The Below Agenda is from 2019. New 2020 Agenda will be posted when available.
The Center for Health & Nature has identified academic leaders, conservation leaders, and physician-scientists from around the country and world who are engaged in research related to symposium topics. The symposium will consist of three keynote speakers, followed by four research concept pitches related to the symposium themes:
- Nature as Preventative & Restorative Medicine
- The Health Role of Nature in Cities
- Nature as Chronic Disease Management
Research may also include the following foci, but are not limited to:
- Population health – relating to a particular subset of the population such as seniors or school-age children
- Access to nature – inequities in the extent to which nature is available as part of daily life
- Quality and safety – the effect nature can have on either quality of treatment or safety implications
- Patient experience – the impact of exposure to nature on patient experience
- Workforce wellness – the impact of nature on overall wellness of any given workforce group
| 8:00 a.m. | Symposium Check In, Registration & Breakfast |
| 9:00 a.m. | Center for Health & Nature Symposium Welcome Edward A. Jones, MBA, President and CEO, Houston Methodist Research Institute Carrie L. Byington, MD, Vice Chancellor for Health Services, The Texas A&M University System Joni Carswell, Texan by Nature |
| 9:15 a.m. | Convocation Reverend Charles Millikan, Houston Methodist |
| 9:20 a.m. | Designing Systems to Prevent Physician & Nurse Burnout Terri Menser, PhD, MBA, Houston Methodist |
| 9:35 a.m. | Heart Health Nature Study Overview Bita Kash, PhD, MBA, FACHE, Houston Methodist Karla M. Kurrelmeyer, MD, FACC, FASE, Houston Methodist Aruni Bhatnagar, PhD, FAHA, University of Louisville |
| 10:00 a.m. | Break |
| 10:10 a.m. | Keynote Speaker 1 Assessing Long Term Exposure to Urban Nature and its Health Benefits Perry Hystad, PhD, Assistant Professor College of Public Health & Human Sciences, Oregon State University |
| 10:45 a.m. | Keynote Speaker 2 Nature and Health: NIH Funding Examples, Opportunities, and Challenges David Berrigan, PhD, MPH, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health |
| 11:20 a.m. | Keynote Speaker 3 Why Nature Makes Us Happier, Healthier, and More Creative Florence Williams, journalist, author, podcaster and public speaker |
| Noon | Lunch |
| 12:30 p.m. | Speaker Panel Moderator: Cynthia Pickett-Stevenson, JD, Texan by Nature & Houston Methodist |
| 1:05 p.m. | Urban Green (Infra)structure for Pedestrian Health Chanam Lee, PhD |
| 1:20 p.m. | Q&A |
| 1:30 p.m. | Virtual Reality Gardening and Stress Prevention for Oncology Patients: Bring Nature Indoors Renee Stubbins, PhD & Xiaohui Xu, PhD |
| 1:45 p.m. | Q&A |
| 1:55 p.m. | Break |
| 2:10 pm. | Developing a Tool for Measuring Landscape Performance on Public Health Galen Newman, PhD |
| 2:25 p.m. | Q&A |
| 2:35 p.m. | Influences of Virtual Window on Hospital Patients’ and Caregivers’ Health & Well-Being Zhipeng Lu, PhD |
| 2:50 p.m. | Q&A |
| 3:00 p.m. | Vision Panel (State of Research Panel) |
| 3:30 p.m. | Closing Remarks Laura W. Bush, former First Lady and Texan by Nature Founder |