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Dr. Marilynne Wood, pediatric educator, clinician, researcher and community activist, will speak of her experience over the past 10 years in screening and educating hundreds of families of how lead poisoning is effecting their children with elevated lead levels. Dr. Wood has collaborated with city government to pass a lead ordinance to assure “lead safe” housing for young families in the Toledo area. She has worked extensively with University of Toledo College of Nursing graduate students to identify children with lead poisoning and to help parents make their homes lead-safe.
Dr. Wood states that outside of the home, young children spend the majority of their day – 6.8 hours a day – at school. Yet a new federal report found that an estimated 15.2 million children in the U.S. go to schools in school districts that found lead-based paint. This is happening more than 40 years after the United States’ 1978 ban on the use of lead-based paint in housing.
As Principal Investigator of the Elevated Lead Levels in Children: Academic Achievement and Health Policy Implications research study, Dr. Wood has published and presented at local, regional, national and international conferences. Dr. Marilynne Wood has conducted many community, church, and school events and health fairs providing free blood lead level screenings and lead prevention education for many minority families. Accompanied by the UToledo College of Nursing (CON) graduate and undergraduate students, these events are made accessible after school hours, evenings, weekends, and during summer months.
Dr. Wood has gained experience and developed trust with many groups, organizations, school administrators, and the faith-based community. Collaborating with Advocates for Basic Legal Equality (ABLE) and city council, the research team including the CON students successfully passed a Lead Ordinance for lead inspections and abatements of rental properties to ensure “lead safe” housing for families. Accompanied by our CON undergraduate and graduate (Clinical Nurse Leader, Family Nurse Practitioner, Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, Nurse Educator, and Doctorate in Nursing Practice) students, Dr. Wood has disseminated the research study findings at several venues to increase awareness and importance of prevention of lead exposure. In this way, community leaders would eliminate using lead poisoned children as the markers for our highest risk neighborhoods and zip codes. Also, she has worked extensively with environmental issues, conducted childhood asthma research studies, and analyzed the impact of limited health literacy in the Toledo Lucas County area among the African American population.
As a high school graduate of Magnificat High School, Rocky River, Ohio, Dr. Marilynne Wood earned her RN Diploma at Mercy School of Nursing, Bachelor of Science in Nursing at University of Toledo (UToledo), Master of Science in Nursing at Medical College of Ohio, and PhD at UToledo.
Dr. Wood received the Edith Rathbun Outreach and Engagement Excellence Award at UToledo, The Mercy College of Ohio Outstanding Alumni of the Year Award, The UToledo Shining Star and many research and community outreach awards in recognition of her work.
