Dorothy Hussain Distinguished Lecture
Environmental Influences on Health and Disease
The 18th Annual Dorothy Hussain Distinguished Lecture on Environmental Influences
on Health and Disease.
This lecture explores how environmental factors impact individual and population health
outcomes worldwide. Students, faculty, staff, and healthcare professionals will gain
insight into the connections between environmental exposures, disease prevention,
and health equity. Participants will engage with healthcare leaders, discuss emerging
challenges, and explore strategies for advancing environmentally informed nursing
practice and research.
The University of Toledo School of Nursing is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation. This activity is awarded 2.0 contact hours of nursing continuing professional development.
Date: Tuesday, March 24, 2026
Speaker
Ruth McDermott-Levy, Ph.D., M.P.H., RN, FAAN
Co-Director of the Mid-Atlantic Center for Children’s Health and the Environment (Region 3 PEHSU), the only fully nurse-led Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit at the M. louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing, Villanova Universiy. Her clinical area of focus is public health nursing.
She has completed research in the areas of international student experiences in the U.S. and community health workers in Nicaragua, Arab immigrants in the U.S., health concerns in fracking communities, and community-based organizations’ adaptation to climate change. She relies primarily on qualitative (descriptive and phenomenology), Community-Based Participatory Research, and Delphi methods.
Dr. McDermott-Levy was a 2018–19 Fulbright-Saastamoinen Foundation Health and Environmental Sciences Scholar to Finland and continues to collaborate with Finnish scholars regarding climate change in nursing education and sustainability within the Finnish health system. Her current scholarship includes environmental health with a focus on climate change-related mortality, adaptation, and extraction communities. In 2020, she was the recipient of the Charlotte Brody Award for her leadership in environmental health nursing.
Panelists
Lucinda Cave, M.S.N., RN, NPD-BC
Lucinda Cave, M.S.N., RN, NPD-BC, has been a nurse for more than 40 years. She began her career in acute care and later transitioned into nursing professional development at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center.
Cave currently serves as an adjunct clinical faculty member at the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing at Case Western Reserve University, where she is the primary nurse planner for the continuing education provider unit.
Since 2008, she has been an avid cyclist and advocate for active transportation. She works with bike advocacy organizations, including Bike Cleveland and Bike Lakewood, as well as local and state governments to promote safer infrastructure and increase access to environmentally friendly transportation. In her spare time, Cave enjoys biking throughout the world, especially along the roads and trails of Ohio.
Renee Ott, M.S.N. , CNP
Renee Ott, M.S.N. , CNP, is a board-certified family nurse practitioner specializing in medical dermatology at Dermatology Partners in Avon, Sandusky and Port Clinton, Ohio. She provides comprehensive dermatologic care for patients of all ages, treating skin cancer, psoriasis, acne, eczema, atopic dermatitis, hidradenitis suppurativa, hair loss and other general dermatologic conditions.
Ott earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from The University of Toledo and her Master of Science in Nursing from the Medical University of Ohio. Licensed as an advanced practice nurse since 2004, she has extensive clinical experience in dermatology and internal medicine.
Gloria C. Smith, RN
Gloria C. Smith, RN, works in the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program at the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department, where she provides case management services for children affected by lead exposure. She also contributes her time and expertise to the Toledo Community Coalition and other community-based initiatives dedicated to improving public health and strengthening the local community.
Moderator
S. Amjad Hussain MD, FRCSC, FACS, DSC honoris causa
Emeritus Professor of Cardiothoracic surgery, College of Medicine and Life Sciences
Emeritus Professor of Humanities , College of Arts and Letters
University of Toledo
About Dorothy (Dottie) Gladys Hussain
Dorothy Hussain
Sept. 18, 1944 - Dec. 2, 2006
A 1964 graduate of Maumee Valley Hospital School of Nursing, Dottie Hussain’s nursing career spanned 32 years as a staff and critical care nurse. Her professional career included working locally at Maumee Valley Hospital of Toledo, Detroit General Hospital, St. Vincent Medical Center in Toledo and The University of Toledo Medical Center (formerly Medical College of Ohio).
