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Degrees
conferred
Awards
and honors
Faculty
Selected
publications
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Faculty
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bottom row (l to r): Zhengui Xia, Terry Kavanagh, Dave Kalman (Chair),
Sally Liu, Sharon Morris;
2nd row (l to r): Rolf Hahne, Joel Kaufman, Curt Omiecinski, Jane
Koenig, Janice Camp;
3rd row (l to r): Bill Daniell, Jack Hatlen (emeritus), Mike Morgan,
Dan Luchtel, Harvey Checkoway;
4th row: Chuck Treser, Gerald van Belle; Noah Seixas, Peter Johnson,
John Kissel |
Scott Barnhart, MD, MPH, is an Associate
Professor (primary appoint-ment in the School of Medicine). He directed
the Occupational and Environmental Medicine program until his appointment
in 1999
as medical director of Harborview Medical Center. One area of research
is the natural history of asbestos-related lung disease, including possible
protective effects of beta-carotene and vitamin A. A second project is
control of silicosis in developing nations. A third area of investigation
is use of a public health approach to reduce occupational hazards on Department
of Energy sites.
Carl A. (Drew) Brodkin, MD, MPH, an
Associate Professor of Internal Medicine and Environmental Health, (primary
appointment in Internal Medicine) teaches in the Occupational & Environmental
Medicine program. His research involves health effects of organic solvents
and asbestos, including solvent-related liver disease and occupational
pulmonary epidemiology. He has served on the Board of the Association
of Occupational and Environmental Clinics since 1993, and was president
in 1997. He was appointed to the American Thoracic Society Committee to
update the 1986 ATS statement on “the diagnosis of nonmalignant diseases
related to asbestos.” He is a coeditor for the Second Edition of
the Textbook of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (Saunders &
Co).
Thomas M. Burbacher, PhD, is an Associate
Professor in the Toxicology program and deputy director of the Department’s
Center for Child Environmental Health Risks Research. His research focuses
on the effects of prenatal or early postnatal exposure to environmental
pollu-tants on central nervous system development. His current projects
include studies aimed at examining: the cognitive and sensory effects
of prenatal methylmercury exposure in aged monkeys; the effects of prenatal
exposure to methanol on sensory and cognitive development; and the effects
of early pesticide exposure on brain development in rodents. In 1999,
he was appointed to the National Academy of Sciences review panel on the
effects of methylmercury exposure on children’s health, which issued
its report in 2000.
Janice Camp, MSN, MSPH, is a Senior Lecturer in the Industrial Hygiene
and Safety program and director of the Field Research and Consultation
Group. Her research interests include field industrial hygiene and safety,
ergonomics, and program evaluation. Ms. Camp, a Certified Industrial Hygienist,
is past president of the Pacific Northwest Section of the American Industrial
Hygiene Association.
Harvey Checkoway, PhD, is a Professor
in the Occupational and Environmental Medicine program. His research interests
include occupational and environmental risk factors for cancer, dust-related
lung diseases, and neurological disorders. Increasingly, his research
has incorporated biomarkers of exposure, response, and genetic susceptibility.
Recent projects include a study of silica, silicosis, and lung cancer
among diatomite industry workers; semen quality among lead smelter workers;
environmental exposures and genetic variations in Parkinson’s disease;
and cancer risks among textile workers.
Lucio G. Costa, PhD, is a Professor
in the Toxicology program. His area of research is neurotoxicology, particularly
the study of the cellular, biochemical, and molecular mechanisms involved
when toxicants affect the nervous system. His laboratory uses in vivo,
in vitro, and cell culture systems, as well as biochemical, molecular,
and imaging techniques. Research projects include the effects of alcohol
and lead on brain cells, and studies on the toxicity of pesticides and
on genetic predisposition to neurotoxicity. He has published more than
170 articles in peer-reviewed journals and contributed dozens of book
chapters and other publications.
William Daniell, MD, MPH, is an Associate
Professor in the Occupational and Environmental Medicine program. His
research interests involve noise-induced hearing loss, carpal tunnel syndrome,
and the utility of workers’ com-pensation data for research and intervention
purposes. Past research includes neuropsychological consequences of occupational
chemical exposures, particularly organic solvents, and multiple chemical
sensitivity syndrome.
