A Breath of Unfresh Air: A Conversation About Wildfire Smoke, Other Pollutants and Lung Health with Dr. Michael A. Bernstein and State Rep. Matt Blumenthal

Dr. Michael A. Bernstein, Director for Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine at Stamford Health, will deliver his talk A Breath of Unfresh Air: A Conversation About Wildfire Smoke, Other Pollutants and Lung Health. The presentation will be moderated by State Rep. Matt Blumenthal.

Registration required.

Dr. Bernstein, a member of the Stamford Health Medical Group, is an Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine for the Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and is a Co-Clinical Director for the Lung Cancer Screening and Lung Nodule Program at Stamford Health.

Dr. Bernstein is interested in, and is board certified in, interventional pulmonology, a subspecialty within pulmonary medicine focused on bronchoscopy, lung cancer, pleural diseases and other procedures for the lung. He publishes and presents nationally on lung cancer diagnostics and lung nodule assessment. He has additional clinical interests in critical care, COPD and sleep apnea.

A Fairfield County native, Dr. Bernstein joined Stamford Health in 2010 after training at Duke University for his undergraduate and medical degrees, and Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City for his residency and fellowship. He has been listed continuously in Top Docs of Fairfield County and Top Docs of Connecticut since 2014. He is a recipient of the Dr. Melville G. Magida Award for a top doctor younger than 40. He lives in Stamford with his wife and two daughters.

Matt Blumenthal is State Representative for the 147th District in Stamford and a trial attorney at the Stamford firm of Koskoff, Koskoff & Bieder, P.C.

Chair of the Government Administration and Elections Committee, Blumenthal also serves on the Judiciary (Vice Chair 2019–2022) and Transportation committees. He is co-founder and co-chair of the General Assembly’s Reproductive Rights Caucus. In these roles, he has been a leader fighting for gun-violence prevention, increasing fairness and transparency in our justice system, strengthening our democracy, women’s and worker’s rights, and making Connecticut a place where businesses can thrive.

In 2022, Blummenthal co-authored and led passage of the Connecticut Reproductive Freedom Defense Act, a nation-leading law protecting residents, healthcare providers and patients from out-of-state legal attack related to reproductive or gender-affirming healthcare. It was passed in anticipation of the U.S. Supreme Court’s overruling of Roe v. Wade. At least eight other states have since enacted legislation or executive orders based on its provisions. In 2019, Blumenthal authored and helped lead passage of the state’s ban on ghost guns and 3D-printed guns, as well as helping spearhead the movement to pass laws ensuring safe storage of firearms.

A Stamford native, Blumenthal serves on the Board of Directors for the Boys & Girls Club of Stamford and is a member of the Springdale post of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (Post 9617). He is also member of the Defense Council of the Truman National Security Project.

As an attorney, Blumenthal specializes in representing those who have been injured by negligence, misconduct and deprivations of their civil rights. He has also served as a supervisor at the Peter Gruber Rule of Law Clinic at Yale Law School, which fought the Trump Administration’s excesses against the most vulnerable Americans, the environment and the rule of law.

Blumenthal received his law degree from Yale Law School and earned his undergraduate degree from Harvard University. Before attending law school, he was an Infantry Officer in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, commanding a rifle platoon in Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment. He served roughly two-and-a-half years on active duty and deployed to Marjah, Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.

Presented in partnership with Stamford Health.