Joseph G. Allen

{{Short description|American academic and public health expert}} {{Infobox scientist | name = Joseph G. Allen | native_name = | native_name_lang = English | image = | image_size = | caption = | birth_date = | birth_place = | death_date =  | death_place = | death_cause = | citizenship = United States | fields = Environmental health, public health research, air quality, healthy buildings | workplaces = {{plainlist| * [[Harvard School of Public Health]] }} | education = | alma_mater = {{plainlist| * [[Boston College]] ([[Bachelor of Science|BS]]) * [[Boston University School of Public Health]] ([[Master of Public Health|MPH]], [[Doctor of Science|DSc]]) }} | known_for = Healthy Buildings program at Harvard | awards = | spouse = | children = }} '''Joseph Gardner Allen''' is an American academic and public health expert who directs the Healthy Buildings program at the [[Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health|Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health]], where he is also an [[associate professor]]. Much of Allen's work revolves around the emerging concept of [[healthy building]]s and the impact of buildings and [[indoor air quality]] on human health.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Starr |first=Douglas |date=2021-08-06 |title=The air investigator |url=https://www.science.org/content/article/scientist-says-cleaning-indoor-air-could-make-us-healthier-and-smarter |journal=Science |language=en |volume=373 |issue=6555 |pages=612–615 |bibcode=2021Sci...373..612S |doi=10.1126/science.373.6555.612 |issn=0036-8075 |pmid=34353935 |s2cid=236934540|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

== Early life and education == Allen graduated from [[Boston College]] with a degree in biology, and from Boston University School of Public Health with a Master of Public Health degree (environmental health) and a [[Doctor of Science]] degree (exposure assessment, environmental epidemiology, biostatistics).

== Career ==

=== Author === Allen co-authored the book Healthy Buildings: How Indoor Spaces Can Make You Sick - or Keep You Well (Harvard Press), with John Macomber from [[Harvard Business School]]. ''The New York Times'' named the book a “Top 8 Book for Healthy Living,” and ''Fortune'' named it a book of the year. He has also written for ''The New York Times'', ''The Washington Post'', ''The Boston Globe'', ''The Atlantic'', and ''Harvard Business Review''.

=== Service === Allen is a member of the Scientific and Medical Editorial Review Panel of the [[American Lung Association]],<ref>{{Cite web|title=Joseph G. Allen, D.Sc., MPH|url=https://www.lung.org/about-us/scientific-advisors/joseph-g-allen|access-date=2021-08-11|website=[[American Lung Association]]|language=en}}</ref> Associate Editor for the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology, and Editor for the journal Indoor Environments.

=== COVID-19 === Allen served on The Lancet COVID-19 Commission<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Sachs |first1=Jeffrey D. |last2=Karim |first2=Salim S. Abdool |last3=Aknin |first3=Lara |last4=Allen |first4=Joseph |last5=Brosbøl |first5=Kirsten |last6=Colombo |first6=Francesca |last7=Barron |first7=Gabriela Cuevas |last8=Espinosa |first8=María Fernanda |last9=Gaspar |first9=Vitor |last10=Gaviria |first10=Alejandro |last11=Haines |first11=Andy |last12=Hotez |first12=Peter J. |last13=Koundouri |first13=Phoebe |last14=Bascuñán |first14=Felipe Larraín |last15=Lee |first15=Jong-Koo |date=2022-10-08 |title=The Lancet Commission on lessons for the future from the COVID-19 pandemic |journal=The Lancet |language=English |volume=400 |issue=10359 |pages=1224–1280 |doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(22)01585-9 |issn=0140-6736 |pmid=36115368|pmc=9539542 }}</ref> and was Chair of The Lancet COVID-19 Commission Task Force on Safe Work, Safe School, and Safe Travel.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Safe Work & Travel |url=https://covid19commission.org/safe-work-travel |access-date=2022-11-12 |website=Lancet Commission on COVID-19 |language=en-US}}</ref> He served on Harvard's Coronavirus Advisory and Governor Charlie Baker's (MA) Medical Advisory Board and was an advisor to The White House COVID-19 Response Team. During the [[COVID-19 pandemic]], much of his public work concerned the role of building factors in [[public health]], especially in the context of schools and the workforce returning to office spaces after an extended period of [[remote work]]ing during the pandemic.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Carmichael |first=Sarah Green |date=February 28, 2021 |title=The Big Question: Can We Go Back to Our Offices? |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-02-28/the-big-question-can-we-go-back-to-our-offices |access-date=2021-08-11 |website=[[Bloomberg L.P.|Bloomberg]]}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Joseph Allen |url=https://covid19commission.org/joseph-allen |access-date=2021-08-11 |website=Lancet Commission on COVID-19 |publisher=[[The Lancet]] |language=en-US}}</ref> He publicized these considerations through over 60 op-eds in major publications, as well as with appearances on television news programs,<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> and often used these platforms to correct misinformation surrounding transmission of the virus on surfaces and in the air.<ref name=":1" /> 60 Minutes featured his work in a segment titled, The Air We Breathe.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=LaPook |first1=Jon |last2=Chasan |first2=Aliza |last3=Wolff |first3=Andrew |last4=Lascari |first4=Tadd |date=2023-10-29 |title=Harvard professor highlights importance of ventilation for "healthy buildings" {{!}} 60 Minutes - CBS News |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-ventilation-healthy-buildings-air-60-minutes/ |access-date=2024-10-07 |website=www.cbsnews.com |language=en-US}}</ref>