Legacy of the Dorothy Hussain Distinguished Lectureship Program
- 2024: 17th Annual Dorothy Hussain Distinguished Lecture: advancing global health and
equity: challenges and opportunities.
Speaker-Elizabeth Madigan, PhD, RN, FAAN - 2023: 16th Annual Dorothy Hussain Distinguished Lectureship Program: Obesity Impact and
Intervention Across the Lifespan.
Speaker-Jennifer DeVries, DNP, APRN, FNP-C & Valerie Simmons-Walston, MA - 2022: 15th Annual Dorothy Hussain Distinguished Lectureship Program: Disparities in
Women's Health and Infant Mortality
Speaker-Carmen Giurgescu, PhD, RNM WHNP FAAN - 2021: 14th Annual Dorothy Hussain Distinguished Lectureship Program: Sensitive Equitable
Care for LGBTQ+ Populations
Speaker-Emily Zaragoza, MD, MMM, FAAFM - 2020: 13th Annual Dorothy Hussain Distinguished Lectureship Program: COVID-19: Health
Disparities and Social Inequities
Speaker-Brian Dolsey, MD, FACC, FSCAI - 2019: 12th Annual Dorothy Hussain Distinguished Lectureship Program: What’s The ‘T’?:
How to Provide Patient-Centered, Culturally Sensitive Care to Transgender People.
Speaker-Jordon D. Bosse, PhD, RN. - 2017: 11th Annual Dorothy Hussain Distinguished Lectureship Program: Understanding
Addiction in a New Way.
Speaker-Tanvir Singh, MD - 2016: 10th Annual Dottie Hussain Distinguished Lectureship: Assuring Quality of Life:
Palliative Care and Hospice in an Enlighted Care Continuum.
Speaker-Judy Seibenick, RN, BSN,MOL, CHPCA - 2015:9th Annual Dorothy Hussain Distinguished Lectureship: Human-Animal Interaction:
Promoting Well-Being for Both Ends of the Leash.
Speaker-Rebecca Johnson, PhD, RN, FAAN, FNA - 2014: 8th Annual Dorothy Hussain Distinguished Lectureship: The Future of Interprofessional
Healthcare.
Speaker-George E. Thibault, MD. - 2013: 7th Annual Dorothy Hussain Distinguished Lectureship: Interdisciplinary Model
for the Management of Individuals with Pancreatic Cancer.
Speaker-Dan Laheru, MD - 2012: 6th Annual Dorothy Hussain Distinguished Lectureship: Altruistic Health Care:
Clinical and Academic Implications.
Speaker-Richard A. Paat, MD, FACP - 2011: 5th Annual Dorothy Hussain Distinguished Lectureship: Interprofessional Approaches
for Managing Overweight and Obese Patients.
Speaker-Adrienne Wald, EdD, MBA, BSN, CHES - 2010: 4th Annual Dorothy Hussain Distinguished Lectureship: Interprofessional Model
for Elder Care. Speaker-Murthy Gokula, MD
- 2009: 3rd Annual Dottie Hussain Distinguished Lectureship Series: Interdisciplinary
Approach to Wound Care: “Using Every Player on the Team”.
Speakers-Joyce Black, PhD, RN & Steven Black, MD, FACS - 2008: 2nd Dorothy Hussain Distinguished Lectureship: The Clinical Realities of Nursing
Care: Evidence-based Practice.
Speaker-Laura Cullen, MA, RN - 2007: 1st Dorothy Hussain Memorial Lecture: Through the Looking Glass: Winning the
Hearts and Minds of the Nurses of Wonderland.
Speaker-Melodie Chenevert, RN, MN
Questions?
Contact:
Eileen Walsh, Ph.D, APRN, CVN, FAHA
Associate Dean Chief Nurse Administrator
Professor
