International Medical Geology Association
About IMGA
Governance Structure
The International Medical Geology Association aims to provide a network and a forum to bring together the combined expertise of geologists and earth scientists, environmental scientists, toxicologists, epidemiologists and medical specialists, in order to characterise the properties of geological processes and agents, the dispersal of geological material and their effects on human populations.
The IMGA governance bodies are the General Assembly, the Executive Committee and the Supervisor Board. The General assembly of members shall be convened by the General Assembly Board. The Executive Committee administers and represents the Association. The Supervisor Board has the role of supervise the accounts and reports of the association. The General Assembly Board, the Executive Committee and the Supervisor Board are elected by the General Assembly for mandates of two years up to a total of four years.
We are members of IUGS (International Union of Geological Sciences)
Executive Committee
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Chair Chaosheng Zhang School of Geography, Archaeology and Irish Studies, University of Galway, Ireland |
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Co-Chair for Geological Sciences Carla Patinha Email: cpatinha@ua.pt |
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Co-Chair for Medical Sciences Temitope Ayodeji Laniyan Public Health Department: Environmental Health Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. |
General Secretary
Elena María Alvareda Migliaro
Departamento del Agua, Responsable del Laboratorio de Agua y Suelos
Departamento del Agua
Centro Universitario Regional Litoral Norte
Universidad de la República, Uruguay.
Email: secretary@medicalgeology.org
Treasurer
Nuno Durães
Geosciences Department, University of Aveiro
Aveiro, Portugal
Email: nunoduraes@ua.pt
Councillors
Emmanuel Arhin
University of Energy and Natural Resources School of Geoscience P. O. Box 214, Sunyani- Ghana
Prosun Bhattacharya
Department of Sustainable Development, Environmental Science and Engineering, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden.
Bo Peng
School of Geographical Science, Hunan Normal University, Changsha City of Hunan Province, China.
María Aurora Armienta
Geophysics Institute, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, México
Nghargbu K'tso
Department of Geology & Mining, Nasarawa StateUniversity, Keffi, Nigeria
Kim Dowling
Applied Chemistry and Environmental Science, STEM College, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Melbourne, Australia
General Assembly
Chair
José A.Centeno
Fellow, Royal Society of Chemistry, London, UK
Honorary Academician, Royal Academy of Medicine and Surgery, Andalucia Oriental, SpainAdjunct Professor, Department of Chemistry, University of Puerto Rico at MayaguezAdjunct Professor, Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, University of Maryland School of MedicineAdjunct Professor, Faculty of Chemistry, Universidad de la Republica, Montevideo, Uruguay
Secretary
Valery Bühl
Analytical Chemistry, DEC, Faculty of Chemistry, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay
Co-Chair
Diego Hernán Fridman
Clinical Research Department Fundación Centro de Estudios Infectológicos, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Supervisory Board
Chair
Xinbin Feng
Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang, China
Member 2
Eduardo Anselmo Ferreria da Silva
Geosciences Department / Applied Geochemistry Lab /
University of Aveiro, Portugal
Member 1
Nelly Mañay
Faculty of Chemistry/ UDELAR University of the Republic Montevideo, Uruguay
IMGA Support
Editor-in-Chief
Medical Geology Newsletter
María Izquierdo
Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDÆA)
Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
Email: maria.izquierdo@idaea.csic.
Webmaster
Lara Gracia Creazione
Email: webmaster@medicalgeology.org
Chapter Committe
Lei Huang
Environmental risk assessment
Organization Nanjing University, Nanjing, Chin
Email: huanglei@nju.edu.cn
Chapters
IMGA Chapters are groups within a region bringing together people in an area (city, country, etc.) or in an organization (university, government agency, etc.) interested in medical geology. All members of the Chapter must be members of the Association. A Chapter must consist of at least five (5) members. To be recognized as a formal Chapter the members must send a request to the IMGA board. Upon approval a certificate of recognition will be issued.
Chapters are a way to locally facilitate the growth of medical geology. The concept of developing Chapters is a fundamental basis by which larger societies strengthen their regional and eventually their national development. Members of Chapters pay individual dues to IMGA. All affiliated organisations, including Chapters, must send regular reports for the newsletter. A certain amount of the membership dues paid can be requested by the Chapters for their activities. Actually the IMGA have 28 chapters:
We have members from following countries/regions:
Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Hungary, India, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Mexico, Nigeria, Oman, Peru, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, South of Africa, Spain, Sri lanka, Taiwan, Turkey, Uruguay, USA, UK, Ukraine, Zambia and Zimbabwe
History
IMGA in its present form was founded in January 2004, but began as an idea ten years before in 1996 when a working group on Medical Geology was established by IUGS.
Its primary aim was to increase awareness among scientists, medical specialists and the general public on the importance of geological factors for health and wellbeing. It was recognised that the limited extent of cooperation and communication among these groups restricted the ability of scientists and public health workers to solve a range of complex environmental health problems.