Sustainability, Health and the Environment (SHE) Center at the Medical College of Wisconsin

The mission of the SHE Center is to be a distinguished leader and innovator to foster a healthy and equitable environment, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and waste, and help prepare our healthcare system and the patients we serve to resiliently adapt to climate challenges. Working to pioneer environmentally sustainable paths to a healthier world, the Center will be guided by MCW’s four missions to collaborate across MCW departments, centers and institutes, as well as with our healthcare system partners, government agencies, tribal nations, non-profit organizations, academic institutions and businesses to advance its efforts.

The goals of the SHE Center include:

• advancing sustainability efforts internal to MCW and with our health system partners
• educating MCW people as well as campus and community partners about climate change, sustainability, and environmental health
• generating new knowledge about the environment and health to improve lives in Wisconsin and beyond
• collaborating with our communities to learn with them about the impact of climate change on health and to work for opportunities to enhance resiliency

Christa L. Wagner, PhD, serves as the founding director of the MCW’s Center for Sustainability, Health and the Environment (MCW SHE Center), housed within the Institute for Health & Equity (IHE). Dr. Wagner also serves as assistant professor in the IHE. Under Dr. Wagner’s leadership, the SHE Center will address the impacts of climate change and subsequent environmental factors on the health of Wisconsinites, the role MCW and its health system affiliates play in contributing to local pollution, and increasing education and health literacy to enhance patient and community resiliency and adaptability.

Prior to joining MCW, Dr. Wagner was the manager of government relations at the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) where she was responsible for legislative policy and advocacy in support of medical research, public health and academic medicine’s partnership with the Department of Veterans Affairs. From 2016-2017, Dr. Wagner was the Genetics and Public Policy Fellow sponsored by the American Society of Human Genetics and the NIH’s National Human Genome Research Institute. Dr. Wagner earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biochemistry from Oberlin College and her PhD in Cellular and Molecular Medicine from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Wagner is an avid runner, cyclist, travel enthusiast, and enjoys backcountry camping.