Diana Aga decided to become an environmental chemist after witnessing the dire effects of industrialization and population growth on the idyllic village where she grew up. Today, she is a worldwide authority on everything from industrial pollution and wastewater treatment to PFAS chemicals—the subject of this episode. Aga, SUNY Distinguished Professor, Henry M. Woodburn Professor of Chemistry and director of the RENEW Institute at UB, explains to host Cory Nealon why PFAS are known as “forever chemicals,” where they exist in the environment (basically everywhere), what harm they cause (a lot), and the various ways in which she and her collaborators are working to find and destroy them. Spoiler alert: She’s optimistic. 

Credits: 
Host: Cory Nealon
Guest: Diana Aga
Writer: Laura Silverman
Production and editing by UB Video Production Group 

Coming March 31: A pioneer in the field of neurovascular disease, Elad Levy helped establish thrombectomy as the standard of care for stroke and was among the first to implant a brain-computer interface enabling people with limited mobility to operate devices with their thoughts. In the next episode, he discusses these and other groundbreaking achievements—and offers a preview of the innovations he’s advancing now.