Expert Forum 2020 — Wireless and Cellphone Radiation and Public Policy

Dr. Devra Davis’ Feb 10, 2020 Keynote Presentation

Video will be posted, when available

This presentation will provide an overview of the types of information available with which to formulate public policy on environmental health with respect to wireless radiation, noting the epistemological differences between recent experimental studies with laboratory animals, anatomically-based models of insects exposed to 3G, 4G and 5G radiation, and those of epidemiological analyses of patterns of disease in humans.

The presentation will elucidate the combined exposures anticipated to occur with a densified 4G/5G system that will necessarily incorporate all prior frequencies at varying power densities and beam-forming and discuss a number of problematic aspects of this evolving system that lacks uniform standards for monitoring and evaluation. The respective strengths and weaknesses of experimental animal and modeling work that predict future damage will be contrasted with those of epidemiological analyses (especially those of workers or other highly exposed individuals) that confirm past harms.

To set the stage for this meeting and propose a framework for further discussion, the presentation will raise a few key questions regarding data gaps and research priorities about the public health and environmental impacts of current and future exposures to wireless radiation, including the phenomena of Electromagnetic Sensitivity as well as synergistic relationships with common ambient pollutants.

Dr. Devra Davis Bio

Dr. Davis holds a B.Sc. and M.A. from the University of Pittsburgh, both received in 1967. She completed a Ph.D. in science studies at the University of Chicago as a Danforth Foundation Graduate Fellow, 1972 and a M.P.H. in epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins University as a Senior National Cancer Institute Post, Doctoral Fellow, 1982.

  • Dr. Davis is a visiting professor of the Hebrew University Medical Center of Jerusalem, and Ondokuz Mayis University School of Medicine of Samsun, Turkey (2015-2016),
  • Dr. Davis was a Founding Director of the Center for Environmental Oncology, University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, and Professor of Epidemiology at the Graduate School of Public Health (2004- 2010) and a Founding Director, Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology of the U.S. National Research Council (1983-1993), where she also served as a Scholar in Residence.
  • Dr. Davis has served as a Distinguished Visiting Professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Visiting Professor at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, Oberlin College and Carnegie Mellon University.
  • Dr. Davis is Founder and President of Environmental Health Trust, a non-profit research and public education organization that is part of the Community Foundation of Jackson Hole. She is also the author of more than 200 scientific publications, 10 edited monographs, and three popular book