|
31 |
full-time faculty members |
|
We
are a dynamic department whose primary focus is The faculty is multidisciplinary and includes physicians, engineers, chemists, industrial hygienists, toxicologists, and other public health scientists. Whatever their focus, these researchers share a common goal-to understand and manage environmental safety and health risks and, in so doing, to protect human health and well-being. We invite you to explore our programs and activities. Dave Kalman, Interim Chair |
|
50
|
undergraduate students | ||
|
75
|
graduate students | ||
|
116
|
staff | ||
|
11
|
centers and institutes | ||
|
1,100
|
people
trained annually through continuing education |
 |
|
| Who we are ... people and programs | |
| A half-century of service | |
| We are ... | |
|
|
|
| Other departmental programs | |
| Our mission | |
| What we do ... and whom we serve | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| How to reach us ... online or in person | |
| Acknowledgments | |
      |
|
Department of Environmental Health faculty, September 1999 |
|
| back row (l to r): | Gerald van Belle, Jack Hatlen, Curt Omiecinski, Scott Barnhart, John Kissel |
| third row (l to r): | Mansour Samadpour, Drew Brodkin, Steve Guffey, Mike Yost, Terry Kavanagh, Thomas Burbacher, Sally Liu, Richard Fenske, David Eaton |
| second row (l to r): | Jane Koenig, Michael Morgan, Lee Monteith, Zhengui Xia, James Woods, Chuck Treser, Dan Luchtel, Bill Daniell, Joel Kaufman |
| front row (l to r): | Sharon Morris, Matthew Keifer, Elaine Faustman, Harvey Checkoway, Janice Camp, Lucio Costa, Dave Kalman, Noah Seixas |
| The biennium opened with a 50th anniversary celebration at the Department of Environmental Health. |
 |
In 1947, the University of Washington had just opened its School of Medicine. Within the School's Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine was a small program to train undergraduate students in sanitary science, one of 14 such programs in the country at that time. That program continues today, 53 years later, as the undergraduate major (BS) in Environmental Health. The state Legislature in 1963 established an occupational and environmental research facility at UW, with funding from the state industrial insurance Medical Aid and Accident Funds. The Environmental Research Laboratory became the Environmental Health Division and, when the School of Public Health and Community Medicine was formed in 1970, this division became the Department of Environmental Health. In the 1960s, following the publication of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, concern about toxic pollutants increased, and UW expanded its program in sanitary science to include chemical agents and toxicology. In the 1970s, the department's focus turned toward research as it added a graduate program and expanded the faculty. Throughout the 1980s, the department developed its graduate and research programs in Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Toxicology, Industrial Hygiene, and Environmental Health Technology. Today our mission encompasses a range of public health concerns as we face new biological and toxicological threats. Diseases such as asthma and tuberculosis are on the rise; new viruses are emerging, and others are showing multiple drug resistance. Global risk assessment issues regularly make headlines. The integration of the Department of Environmental Health's research, service, and teaching elements is now more important than ever, as we educate the environmental and occupational health professionals who will provide leadership for the next 50 years. |
|
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
|
|
|
 |
||
|
Environmental Health Technology trains students to identify major sources of contamination in water, air, soil, and food and take appropriate prevention, control, and communication measures. A master of science degree is offered. Industrial Hygiene and Safety students study chemicals, noise, and other occupational safety and health hazards; their effects on the human body; and effective control measures. The program offers a doctoral degree and two master of science tracks: industrial hygiene and safety/ergonomics. Occupational and Environmental Medicine residencies and fellowships train physicians in the clinical practice of occupational and environmental medicine, and in occupational and environmental health. These doctors can earn a master's degree in public health. The Toxicology program focuses on environmental and workplace toxicants and their effects on human health. Master's and doctoral degrees are offered. The department's Undergraduate program offers two bachelor of science degree paths. One focuses on sanitary hazards associated with drinking water, wastewater, food, housing, and insects and rodents. The other focuses on chemical and physical hazards associated with indoor and outdoor air, water, soil, and the workplace.
|
 |
|||||||||||
|
Service programs The Field Research and Consultation Group conducts field-based research and provides occupational and environmental health and safety consultation to companies that request assistance. Consultants observe work practices; collect samples or other data; perform laboratory analysis and, in some cases, medical examinations; report summary findings and recommendations for controlling workplace exposures; and help companies design and evaluate effective control strategies. The
Environmental Health Laboratory is certified by the American
Industrial Hygiene Association. The lab analyzes environmental, industrial,
and biological samples to define chemical hazards and quantify exposures.
Centers and institutes The Northwest Center for Occupational Health and Safety is one of 15 education and research centers funded by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). It supports graduate education in industrial hygiene and safety, occupational medicine, and occupational health nursing. The center serves as an educational resource for Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Alaska and offers a continuing education program to maintain and upgrade the skills of people working in occupational and environmental health. The UW OSHA Education Center offers high-quality training on standards mandated by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and state agencies in Washington, Oregon, and Alaska. The Center for Ecogenetics and Environmental Health (CEEH), funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), pulls together more than 50 faculty from 14 UW departments to study how environmental factors interact with genetics to influence diseases such as cancer, heart disease, and chronic neurological diseases. It has two outreach components:
The Institute for Risk Analysis and Risk Communication (IRARC) works to improve risk assessment methods and the scientific foundations supporting risk assessments. Three research programs fall under IRARC:
The Pacific Northwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center (PNASH) is funded by NIOSH and the state of Washington to improve occupational safety and health in farming, fishing, and forestry in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. UW researchers work with colleagues at Eastern Washington University, Washington State University, and the University of Idaho, and with employers and workers in the three industries. The Superfund Research Program is an EPA and NIEHS-sponsored, interdisciplinary program involving faculty and graduate students from DEH, Civil Engineering, Biochemistry, Forestry, and Microbiology. The goals are to develop biological markers to assess people's exposure to toxicants and susceptibility to disease, to assess physiological damage in humans and wildlife, and to develop new technology to remediate contaminated sites. The Occupational Epidemiology and Health Outcomes Program conducts research to improve medical care, update treatment guidelines, and provide information on treatment outcomes to injured workers and their physicians. The Policy Analysis and Program Evaluation Initiative works closely with the state Department of Labor and Industries (L&I), and with business and labor to improve the quality of occupational safety and health policies and programs in Washington. The Chemically Related Illness Center for Excellence, part of the Occupational and Environmental Medicine program, seeks to offer the best diagnosis and treatment of patients with chemically-related illness, improve public understanding of such illness, and conduct research on this topic. Patients are usually referred through the workers' compensation system. The EPA Northwest Research Center for Particulate Air Pollution and Health is one of five in the country recently funded by the EPA. The center addresses health effects of particulate matter air pollution. The International Scholars in Occupational and Environmental Health is a training program based in the Occupational and Environmental Medicine program. The center is funded by NIOSH and by two of the National Institutes of Health- the Fogarty Institute and NIEHS. It supports research and training partnerships with faculty and scientists in Vietnam, Thailand, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Ecuador. |
|
|
||
 |
To identify agents in the environment and the workplace that affect human health To elucidate their mechanisms To develop strategies for confronting their effects To share the knowledge obtained In addressing this public health mission, our goal is to promote excellence in education and research.
|
|
|