David L. Eaton, PhD, is a Professor
in the Toxicology program and Associate Dean for Research in the UW School
of Public Health and Community Medicine. He has published more than 80
research papers, contributed to 23 books, and written a dozen articles
explaining toxicological principles to the general public. He directs
a training program for elementary and secondary educators and is President
of the Society of Toxicology. His research specialty is chemical carcinogenesis,
focusing on how enzymes in the liver activate and detoxify carcinogenic
chemicals. He directs the Center for Ecogenetics and Environmental Health,
which brings together more than 50 UW investigators to study how small
differences in human genes (polymorphisms) can influence susceptibility
to toxic substances in the environment. The Center is funded by the National
Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS).
Elaine M. Faustman, PhD, is a Professor
in the Toxicology program, director of the Institute for Risk Analysis
and Risk Communication, and director of the Center for Child Environmental
Health Risks Research. Her long-range aim is to identify biochemical and
molecular mechanisms of developmental toxicity. Because 70% of human birth
defects have an unknown cause, she wants to identify preventable causes,
focusing on several types of pollutants including pesticides (organophosphates,
benzimidazoles) and metals such as lead and methylmercury. During 1999–2001,
she chaired a National Academy of Sciences panel that developed approaches
for incorporating new molecular and developmental biological findings
into risk assessment. She is an elected fellow of the American Association
for the Advancement of Science. Dr. Faustman has published more than 73
papers in peer-reviewed journals and a dozen book chapters and other publications.
Richard A. Fenske, PhD, MPH, is a Professor
in the Industrial Hygiene and Safety program, and director of the Pacific
Northwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center, one of nine such centers
supported by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
He is also deputy director of the Center for Child Environmental Health
Risks Research. He researches new methods for assessing workplace and
community exposures and risks. This work has included development of a
quantitative fluorescent tracer technique for characterizing dermal exposure
during pesticide applications, evaluation of risks associated with residential
pesticide use, and community-based biological monitoring of children’s
exposure to pesticides. He teaches courses in exposure assessment and
environmental risk analysis. He is a member of the EPA Science Review
Board for pesticide science policy, an advisor to the National Cancer
Institute’s Agricultural Health Study, and a member of the NIOSH
Implementation Team for the National Occupational Research Agenda.
Gary M. Franklin, MD, MPH, is a Research
Professor in the Occupational and Environmental Medicine program and in
the Department of Neurology, and is the medical director of the Washington
State Department of Labor and Industries. His research interests include
the epidemiology and outcomes of treatment for occupational injury, occupational
and environmental diseases of the nervous system, health services research,
and health policy.
Jack Hatlen, MS, is an Associate Professor
Emeritus in the Environmental Health Technology program. His research
specialties include environmental sanitation practices in public health
agencies, environmental health planning and management, and workforce
education and development. He is the first executive director of the newly
formed Association of Environmental Health Academic Programs.
Peter Johnson, PhD, is an Assistant
Professor in the Industrial Hygiene program, specializing in ergonomics.
He earned his doctorate in Bioengineering from the University of California-Berkeley
and has worked as a researcher at the National Institutes of Occupational
Health in the United States, Sweden, and Denmark. He is developing and
validating an exposure assessment system for measuring multiple physical
risk factors during computer work, working on a large-scale study to measure
and characterize officeworkers’ exposure to upper-extremity hazards,
and developing tools for exposure assessment of physical risk factors.
He is also developing methods to measure occupationally-related muscle
fatigue using electrical stimulation of the muscle.
David A. Kalman, PhD, is Department
Chair and Professor in the Environmental Health Technology program. His
research focuses on chemical issues, such as hazardous properties of materials,
environmental fate and transport; environmental quality assessment; hazard
management; and occupational and community exposure assessment, especially
using biomarkers of exposure. Active research areas include: assessment
of exposures to atmospheric particulates including wood smoke; exposures
and effects of arsenic in drinking water, diet, and soil; and nonoccupational
pesticide exposure.
