Midwest Lead Summit 2025
Midwest Lead Summit 2025 | Sept. 9, 2025 | Virtual Conference via Zoom
Virtual Registration*: Free
The 2025 Midwest Lead Summit was held online on Sept. 9, 2025. The event brought together over 200 public health experts, policymakers, and community leaders to address pressing issues surrounding lead exposure and public health across the Midwest.
If you missed this event, want to rewatch a presentation or would like to view a session that you did not attend, please check out the presentation recordings below!
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Presentations
"Lead in Drinking Water: Overlooked Sources and Vulnerable Consumers"
Presented by David Cwiertny, Director, Center for Health Effects of Environmental Contamination
"Lessons Learned from Mississippi’s Sip Safe Program"
Presented by Justin Palmer, Mississippi State University Extension
"Preparing Public Health Professionals with Universities"
Presented by Lynelle Phillips, MPH, RN, Education Director for Public Health in Extension, University of Missouri
"Raising Public Health Issues in Hispanic Communities"
Presented by Dr. Drew Colcher, Wichita State University
"Lead Service Lines: Chemistry and Water Quality"
Presented by Dr. Edward Peltier, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and Professor of Environmental Engineering at the
University of Kansas School of Engineering
"Reducing Human Exposure to Lead in Soil"
Presented by Dr. Ganga Hettiarachchi, K-State Soil and Environmental Chemistry
"Children’s Mercy Healthy Homes Program"
Presented by Ryan Allenbrand, MS, CIEC, HHS, Environmental Hygienist, Program Manager of Health Homes at Children’s
Mercy
Speakers
David Cwiertny
David Cwiertny, Director, Center for Health Effects of Environmental Contamination
Dr. David Cwiertny is the William D. Ashton Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) and a Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Iowa (UI). His research broadly focuses on water quality and water treatment, with particular interests at the intersection of public health and policy. At UI, he directs the State-funded Center for Health Effects of Environmental Contamination (CHEEC), which conducts research to identify, measure, and prevent adverse health outcomes from exposure to environmental contaminants. In 2016, he served as a Congressional Fellow for the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), working in the U.S. House of Representatives on the Committee for Energy and Commerce. He previously served as the founding Editor-in-Chief of Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology, a Royal Society journal. David holds a BS in Environmental Engineering Science and a minor in Chemistry from U.C. Berkeley (2000), and a PhD in Environmental Engineering from Johns Hopkins University (2006).
Brian Coyle
Brian Coyle, MPH, Program Manager II, Epidemiology Unit, Nebraska Department of Health
and Human Services
Brian Coyle has worked for almost 18 years in public health in Nebraska starting in
the Chronic Disease Prevention and Control Program and transitioned to the lead poisoning
prevention program. He has served for the last three years as the Health Program Manager
for the Nebraska Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program (NeCLPPP) and recently transitioned to a new role as a Program Manager II in the Epidemiology Unit. His experience and expertise include CDC grant planning and management, fostering key partnerships at the state
and local levels to complete strategic objectives, and aligning local interventions to ensure the health and safety of all Nebraskans,
especially for children and families.
Jessica Willard
Jessica Willard, Environmental Health Epidemiology and Surveillance Section Chief, Kansas Department of Health and Environment
Jessica Willard is the Environmental Health Epidemiology and Surveillance Section Chief at the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. She has worked for both the Division of Environment and the Division of Public Health for 18 years. In that role, she has supervised the Kansas Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program since 2018 when KDHE was awarded the CDC grant.
Dr. Drew Colcher
Dr. Drew Colcher, Wichita State University
Drew Colcher (PhD) is program manager for Alce su Voz at Wichita State University. He received his PhD
in Hispanic Linguistics from the University of Texas at Austin in 2025, and his MA
in English Literature from Wichita State University in 2019.
Dr. Colcher’s work focuses on the sociolinguistics of Spanish in the U.S. and on addressing material inequalities created by ethnolinguistic discrimination, especially in health care and education. He has published in scholarly journals, academic volumes, and a compendium of Spanish creative writing, and he is co-author of the book Health Disparities and the Applied Linguist.
Justin Palmer
Justin Palmer, Research Associate, Mississippi State University Extension Service
Justin Palmer is a research associate with the Mississippi State University Extension Service’s
SipSafe team at the Mississippi Water Resources Research Institute (MWRRI). For the past
three years, he has led the SipSafe program, which focuses on providing water screening in childcare centers across Mississippi.
His work is centered on reducing childhood lead exposure from drinking water, particularly in children ages 0 to 5.
Lynelle Phillips
Lynelle Phillips, RN, MPH, Associate Teaching Professor, Department of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, University of Missouri
Lynelle Phillips received her RN in 1989 and MPH in 1992 and has worked for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in areas including environmental health, immunizations, and tuberculosis control. She also worked at the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services as a nurse consultant and CDC field assignee to the tuberculosis program, and she has consulted for the Heartland National TB Center. She is currently serving as Associate Teaching Professor for the Department of Public Health in MU’s College of Health Science and teaches epidemiology, ethics, and environmental health courses for both the undergraduate and MPH programs.
Dr. Ted Peltier
Dr. Edward Peltier, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and a Professor of Environmental Engineering at the University of Kansas School of Engineering
Ted Peltier is the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and a Professor of Environmental Engineering at the University of Kansas School of Engineering, where he has taught since 2006. He holds a B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from Princeton University and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Northwestern University. His research areas include the chemistry and fate of metal contaminants in natural and engineering systems, monitoring and assessment of emerging pollutants, including microplastics and PFAS compounds, and innovative strategies for treatment and management of produced water and other high-salinity wastewaters. He co-authored a 2017 Water Research Foundation report evaluating the use of lining and coating technologies as an alternative to lead service line replacement.
Dr. Ganga Hettiarachchi
Dr. Ganga Hettiarachchi, Professor, Soil & Environmental Chemistry, K-State UniversityDr. Ganga Hettiarachchi is one of the world’s leading scientists in the fields of trace metal and nutrient chemistry in soils. Her research at K-State focuses on understanding the chemistry of both nutrient and contaminant elements in soils, with the goal of developing solutions to agricultural or environmental problems. For example one of her current projects, goal is to find ways to remediate underutilized, mildly contaminated soils (often call “brownfields”) into soils suitable for productive use, such as community gardens. Another project focuses on understanding reaction products of fertilizers in soils to find ways to increase the fertilizer use efficiency. Full Bio
Ryan Allenbrand, Program Manager, Children's Mercy Kansas City
Ryan Allenbrand is the Program Manager for the Healthy Home Program at Children’s Mercy Kansas City.
He has over 20 years of experience in forensic, environmental health, healthcare,
and public health. His expertise includes working as an expert witness, technical advisor, and consultant in various
sectors. Additionally, he serves on the Kansas Statewide Advisory Council for lead,
Home Modification Coalition of Greater Kansas City, and the Human Trafficking Task
Force at Children’s Mercy Hospital.
This project has been funded wholly or in part by the United States Environmental Protection Agency under a cooperative agreement with the Environmental Finance Center at Wichita State University. The contents of this website do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Environmental Protection Agency, nor does the EPA endorse trade names or recommend the use of commercial products mentioned.