Salt Lake City-based neurosurgeon John Macfarlane, MD, is using his medical background and personal experience to help eliminate air pollution in Utah, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.
Here are five things to know:
1. Dr. Macfarlane is a member of Utah Physicians for a Health Environment, an advocacy group of healthcare professionals that lobbies for and educates community members on healthy environments.
2. With Utah Physicians for a Health Environment, Dr. Macfarlane monitors air quality issues. Currently, he is involved in the fight over the proposed expansion of Geneva Rock's gravel mine at the Point of the Mountain in Draper.
3. The Utah Department of Health is not aware of the details of any mining expansion plan.
4. Dr. Macfarlane has personal experience with the effects of poor air quality. His younger children grew up with asthma, and his research focuses on the harms of air pollution to brains and lungs.
5. Board-certified in neurosurgery, Dr. Macfarlane is a member of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and Congress of Neurological Surgeons. After earning his medical degree from Salt Lake City-based University of Utah School of Medicine, Dr. Macfarlane completed his residency at the University of Utah Medical Center in Salt Lake City.