Joel Kaufman, MD, MPH, is an Associate
Professor in the Department’s Occupational and Environmental Medicine
program. He has a joint appointment with General Internal Medicine and
an adjunct appointment in Epidemiology. His research activities fall into
three areas: epidemiology of occupational and environmental asthma; surveillance
and prevention of occupational illnesses and injuries, including lead
poisoning and occupational skin disorders; and occupational and environmental
factors in cardiovascular disease. He is past-president of the Northwest
Association of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.
Terrance J. Kavanagh, PhD, is an Associate
Professor in the Toxicology program. His research interests include free
radical biology and oxidative stress, and the effects of chemicals on
diseases of aging, including cancer, atherosclerosis, pulmonary fibrosis,
Parkinson’s disease, and Alzheimer’s disease. His laboratory
assesses the role of the free radical scavenger glutathione (GSH) and
the antioxidant enzymes catalase, superoxide dismutase, and glutathione
peroxidase in preventing free radical injury. Another research interest
involves assessing the role of genetic polymorphisms in these enzymes
in free-radical-mediated diseases.
Matthew C. Keifer, MD, MPH, is an Associate
Professor and interim director of the Occupational and Environmental Medicine
program. He joined the faculty after serving as project epidemiologist
for CARE in Nicaragua, where he participated in health surveillance and
development activities related to pesticide exposures and health effects.
His activities pertain to studies of pesticide health effects on humans.
He is codirector of the Pacific Northwest Agricultural Safety and Health
Center, one of nine agricultural centers in the US funded by NIOSH. He
is also director of the Fogarty International Center funded International
Scholars in Occupational and Environmental Health.
John Kissel, PhD, is an Associate Professor
and director of the Environmental Health Technology program. His research
interests include pathways of human exposure to environmental contaminants
in soils. Exposure factor data collected by Dr. Kissel and his students
and staff are cited in EPA guidance documents and used in cleanup decisions
at Superfund sites. He also investigates community exposures to pesticides
and currently serves on the EPA Science Advisory Panel for the Federal
Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). Dr. Kissel is an
active member of the International Society of Exposure Analysis and the
Society for Risk Analysis. He has authored or coauthored more than 25
papers in scientific journals.
Jane Q. Koenig, PhD, is a Professor
in the Toxicology program. Her research interests are the respiratory
health effects of air pollution, especially the responses of susceptible
individuals, such as those with asthma or other chronic respiratory diseases.
She is involved in three general areas of research: controlled laboratory
studies using human subjects; field or epidemiological studies evaluating
respiratory health in populations exposed to fine particulate matter from
wood smoke or other sources in their neighborhoods; and assessment of
physical or chemical changes in cultured human epithelial cells after
air pollutant exposure. She has published more than 60 peer-reviewed journal
articles, and directs the EPA particulate matter research center at the
UW.
L.-J. Sally Liu, ScD, is an Assistant
Professor in the Environmental Health Technology program. She earned her
doctorate in 1994 from Harvard University’s School of Public Health
and has published about a dozen papers in peer-reviewed journals and two
book chapters. She is the principal investigator of several exposure assessment
projects. Two studies are currently funded by the US EPA
to assess particulate matter exposure and health effects among high-risk
subpopulations in the US Northwestern region. She is also the principal
investigator of an exposure assessment technology transfer project, jointly
sponsored
by the US EPA and the Taiwan EPA.
Daniel L. Luchtel, PhD, is a Professor
in the Toxicology program. His research projects include the effects of
gaseous air pollutants (ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and sulfur dioxide) on
cultured human nasal epithelial cells and primate bronchial epithelial
cells; toxicology of carbon/graphite fibers used in advanced composite
materials by the aerospace industry; and mucociliary clearance as a defense
mechanism in the lung. He has developed new ways of preserving and fixing
mucous cells with ultrarapid freezing and freeze-substitution. He is also
interested in the applications and techniques of microscopy. He has published
more than 50 papers in peer-reviewed publications.
Lee Monteith, MS, is a Senior Lecturer
Emeritus in the Industrial Hygiene and Safety Program. Mr. Monteith, a
Certified Industrial Hygienist, is a member of the Air Sampling Instruments
Committee and the Gas and Vapor Detection Systems Committee, American
Industrial Hygiene Association and a liaison between the two committees.
He is a Diplomate member of the American Academy of Industrial Hygiene.
