Neal Fann

Neal Fann is a senior policy analyst at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). He has over 15 years of experience in conducting benefit-cost analyses of policies designed to improve air quality and mitigate climate change. These analyses combine evidence from the environmental epidemiology and economics literature to estimate the number, and monetary value, of reducing air pollution and slowing climate change. Examples of his work include the EPA’s mercury and air toxics regulations as well as a rule limiting the transport of air pollution across state boundaries.

Fann has also quantified the number of premature deaths and illnesses from: wildland fire episodes; future levels of air pollution resulting from climate change; and, emissions from industrial sectors throughout the U.S. He performs these assessments using the environmental Benefits Mapping and Analysis Program ‒ Community Edition (BenMAP-CE), an open-source computer model available online.

He recently received a Masters in Public Health from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Epidemiology. There, he explored the role of fine particle air pollution in promoting frailty among a cohort of Medicare beneficiaries; he found that elevated levels of fine particles were associated with an increased risk of first hospitalization for cardiovascular events and subsequent death.