PEOPLE & PLACES
David Kalman, professor and chair, is on sabbatical through June 2010, and Professor Richard Fenske is the department’s acting chair. Fenske has been the associate chair and also directs the Pacific Northwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center (PNASH).
Christopher Simpson was promoted to associate professor. Victor Van Hee (MPH, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 2007) accepted a joint appointment as assistant professor in our department; his primary appointment is in the Department of Medicine. Sara Dubowsky Adar also accepted a joint appointment as assistant professor; her primary appointment is in the Department of Epidemiology. John Garland was appointed affiliate professor, and Sheela Sathyanarayana was appointed adjunct assistant professor; her primary appointment is in the Department of Pediatrics. Andy Dannenberg was appointed clinical professor.
From August to November, Professor Sverre Vedal participated in a faculty exchange at the University of Bergen in Norway, where he used survey data to study the possible relationship between occupational exposure and certain lung diseases.
Professor Lianne Sheppard received the Genentech Professorship in Biostatistics.
Professor Michael Rosenfeld was named chair of the National Institutes of Health’s committee on Atherosclerosis and Inflammation of the Cardiovascular System.
Lecturer Richard Gleason was awarded the Lifetime Safety and Health Leadership Award from the Puget Sound Safety Summit, an alliance of government, management, and labor groups who develop methods and solutions to improve workplace safety.
Professor Evan Gallagher became the director of the department’s Toxicology program. Susan Inman is the new undergraduate program manager and Sean Schmidt is the new manager of our Northwest Center for Occupational Health and Safety Education & Research Center (NW Center).
In August, Professor John Kissel presented on dermal absorption at the Workshop on Semi-Volatile Organic Compounds in the Residential Environment at the Indoor Air Institute in North Carolina. Associate Professor Peter Johnson presented at the World Congress of the International Ergonomics Association in Beijing, China. At the NIOSH Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing Workshop held in Cincinnati, Ohio, PNASH participants Professor Matthew Keifer, Program Manager Marcy Harrington, Research Industrial Hygienist Kit Galvin, and Affiliate Professor John Garland presented and led discussion sessions.
Professor Elaine Faustman, assisted by Research Manager Eric Vigoren, co-taught a course on chemical risk evaluation in Abuja, Nigeria, in collaboration with the International Union of Toxicologists, Nigeria’s National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, and Aiida-4 Medical Consultants, Inc. Faustman also served on a scientific organizing committee for the World Congress on Alternatives and Animal Use in the Life Sciences in Rome, Italy, where Xiaozhong Yu, director of IRARC’s laboratory research and public health translation, participated in a session on reproduction, development, and fertility.
In September, Senior Lecturer Charles Treser helped deliver a course to home-care practitioners at the Idaho Healthy Housing Conference in Boise. At the University of Kansas Medical Center, Professor David Eaton was invited to speak at the 2009 Annual John Doull Symposium. He spoke on “Modulation of aflatoxin-DNA binding by phytochemicals in human hepatocytes.” Affiliate Professor Curtis Omiecinski also spoke at the symposium. PNASH Outreach Director Helen Murphy participated in the Western States Occupational Network Meeting held in Denver, Colorado, which aimed to build state-based occupational epidemiology and surveillance capacity.
In October, the NW Center sponsored a workplace violence workshop at the Washington State Governor’s Industrial Safety and Health Conference. Darren Linker, manager of the School-to-Work program, helped coordinate an inter-active all-day workshop for nearly 80 high school students.
Also in October, at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-sponsored National Environmental Public Health Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, Industrial Hygienist Nancy Beaudet presented on pediatric environmental exposures, and Tania Busch Isaksen, a PhD student in the Environmental and Occupational Hygiene program, presented on climate change and sustainability work performed in Washington state environmental health departments.
At the Washington State Department of Agriculture Farm-worker Education Program in Yakima, Professor Fenske presented his results on air monitoring for pesticide exposure, and Research Scientist Maria Tchong-French presented a Spanish-language session on practical pesticide safety.
Samantha Kantrowitz, a master’s student in Toxicology, interned at the CDC over the summer through the Environmental Health Officer Junior Commissioned Officer Student Training and Extern Program and the Summer Under- graduate Program in Environmental Health.