His research interests include the adsorption process in passive dosimeter
badges, methods for the measurements of glove permeation, and methods
for the detection and measurement of trace compounds in the environment.
In October 2000, he visited ten occupational health groups in China to
exchange information as part of a delegation from the American Conference
of Governmental Industrial Hygienists and People to People Ambassador
Program.
Michael S. Morgan, ScD, is a Professor
in the Industrial Hygiene and Safety program and director of the Department’s
undergraduate program. He holds adjunct appointments in the Departments
of Civil Engineering and Chemical Engineering at UW. Dr. Morgan is a Certified
Industrial Hygienist. His main academic interest is in respiratory physiology
and inhalation toxicology. He measures and models the pharmacokinetics
of industrial solvent exposures, and studies the performance of personal
protective equipment used with solvents. He also studies lead exposures
in the construction industry, particularly among demolition workers. He
chairs the Biological Exposure Indices Committee of the American Conference
of Governmental Industrial Hygienists. In 1999, he was appointed to the
National Research Council’s Committee on Air Quality in Passenger
Cabins of Commercial Aircraft. He has published more than 40 papers in
peer-reviewed journals.
Sharon L. Morris is a Senior Lecturer
in the Occupational and Environmental Medicine program and the Department’s
Assistant Chair for Community Outreach, as well as associate director
of the Pacific Northwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center. Her research
interests include occupational safety and health policy and program evaluation,
and she directs the Department’s Policy Analysis and Program Evaluation
Initiative. She serves on the Board of Scientific Counselors of the National
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health; the Innovations Task Force
of the Washington Department of Labor and Industries; the Governor’s
Industrial Safety and Health Advisory Board; and the NIOSH NORA Economic
and Social Consequences Committee.
Curtis J. Omiecinski, PhD, is a Professor
and director of the Toxicology program. He is also an Adjunct Professor
in the Department of Pharmacology. His research program in molecular toxicology
seeks to understand genetic factors and regulatory mechanisms that underlie
susceptibilities of individuals to toxic effects associated with chemical
exposures. These studies are largely focused on the cytochrome P450 and
epoxide hydrolases, enzymes that metabolize many environmental substances
of concern. He is an editorial board member of several scientific journals,
and has served as Associate Editor of both Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology
and Toxicological Sciences, official journals of the Society of Toxicology.
He received the Society’s Zeneca Award in 1998 and the Burroughs
Wellcome Fund Toxicology Scholar Award, 1995-2000. He has published over
70 peer-reviewed articles and numerous book chapters, reviews and other
technical reports. Dr. Omiecinski’s research program in toxicogenetics
is supported by several NIH grants together with the Burroughs Wellcome
Fund.
Mansour Samadpour, PhD, is an Assistant
Professor in the Environmental Health Technology program. He is trained
in microbiology and food science. Recent projects include source analysis
for fecal coliforms in relation to shellfish beds and public water supply;
molecular epidemiology of food-borne outbreaks; and prevalence and implications
of food-borne pathogens in public food supplies. His laboratory specializes
in rapid identification of sources of outbreaks of infectious diseases
and the microbiology of food, water, wastewater, and air. He received
a group recognition award from US Food and Drug Administration in 1997
for his team’s work in solving the E. coli identification problem
in the Odwalla apple juice case.
Noah S. Seixas, PhD, is an Associate
Professor in the Industrial Hygiene and Safety program and graduate program
director. Dr. Seixas is a Certified Industrial Hygienist and a member
of the editorial board of the American Industrial Hygiene Association
Journal. He also serves on the AIHA Occupational Epidemiology Committee.
His interests are in the quantification of exposure for occupational epidemiology,
especially agents affecting the respiratory tract. Current research efforts
include a prospective study of noise-induced hearing damage among construction
workers, assessment of irritant gas exposures during aluminum smelting
and their relationship to respiratory tract infection, exposure assessment
for women textile workers in Shanghai, China, and methods of controlling
exposure to dust during construction tasks. Dr. Seixas also works closely
with the local construction community evaluating the effectiveness of
educational and organizational programs.
