Green Affordable Housing as a Health Intervention

Bio: Karen K. Lee, MD, MHSc, FRCPC, currently heads the Built Environment Program at the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Dr. Lee is the lead for the NYC Health Dept in its work with NYC's Departments of Design + Construction, Transportation and City Planning, other city agencies and the American Institute of Architects New York Chapter (AIANY), in the development of the Active Design Guidelines, published in January 2010. Dr. Lee also works with the AIANY in organizing the annual NYC Fit City Conferences occurring since 2006. The Active Design Guidelines have been named in 4 national awards in the U.S. including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Overall Excellence Award in Smart Growth Achievement in 2010, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Active Living Research "Translating Research to Policy" Award in 2011, a U.S. Sustainable Buildings Industry Council Grand Prize in 2011, and the American Institute of Architects Collaborative Achievement Award in 2011. The Guidelines have been downloaded in over 100 countries. Dr. Lee is also Adjunct Professor at the University of Alberta School of Public Health, a World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Non-Communicable Disease Policy, and the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. Before coming to NYC, Dr. Lee was with the Epidemic Intelligence Service at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) where she worked in the Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity at the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. The CDC epidemiology field team led by Dr. Lee for the investigation of obesity-related environmental factors in West Virginia was awarded the US Public Health Service Unit Commendation Award for outstanding contributions.