WHO WE ARE...PEOPLE AND PROGRAMS:
Our Department
PROGRAMS, CENTERS, & INSTITUTES
In the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, we identify, seek to understand, and help manage the effects of the environment on human health by
- evaluating and controlling workplace hazards
- investigating issues of food and water safety
- discovering the mechanisms of occupationally and environmentally related diseases
- improving methods for treatment and disposal of solid and toxic wastes
- researching how the environment interacts with genetics to influence human health
- studying how environmental chemicals affect the health of children
- educating the next generation of occupational and environmental health professionals
ACADEMIC PROGRAMS & DEGREES
Environmental Health students learn to identify major sources of contamination in water, air, soil, and food, and take appropriate prevention, control, and commu-nication measures. Students may earn a Master of Science (MS) or a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree.
Industrial Hygiene and Safety students study health hazards found in the workplace, such as chemicals, airborne particles, noise, vibration, ergonomic factors, and safety hazards. They learn to recognize these hazards, evaluate the possible health risks, and implement effective control measures. The program offers a PhD degree and two MS tracks: industrial hygiene and safety/ergonomics.
The Occupational and Environmental Medicine residency trains physicians through clinical, classroom, and practicum components. The program is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education and leads to a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree and board eligibility in Occupational Medicine.
The Toxicology program focuses on the adverse effects of chemical exposures on human health. It engages in basic and applied research on the molecular, genetic, and biochemical mechanisms underlying these effects, together with the behavioral consequences and risk analyses associated with toxic exposures in the environment and workplace. Both master’s (MS) and doctoral (PhD) degrees are offered.
The Master of Public Health in Environmental and Occupational Health degree is designed to enhance communication and understanding between the scientific and health policy worlds. In contrast to the MS degree programs, which are measurement-oriented and specialized, the MPH degree provides a broader perspective on environmental and occupational health, with emphasis on applications and policy implications.
Through our Bachelor of Science program in Environmental Health, students learn to identify, prevent, and control environmental factors that can damage human health. The program is flexible, providing a grounding in environmental health sciences and an emphasis in one of four interest areas: biological sciences, physical sciences, medical professions, or environmental health practice.
SERVICE PROGRAMS
The Environmental Health Laboratory provides consultation and chemical analytical services to Washington’s employers, labor groups, and governmental organizations. It also assists researchers within the university. The Laboratory has been accredited by the American Industrial Hygiene Association since 1977.
The Field Research and Consultation Group conducts field-based research and provides occupational health and safety consultation to companies that request assistance. Consultants observe work practices, collect samples or data, obtain laboratory analyses, coordinate medical examinations, and make recommendations for controlling workplace exposures. Priority is given to serving small businesses whose problems are not readily addressed by the private sector.
The Occupational and Environmental Medicine Clinic provides care to patients with illness or injury caused by occupational or environmental exposures. The multidisciplinary group includes experts trained in occupational medicine, occupational health nursing, internal medicine, family medicine, neurology, pediatrics, industrial hygiene and toxicology, epidemiology, and public health. Through an association with the Department of Labor and Industries, the clinic plays a key role in evaluating clusters of occupational illness. Physicians provide consultation services on a wide range of medical, legal, and regulatory issues.
CENTERS, INSTITUTES, AND RESEARCH PROGRAMS
The Center for Ecogenetics and Environmental Health (CEEH)
The Center for Chemically Related Illness, part of the Occupational and Environmental Medicine program, seeks to offer the best diagnosis and treatment for patients with chemically related illness, improve public understanding of such illness, and conduct research. Patients may be referred through the Washington state workers’ compensation system or by their personal medical provider.
The Center for Ecogenetics and Environmental Health (CEEH), funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), studies how environmental factors interact with genetics to influence diseases. A key focus is to understand how different people metabolize drugs and chemicals, which can affect their susceptibility or resistance to disease. The center, in collaboration with the Institute for Public Health Genetics, also addresses the ethical, legal, and social issues related to genetic information.
Within the CEEH, the Community Outreach and Education Program (COEP) is working to address environ-mental health issues in the most affected communities in the Pacific Northwest, and to increase public understanding of how individual susceptibilities such as genetics and age interact with environmental factors to produce disease.