Elizabeth (Lianne) Sheppard, PhD, is
a Research Associate Professor in the Occupational and Environmental Medicine
Program with a joint appointment in Biostatistics. Her applied work focuses
on air pollution health effects and occupational epidemiologic studies.
Her biostatistical research interests emphasize estimation of health effects
from environmental and occupational exposures, and incorporating group
information in epidemiologic studies.
Charles D. Treser, MPH, is a Senior
Lecturer in the Environmental Health Technology program. His interests
include administrative law and process applied to environmental health,
and vector control and housing. Current research projects include several
projects through the NW Center for Public Health Practice to develop a
regional network of state and local public health agencies and academic
institutions focused on current issues of public health workforce development.
He is also spearheading a national effort to produce a practical manual
on housing and health for environmental health practitioners. He is president
of Association of Environmental Health Academic Programs; and principal
investigator on a cooperative agreement between AEHAP and the CDC National
Center for Environmental Health designed to improve Environmental Health
practice through promoting and strengthening EH academic programs.
Gerald van Belle, PhD, a Professor
in the Environmental Health Technology program (joint with Biostatistics),
was department Chair from 1990 to 1998. His research specialties include
design of experiments, data characterization, and analysis with particular
emphasis to neurodegenerative diseases and environmental studies. He is
the principal investigator for the core in Biostatistics, Epidemiology,
and Statistical Genetics of the UW Alzheimer Disease Research Center.
He also researches the effects of air pollution on health, particularly
the link between daily fluctuations in air pollution levels and morbidity
and mortality statistics. He is a member of the Research Committee of
the Health Effects Institute, Boston, a board member of the Mickey Leland
National Urban Air Toxics Research Center, Houston, and a member of the
Food and Drug Administration’s Peripheral and Central Nervous System
Drug Advisory Committee. He is the author or coauthor of more than 100
papers and coauthor with L. Fisher of the Wiley book, Biostatistics: A
Methodology for the Health Sciences.
James S. Woods, PhD, MPH, is a Research
Professor in the Toxicology program. His research focuses on the molecular
mechanisms of toxicity of heavy metals such as mercury, arsenic, and lead,
with interest in changes in metabolism of porphyrins as biomarkers of
metal exposure and toxicity. He also conducts epidemiological studies
of metal toxicity in human populations, including a study to determine
the potential health risks to children of dental amalgam fillings containing
mercury. He is past president of the American Board of Toxicology and
of the Pacific Northwest Association of Toxicologists. He has served on
numerous national and international advisory committees to evaluate human
health risks from metal exposures. He has published more than 100 papers
in peer-reviewed journals in addition to numerous book chapters and review
articles.
Zhengui Xia, PhD, is Assistant Professor in the Toxicology
program. She has published 20 papers, mostly on the mechanisms for regulating
apoptosis, a form of programmed cell death. During development, apoptosis
helps remove cells that are produced in excess, have developed improperly,
or are no longer needed. In adults, apoptosis removes cells that are potentially
dangerous, such as viral infected cells, genetically damaged cells, or
toxin-damaged cells. Dr. Xia studies the role of chemical toxins such
as sodium arsenite and pesticides on apoptosis. Abnormal apoptosis has
been implicated in various diseases, such as cancer, autoimmune disorders,
Huntington’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and stroke. Dr. Xia’s
research has been supported by the Sheldon Murphy assistant professor
endowment and NIH. She is also a recipient of the Burroughs Wellcome new
investigator award.
Michael G. Yost, PhD, is an Associate
Professor and director of the Industrial Hygiene and Safety program. His
research interests include optical remote sensing of chemicals in the
environment, and physical agents in the workplace such as noise, vibration,
and electromagnetic radiation. Dr. Yost is a member of the Bioelectromagnetics
Society (BEMS) and the American Conference of Government Industrial Hygienists
(ACGIH). He is developing
new tools for exposure assessment, such as Optical Remote Sensing (ORS)
methods that use electromagnetic radiation (such as lasers, UV, visible,
or infrared light) to rapidly identify and measure contaminants. He is
developing new types of sampling methods, such as a heart rate controlled
sampling pump and instruments for measuring solvent concentrations in
exhaled breath samples using infrared spectroscopy.
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©
2001 Department of Environmental Health, University of Washington