Artifacts from the event marking the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 disaster at held at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

This department was established in 1965 as the Department of Community Medicine by George James, the Dean and President of Mount Sinai. In 1997 the department's name was changed to the Department of Community and Preventive Medicine. In July 2009, it changed again to the Department of Preventive Medicine. In August 2016, with a new chairman, it became the Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health.

In 2024, the name was changed to the Department of Environmental Medicine and Climate Science. From the name change announcement: "Today, the most pressing environmental issue around the world is climate change. The new name reflects our dedication to understanding the role that climate science plays in health and disease...As severe weather events become more common, air pollutants increase, and insidious temperature/humidity changes boost levels of airborne allergens, flooding/mold growth, and vector-borne diseases (e.g., Lyme disease and Zika virus), we must learn how our health care system can adapt to better serve our patients. To accomplish this goal, the Department of Environmental Medicine and Climate Science has developed cutting-edge data science technologies that measure and predict climate, flooding, and air pollution using NASA satellite data and local monitoring systems. We combine these with electronic health records and public health databases using machine learning."