The WISH Protecting Health in Dry Cities: From Evidence to Action report looks at this new discipline documenting the current debate about the looming problem of insufficient (potable) water for health in an urban context and how the desertification of cities affects health. The report also considers broader aspects and links with issues such as economic policy, inequality and technology.

Prof. Howard Frumkin

Howard Frumkin, a physician and epidemiologist, is Professor Emeritus of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences at the University of Washington. Previously he was head of the Our Planet, Our Health initiative at the Wellcome Trust (2018-19), Dean of the University of Washington School of Public Health (2010-16), Director of the National Center for Environmental Health at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2005-10), and Professor and Chair of Environmental and Occupational Health at Emory University (1990-2005). His research interests include health aspects of the built environment, climate change, energy policy, nature contact, and sustainability. His community and professional activities have included serving on numerous National Academy of Sciences committees, on the Boards of the Bullitt Foundation, the Seattle Parks Foundation, the Washington State Academy of Sciences, the U.S. Green Building Council, Physicians for Social Responsibility, the Association of Occupational and Environmental Clinics, the American Public Health Association, and the National Environmental Education Foundation, on advisory committees to the Global Consortium on Climate and Health Education (Columbia University), the Harvard Center on Climate, Health, and the Global Environment, the Yale Center on Climate Change and Health, and the Medical Society Consortium on Climate & Health (George Mason University), on the Steering Committee of the Planetary Health Alliance (Harvard University), on the National Toxicology Program Board of Scientific Counselors, and on the American Institute of Architects Design and Health Leadership Group. He is the author or co-author of over 250 scientific journal articles and chapters, and his nine books include Making Healthy Places: Designing and Building for Health, Well-Being, and Sustainability (Island Press, 2011), Environmental Health: From Global to Local (Jossey-Bass, 3rd Edition 2016), and Planetary Health: Protecting Nature to Protect Ourselves (Island Press, 2020). He was educated at Brown (A.B.), the University of Pennsylvania (M.D.), and Harvard (M.P.H. and Dr.P.H.). He is an avid cyclist, paddler, and hiker. He is married to global health journalist Joanne Silberner, and has two children, Gabe, an attorney, and Amara, a physician.

Dr. Maitreyi Bordia Das

Maitreyi Bordia Das is Practice Manager in the Urban, Resilience and Land Global Practice of the World Bank. She oversees several global programs, including the Global Partnership for Results Based Approaches (formerly, GBOPA) and the Tokyo Development Learning Center. Previously, she was the Bank’s first Global Lead on Social Inclusion. Based in Washington DC, Dr. Das leads a talented group of professionals who work on urban development, resilience, knowledge and learning. She has long-standing experience in human development and infrastructure related sectors. Of these, urban development, water and sanitation, demography, health, social protection and social development, stand out. Dr. Das has led and been part of several research and policy initiatives. She was lead author of the 2013 report, “Inclusion Matters: The Foundation for Shared Prosperity”;​ the 2015 publication, “Scaling the Heights: Social Inclusion and Sustainable Development in Himachal Pradesh”​ and most recently, “Inclusion Matters in Africa”. She started her career as a lecturer in St Stephen’s College, University of Delhi, has been a MacArthur Fellow at the Harvard Center of Population and Development Studies and an advisor to the United Nations Development Program. She has a PhD in Sociology (Demography) from the University of Maryland. Before joining the World Bank, Dr. Das was in the Indian Administrative Service (IAS).