=== Climate Change === Allen studies the role that buildings play in climate change and strategies to off-set building-related emissions. He has published several articles on the climate and health co-benefits of energy-efficiency measures in buildings.<ref>{{Cite journal |first1=P |last1=MacNaughton |first2=X |last2=Cao |first3=J |last3=Buonocore |first4=J |last4=Cedeno-Laurent |first5=J |last5=Spengler |first6=A |last6=Bernstein |first7=J |last7=Allen |date=June 2018 |title=Energy savings, emission reductions, and health co-benefits of the green building movement |journal=Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology |volume=28 |issue=4 |pages=307–318 |doi=10.1038/s41370-017-0014-9 |issn=1559-064X |pmid=29382929|s2cid=208354309 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Salimifard |first1=Parichehr |last2=Buonocore |first2=Jonathan J. |last3=Konschnik |first3=Kate |last4=Azimi |first4=Parham |last5=VanRy |first5=Marissa |last6=Cedeno Laurent |first6=Jose Guillermo |last7=Hernández |first7=Diana |last8=Allen |first8=Joseph G. |date=2022-01-01 |title=Climate policy impacts on building energy use, emissions, and health: New York City local law 97 |journal=Energy |language=en |volume=238 |article-number=121879 |doi=10.1016/j.energy.2021.121879 |s2cid=239660942 |issn=0360-5442|doi-access=free }}</ref> He authored an article in [[Harvard Business Review]] titled, "Designing buildings that are both well-ventilated and green," that provides recommendations for how to achieve a healthy building that is also energy-efficient.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Allen |first=Joseph G. |date=2023-01-09 |title=Designing Buildings that Are Both Well-Ventilated and Green |work=Harvard Business Review |url=https://hbr.org/2023/01/designing-buildings-that-are-both-well-ventilated-and-green |access-date=2023-02-03 |issn=0017-8012}}</ref> Allen is a faculty member with the Norman Foster Institute's Programme on Sustainable Cities.

=== Healthy buildings === Allen created Harvard's 'The 9 Foundations of a Healthy Building', a report that synthesized the scientific research on factors that lead to better health indoors.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The 9 Foundations of a Healthy Building |url=https://9foundations.forhealth.org/ |access-date=2023-05-17 |website=9 Foundations |language=en-US}}</ref> He keynoted the first ever White House Summit on Indoor Air Quality.<ref>{{Citation |title=White House Summit on Indoor Air Quality | date=12 October 2022 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1HCG1aXaBg |access-date=2023-05-17 |language=en}}</ref> JPMC tapped him to advise on healthy building strategies for their new headquarters at 270 Park Avenue in NYC.<ref>{{Cite news |author-first=Nate |author-last=Berg |date=April 19, 2022 |title=See JPMorgan Chase's big bet on the future of the office Deepak Chopra and Harvard's Joseph Allen helped shape this 60-story tower |url=https://www.fastcompany.com/90742247/see-jp-morgan-chases-big-bet-on-the-future-of-the-office |work=FastCompany}}</ref> Allen holds a patent for "Intelligent Building Monitoring" and H.E.A.A.L., which is a system and algorithm for analyzing real-time data from indoor air quality sensors that bins data and scores building health performance into: Health-Optimized, Excellent, Action, Alert, Limit.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Allen |first=Joseph G. |date=2023-11-09 |title=It's Time for Companies to Monitor Workplace Air Quality |url=https://hbr.org/2023/11/its-time-for-companies-to-monitor-workplace-air-quality |access-date=2024-02-18 |work=Harvard Business Review |issn=0017-8012}}</ref>

== Forever Chemicals == Allen coined the term "[[PFAS|Forever Chemicals]]" in an essay in The Washington Post in 2018,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Allen |first1=Joseph |title=Opinion {{!}} These toxic chemicals are everywhere — even in your body. And they won't ever go away. |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/these-toxic-chemicals-are-everywhere-and-they-wont-ever-go-away/2018/01/02/82e7e48a-e4ee-11e7-a65d-1ac0fd7f097e_story.html |work=The Washington Post |date=2 January 2018}}</ref> In an interview in 2023 he described his motivation: “I wanted to talk about them in a way that might be more accessible to a lot of people and include in their name their key feature—that they are forever,” Allen says. “The decisions we’re making in terms of these products and their use will last through our lifetime and well beyond.” Along with invoking one of their key features, the name “forever chemicals” is a play on their molecular bond: Allen switched around the commonly called carbon-fluoride bond to a “fluorine-carbon bond” in his op-ed, linking the F-C bond to the Forever-Chemical property.<ref>{{Cite news |author-first=Kristin |author-last=Toussaint|title=How PFAS were cleverly rebranded as 'forever chemicals' |work=FastCompany |url=https://www.fastcompany.com/90866808/how-pfas-were-cleverly-rebranded-as-forever-chemicals|date=March 17, 2023}}</ref>

== References == {{Reflist}}

== External links ==

* [https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/joseph-allen/ Joseph Allen's Harvard Faculty Website] * [https://connects.catalyst.harvard.edu/Profiles/display/Person/4862 Joseph G. Allen's Harvard Catalyst Website with publications]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Joseph G.}} [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health faculty]] [[Category:Morrissey College of Arts & Sciences alumni]] [[Category:Boston University School of Public Health alumni]] [[Category:American health educators]] [[Category:COVID-19 researchers]] [[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]