Rad Cunningham, a student in the concurrent Environmental and Occupational Health MPH/MPA degree program, spent the summer working with unionized trash pickers from squatter communities in Asuncion, Paraguay, on an environmental and occupational health assessment.
Last August, Research Scientist Rick Neitzel (PhD, Environmental and Occupational Hygiene, 2009) presented on exposure estimation techniques at the International Conference on Innovations in Exposure Assessment in Boston, Massachusetts. In October, Neitzel presented on occupational noise exposure assessment at the EuroNoise conference in Edinburgh, Scotland. His research on mass transit noise was featured in the September 2009 edition of Seattle Metropolitan magazine.
Julie Wagner, a master’s student in the Occupational and Environmental Exposure Sciences program, received a Green Steward Award from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, where she interned as an environmental specialist.
Elizabeth Kilcline, a master’s student in Environmental Health, received our department’s 2009 Top Scholar Award, which is funded through the UW Graduate School.
In October, Research Scientist Diane Ceballos received a scholarship at the Pacific Northwest Section–American Industrial Hygiene Association’s Northwest Occupational Health Conference in Vancouver, Canada, where she also presented her research on best glove practices for car painters. Ceballos also presented on painters’ health and safety in Leavenworth, Washington, to the Autobody Service Association.
Jennifer Krenz, a master’s student in Environmental and Occupational Health, received a travel scholarship to the American Public Health Association Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In the winter, Krenz worked in Cambodia on a project led by Associate Professor William Daniell to evaluate a pesticide-use reduction program.
Undergraduate students Kendra Broadwater and Alyssa Vivas received scholarships from the Washington State Environmental Health Association. In addition, Vivas was awarded a Mary Gates Research Scholarship for her research on adverse outcomes associated with placental abruption in Peruvian women.
Rachel Fischer, a senior fellow trainee in the Occupational and Environmental Medicine program, did a clinical rotation in Brunei, a small country on the north coast of Borneo in Southeast Asia.
Master’s students Jessica Kocian and Alexander Domesle won Presidential Management Fellowships. The federal service program attracts students interested in pursuing positions in public policy.
In March at the Alaska Governor’s Safety and Health Conference, Research Industrial Hygienist Venetia Runnion presented HexChEC, a video training package to raise awareness of welders’ potential exposures to chrome 6, which was developed by the Field Research and Consultation Group. Also at the conference, PhD student Ryan Blood presented results of a study on occupational vibration exposures experienced by a crew of snow removal operators from the City of Valdez Public Works Department; the department won a Governor’s Safety Award of Excellence for its proactive approach to protecting its workforce.
Announcements & Upcoming Events
Our department released the 2010 department calendar and the 2007–2009 biennial report. Visit the biennial report online. For a print copy of the 2010 calendar or the biennial report, e-mail esharpe@u.washington.edu or call 206-685-6737.
On April 9–11, our faculty, staff, and students illustrated important research underway in our department at the Paws on Science: Huskies Weekend at the Pacific Science Center through interactive, hands-on activities.
On May 21, Student Research Day, an event showcasing the research of graduating master’s students, will be held in Room 316 of the UW South Campus Center. From 12:30 to 1:20 pm, the event will feature five student presentations, each representing one of our degree programs. Then, from 1:30 to 3:00 pm, all graduating master’s students will present posters. Attendance at one or both sessions is welcome. Refreshments will also be served. Please call the graduate program office at 206-543-3199 or e-mail ehgrad@u.washington.edu for more information.
On June 21–22, the 2010 Symposium on Air Pollution and Cardiovascular Disease will be held in the UW Tower. Organized by our Disease Investigation through Specialized Clinically Oriented Ventures in Environmental Research (DISCOVER) Center and the NW Center, this symposium will bring together investigators to discuss how air pollution may cause cardiovascular disease. Register.
Nicaragua Adds Ergonomics to Health and Safety Laws
Below is a photo of the Members of the Nicaraguan Ministry of Work Subcommission. Nicaragua is the first developing country to include ergonomics as a part of its occupational health and safety laws, legislation that Lecturer Kate Stewart (3rd from right) helped influence. In April, Stewart and Affiliate Professor Barbara Silverstein talked with the Minister of Work in Laos, who has requested information on how to legislate ergonomics, using the Nicaraguan law as a model.
Photo is courtesy of Kate Stewart
