Phil Brown Phil Brown is University Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Health Sciences, and Director of the Social Science Environmental Health Research Institute. From 1980 to 2012, he taught at Brown University, as Professor of Sociology and Environmental Studies. His recent books are Toxic Exposures: Contested Illnesses and the Environmental Health Movement and Contested Illnesses: Citizens, Science and Health Social Movements. At Brown, he founded the Contested Illnesses Research Group in 2000, which is the predecessor of Northeastern’s Social Science Environmental Health Research Institute (SSEHRI). He is co-director of both the Community Engagement Core and Research Translation Core of PROTECT/Puerto Rico Test Site to Explore Contamination Threats (Superfund Research Program).