EP 50: Designing Healthier Places at Scale | Matthew Trowbridge

Design Lab with Bon Ku

Matthew Trowbridge is a physician, Chief Medical Officer at the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI), and Associate Professor at the University of Virginia (UVA) School of Medicine. Dr. Trowbridge’s academic research focuses on the impact of architecture, urban design, and transportation planning on individual and population health. Prior to joining IWBI, Dr. Trowbridge served as principal investigator for the Green Health Partnership between UVA and the U.S. Green Building Council; a multi-year initiative, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, focused on increasing consideration of health and well-being outcomes across global real estate by applying green building principles of market transformation. Notable accomplishments include development of the Health + Well-being Module in partnership with the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark, and launch of the Integrative Process for Health Promotion Credit within the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building framework. Dr. Trowbridge is board certified in both general pediatrics and preventive medicine and obtained his medical and public health training at Emory University. Bon and Matt talk about how the built environment is a modifiable risk factor for health, public health experts as design thinkers, and why creativity will win over time.