A Profile
of Dr. Patricia Buffler:
Her Research and Activities
Dr. Patricia Buffler
Dean, School of Public Health
University of California, Berkeley
An Introduction
As the Dean of the School of Public Health at UC Berkeley, Dr. Patricia Buffler oversees graduate programs within the School and serves on several university committees and advisory boards. In addition to her administrative and research commitments, Dr. Patricia Buffler is influential in the national environmental policy arena. She has served on several committees including the National Commission on Superfund and the National Academy of Sciences panel on alternatives for cleanup of contaminated groundwater, and co-chaired the Cal EPA Statewide Community Advisory Committee for the California Comparative Risk Project. At present she is a member of the National Research Council Steering Committee for a national forum on science and technology goals in the environmental area. Dr. Buffler is the academic advisor to UC TSR&TP trainee, Amy D. Kyle, who worked with Dr. Buffler on these recent projects. (see accompanying article).
Involvement in Public Policy
In 1992, Dr. Buffler was asked to serve on the National Superfund Commission. The 25 people appointed to the commission were chief executive officers for companies and organizations representing all major constituencies, including industries (such as oil and chemical companies), insurers, community groups, and environmentalists. Dr. Buffler was the only academic representative. This commission was challenged to reach a consensus on legislative amendments to reform the Superfund statute, to improve the effectiveness of the program. The Final Consensus Report of the National Commission on Superfund addressed a wide range of issues, including liability, cleanup standards, public participation and involvement, and protection of public health. Though most of the recommendations of the Commission were incorporated into legislation that passed both the House and the Senate in the fall of 1994, the bill was not reconciled between the two houses and consequently failed.
Dr. Buffler explains, "I think it [NCS] represented a real landmark in terms of getting major stakeholders to agree on the kinds of changes that could be made. To develop a document that outlined the needed changes and satisfied the constituents involved was not an easy piece of work. All Congress had to do was sign it. It was extremely unfortunate that, for political reasons, Superfund was not re-authorized in 1994; however, this document still can provide a framework for changes that need to happen in the future."
Dr. Buffler expressed concern with current proposals in the Contract for America regarding environmental programs and policy. The Job Enhancement and Economic Development Act, or HR 9 as the bill is known, proposes several major changes to the current and future environmental programs within the United States. Dr. Buffler sees this bill as a very complex piece of legislation. "There are several parts of HR-9 that are treacherous -- the language is deceptive because it has all of the language that appeals to academics -- good science, peer review, cost benefit--but if enacted, it could absolutely destroy public health regulation that's been enacted for the past 25 years," said Buffler. "By bringing cost benefit analysis into the risk assessment, the authors have added another political process."
Dr. Buffler sees the proposed peer review process as superficially attractive but inevitably paralyzing. "To subject any proposal to 23 separate levels of peer review and require that all levels agree would destroy any prospect of enacting effective legislation or regulation." Dr. Buffler is certain the HR-9 bill will be passed by the House of Representatives, so her concern lies with the Senate. "There will be considerable debate in the Senate," she says, "and that's where we have to make our impact." {Editor's Note: Since this interview, several portions of HR 9 passed the House of Representatives in a new bill called HR 1022. Provisions for changes in risk assessment, cost-benefit analysis, increased litigation, and inclusion of parties with interests in decisions on expert panels passed the House of Representatives.}
Dr. Buffler has also served as co-chair with Dr. Carl Cranor of UC Riverside of the Cal EPA Statewide Community Advisory Committee for the State Comparative Risk Project. Learning from risk projects that US EPA had completed, Cal-EPA proposed innovative approaches. The committee was mandated to review and comment on how comparative risk could be used in setting parameters for environmental protection programs. They reviewed the work of several technical groups attached to the project "We achieved most of the objectives except for the implementation. We have indicated that we want to work with Cal/EPA and help the director understand what parts of this can be used and what parts appropriately need more study." said Dr. Buffler. She expressed disappointment that Cal-EPA has distanced itself from the project and doesn't appear interested in using the results of the project at this time. Buffler concludes, "I hope I will be able to work with Cal-EPA and emphasize the value of the project report. Some things they should use immediately, and they shouldn't back away from it for political reasons."
Current Research
As a professor of epidemiology, with research interests in environmental epidemiology, Patricia Buffler's research has focused on the factors that are present in the occurrence, distribution and control of diseases within populations. Currently, she is beginning a study of leukemia in children. Funded by a portion of Dr. Martyn Smith's Superfund Project, Dr. Buffler and Dr. Smith will attempt to track changes in the children's DNA that might be induced by environmental exposures. With the cooperation of the California State Health Department and four San Francisco Bay Area medical centers, they proposed to focus on children under age 10 who are newly diagnosed with leukemia. Using blood samples drawn at birth they hope to identify each child's DNA status prior to any external environmental exposure or onset of leukemia. By comparing this DNA analysis with DNA taken from the blood drawn at time of diagnosis with leukemia, Buffler and Smith can determine if changes in DNA are linked to environmental exposures. Since each child has lived for a relatively short period, the collection of detailed environmental exposure information will be much more feasible than when studying adults. By analyzing both the environmental exposures and the DNA imprints, they hope to establish a correlation between the onset of leukemia and the environmental exposures these children have incurred.
Future Plans
Dr. Buffler will continue in her leadership role as Dean of the School of Public Health at UC Berkeley. She also continues to advise government and private parties in the realm of environmental policy.
| <-April/May 1995 |