Paolo Lauriola, MD, is an environmental and occupational epidemiologist with a long-standing commitment to public health, environmental protection, and health equity at national, European, and global levels. He is currently President of the European Public Health Alliance (EPHA) and served for over 20 years as Head of the Regional Reference Centre “Environment & Health” of ARPA Emilia-Romagna, Italy.
Trained in Hygiene and Preventive Medicine, Medical Statistics, and Epidemiology, he also holds the WHO International Certificate of Human Ecology. His career has consistently combined scientific research, policy-oriented work, and field-based experience, with a strong focus on translating epidemiological evidence into prevention strategies and governance tools for environmental health.
He has coordinated and participated in numerous EU-funded projects in environmental health, including four Twinning projects. Notably, he led the Twinning project on the institutional strengthening of the Environmental Health System in Georgia, in collaboration with Public Health England and IOM-NOFER, as well as a major Central Europe project on mitigation and adaptation strategies to counteract the Urban Heat Island phenomenon. These experiences strengthened his expertise in capacity building, inter-institutional cooperation, and applied environmental epidemiology.
Dr. Lauriola is the scientific coordinator of the Italian Network of Sentinel Physicians for the Environment (RIMSA) and the Italian reference person for the International Network of Public Health and Environmental Tracking (INPHET), initiatives designed to bridge the gap between science, policymakers, and communities. In recent years, his work has increasingly focused on the role of family doctors in environmental public health, particularly in addressing climate change–related health impacts and supporting territorial prevention.
He is a member of the WHO Civil Society Commission and an Emeritus Fellow of the Collegium Ramazzini, and he regularly contributes to international policy dialogues and scientific networks on environment and health.