational and outreach efforts and works with the Energy Research and Review Committees and HEI Energy staff to develop research proposals, oversee funded research and associated community engagement, and review investigator reports. Vorhees has 25 years of consulting experience, assessing multi-pathway chemical exposures in indoor and outdoor environments, quantifying human health risks, and communicating risks to affected communities in the United States on behalf of government and private clients and internationally on behalf of the United Nations Environment Program. She has served on peer review panels for various organizations, such as the U.S. EPA, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, and Health Canada, and on advisory committees, such as National Research Council committees, the EPA Board of Scientific Counselors Subcommittee on Chemical Safety for Sustainability, and the Fellows Advisory Committee of the Robert and Patricia Switzer Foundation. Vorhees currently serves as a Switzer Foundation Trustee and Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Boston University School of Public Health. She received her Sc.M. and Sc.D. in Environmental Health from the Harvard School of Public Health.