COEP’s projects include:
- using environmental health sciences as a framework to integrate science, social studies, and English in secondary school curricula
- statewide distribution of a School to Work curriculum, to raise awareness of health and safety issues for working teenagers
- community partnerships, including the Environmental Justice Needs Assessment project, which identifies the environmental health concerns that are most relevant to recent immigrants and refugee populations and explores the best solutions
The EPA Northwest Research Center for Particulate Air Pollution and Health is one of five in the country funded by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that address health effects of particulate air pollution. The grant is in its seventh and final year. The focus is on publication as the center finishes its work in May 2006.
The Institute for Risk Analysis and Risk Communication (IRARC), which works to improve risk assessment methods and the scientific foundations supporting risk assessments, has three research programs:
- The Center for Child Environmental Health Risks Research is funded by the US EPA and NIEHS to further knowledge of children’s susceptibility to toxicants
- The Center for the Study and Improvement of Regulation is funded by Carnegie Mellon University to merge the study of pollution, risk, public health, technology, economics, organizations, and history to improve environmental health and safety regulations
- The Pacific Northwest Center for Human Health and Ocean Sciences investigates how genetic and environmental variability defines the toxicity and dynamics of harmful algal blooms, the retention of toxin by shellfish, and the impact this has on human populations that are susceptible to toxicological impacts. The center is funded by the NIEHS and the National Science Foundation. Researchers come from the College of Ocean and Fishery Sciences and the School of Public Health and Community Medicine.
The International Scholars in Occupational and Environmental Health program is based in the Occupational and Environmental Medicine program and is funded by the National Institutes of Health through the Fogarty International Center and NIEHS, and by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). It supports research and training partnerships with faculty and scientists in Vietnam, Thailand, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica.
The MESA Air Pollution Study is investigating the relationship between air pollution exposures and the progression of cardiovascular disease over time, looking at participants in six states, representing diverse areas of the country. Funded by a grant from the EPA, the study is sited at the University of Washington, and 14 other institutions are involved in the study. The air pollution study builds on the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA), funded by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health.
The Northwest Center for Occupational Health and Safety is one of 16 education and research centers funded by NIOSH. It supports graduate and continuing professional education in industrial hygiene and safety, occupational medicine, and occupational health nursing. The center serves practitioners in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Alaska.
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, their physicians, and regulatory agencies.
The Pacific Northwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center (PNASH) conducts research, develops interventions, and provides education to improve the safety and health of Northwest workers in farming, fishing, and forestry. Center researchers work closely with colleagues at northwestern universities and with employers, labor, community organizations, and government agencies. The PNASH center is funded by NIOSH and the state of Washington.
The Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit
The Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit has assembled a team of pediatricians, emergency medicine physicians, toxicologists, and other environmental health specialists to consult with health care providers, government officials, educators, and families on health risks associated with pediatric environmental exposures.
The Policy Analysis and Program Evaluation Initiative worked closely with the state Department of Labor and Industries, and with business and labor to improve the quality of occupational safety and health policies and programs in Washington. It evaluated the understanding and implementation of selected WISHA rules, completing work in June 2005.
The Superfund Research Program is an NIEHS-sponsored, interdisciplinary program among our department, Civil Engineering, Biochemistry, Forestry, and Epidemiology. Its goals are to develop biological markers to assess people’s exposure to toxicants and susceptibility to disease, assess physiological damage in people and wildlife, and develop technology to clean up contaminated sites. Its outreach core is engaged in activities with communities affected by hazardous waste sites. Additionally, the outreach core has developed educational materials related to the health effects of hazardous waste.
The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center/University of Washington Toxicogenomics Consortium uses microarray technology to study the ways that toxic substances can affect how genes are expressed in cells. Changes in gene expression are thought to be important events in many environmentally related diseases. The consortium supports research to develop and refine microarray analysis techniques, and conducts studies on the health effects of specific toxicants, including methylmercury and organophosphate pesticides. It is supported by NIEHS.
The Pacific Northwest OSHA Education Center offers hands-on training on standards mandated by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and state agencies in Washington, Oregon, and Alaska. Training is offered through traditional classroom and distance learning technologies.