SCHOOL OF
PUBLIC HEALTH AND COMMUNITY MEDICINE - UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON WINTER,
2002
| INSIDE THIS ISSUE |
| Update from the Chair | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Educational
Initiatives
Faculty
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| Coming Full Circle: #1 Carl Osaki |
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Osaki
retired in July 1999 as Chief of Environmental Health at Public
Health—Seattle & King County. He describes himself as “retired
from a job, but not from a cause or a passion.” Governor Gary
Locke recently appointed him to a third term on the Washington State
Board of Health. He
also teaches in our department and does private consulting work,
specializing in environmental health practice and policy development.
He
spends his retirement working because “I really feel environmental
health is an important discipline ... I feel deeply blessed by the
opportunity to continue in a field where I perceive I can still
make a He
teaches an undergraduate Environmental Health Practice class, where
he tries to “give students a real life perspective on the practice
of environmental health.” He manages Osaki
entered graduate school on the GI Bill and a Public Health Service
Traineeship, taking a leave of absence from the county health department,
where he was an environmental health specialist. He says he became
graduate No. 1 by accident—by finishing a quarter or two ahead
of classmates David Bissonnette, Bryce Breitenstein, Stephen Cant,
and Bruce Jackson. In
the nearly 30 years since he graduated, Osaki has seen a number
of changes in Environmental Health, including a more diverse workforce,
increased specialization of activities, and increased community
involvement in decision-making. Osaki’s
interest in public process goes back to graduate school, where he
took an atypical route to his master’s degree, with the encouragement
of adviser Jack Hatlen. Instead of choosing a science-driven topic,
he took courses in the Schools of Business and Public Affairs to
learn about, as he puts it, “what makes environmental health
organizations tick.” His thesis was titled, “The application
of organization development concepts to an environmental health
section of a local health agency.” He
encourages his students to study communication, behavioral sciences,
and conflict resolution, and not to overspecialize. Understanding
community needs and perceptions, he said, “is as important
as knowing how to calculate parts per million.” |
| 10 Essential Public Health Services |
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| Alumni Profiles | ||||||||||
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Risk & remediation
Tom McHugh works for an environmental consulting company that specializes in environmental engineering and risk management. His projects mostly relate to human and ecological risk assessment, and involve applied research and development of regulatory guidance. One of his favorite parts of the job is developing training programs on the application of risk assessment to environmental remediation sites. He has had the opportunity to present these training programs around the world, including Brazil, Italy, and Malaysia. Tom
rejoined the firm where he worked before coming to UW for his PhD,
but with a new advantage. “I found that the training I received
at DEH has created opportunities to advance professionally and within
the company that I would not have had without the training.” He suggests that current students become involved in other activities related to their future interests in addition to the core course requirements and thesis research. For example, he found that collaborations with the Department of Medicinal Chemistry and participation in risk assessment projects, while not directly related to his research, were an important part of his education. Many
parts of the country have a shortage of qualified toxicologists
in environmental consulting, he said. “As risk assessment continues
to become more important in environmental remediation, the role
of toxicologists and other environmental health professionals continues
Brad
Prezant, MSPH, MBA, CIH, CPE - Graduated 1982 Consulting & training
Brad Prezant supplemented his Master's Degree in Environmental Health with a Master’s in Business Administration, taking his science background into the business world. The business he started in 1987 has grown from a one-man shop into the largest locally owned industrial hygiene consulting, laboratory, and health and safety training organi-zation in the Pacific Northwest. It employs 35 people in Seattle, Spokane, and Mount Vernon. After
he received his MSPH degree, Prezant worked for five years with
what is now called the Field Research and Consultation Group, consulting
on indoor air quality and ergonomics. “We
are the only consulting firm with such strong ties with the department,”
Prezant said. “We are appreciative of the opportunities the
department has given us, and we support UW in any way we can.” Prezant calls industrial hygiene a “great field for anyone interested in the application and communi-cation of science ... It isn't pure science—we are out doing practical applications—taking science and applying it every day.” The application of science to public health gives Environmental Health graduates a broader perspective than, for example, engineering. “Public health is our raison d’être,” he said. For
more information
Kim
Lowry Coble, MSPH - Graduated 1985 Environmental advocacy
Kim (Lowry) Coble applies her science background to environmental advocacy with the Maryland-based Chesapeake Bay Foundation. Her job is to ensure that the foundation uses sound science to restore and protect the bay. As the only person on staff with a public health background, she is the key link between the environment and human health, and as assistant director, she helps administer and manage the foundation’s Maryland office. She
has been with the foundation for more than a decade and says, “I
can honestly say I have never had two days be the same.” She
spends a great deal of time trying to influence state legislation
(she is a registered lobbyist). She also spends time on the Bay
in kayaks and canoes. She talks to citizen groups and international
organizations, working specifically in the area of chemical contaminants
and nutrients from point and non-point sources. “I am continually
challenged by the diversity of the issues that I work on and therefore,
am constantly learning new things.” She is unequivocal about the role the Department of Environmental Health played in her career. “My experience at DEH gave me the foundation on which I have built my profession. I learned how to use and communicate scientific issues in particular, environmental health issues, in order to protect the environment and human health.” She was inspired by professors who “made it clear that once you are educated about environmental health issues, you then have a responsibility to be an advocate about those issues.” She sees ample opportunities in her field. “There is a need for people who understand science and can communicate the issues.” She suggests that graduates contact advocacy groups and private foundations about job possibilities. “While you may not die a millionaire, you will definitely feel as if you are making a difference.” For
more information:
Joe
Coble, MSPH, ScD, CIH - Graduated 1984 Tracking occupational illnesses
Joe Coble is with the National Cancer Institute, working on identifying and preventing occupational health hazards. He conducts retrospective exposure assessments for occupational epidemiology studies. Because the Institute collaborates on a wide variety of national and international studies, he interacts with some of the world’s leading experts on occupational health. After
graduating from UW in 1984, he worked for 12 years as an industrial
hygienist in the private sector, primarily in the forest products
industry. In 1996, he entered a doctoral program in Environmental
Health Engineering at Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene
He
feels the interdisciplinary curriculum at UW provided him with a
solid scientific foundation for his work in industry, and later
in research. He learned the basic principles of industrial hygiene,
Although
he specialized in occupational health and safety, he appreciated
that the faculty at DEH has expertise on a wide spectrum of issues.
“Exposure to a range of environmental as well as occupational
health topics provided a broad perspective from which to understand
the larger aspects of health policy and risk assessment, as well
as some of the more scientific and technical issues associated with
He encourages students to “learn as much as you can about the science, as well as the applied aspects of occupational and environmental health.” While most graduates will not end up working in research, he thinks an understanding of the scientific method would serve them well in other fields. He sees a Master’s Degree in Industrial Hygiene as a launching pad for a variety of careers in the private sector, government, and academia. For
more information:
Bradley
A. Evanoff, MD, MPH - Graduated 1993 Research, teaching & helping patients
Research, teaching, and clinical practice fill the life of Brad Evanoff. His research specialty involves musculoskeletal disorders and occupational injuries. As an associate professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at Washington University in St. Louis, he teaches medical students, residents, and fellows. “I find teaching to be stimulating and enjoyable,” as is mentoring junior faculty as they “develop into independent investigators.” He also sees patients in an occupational health clinic and in the general medicine service in the hospital, and has administrative duties as chief of the Division of General Medical Sciences, a research group that performs outcomes research and clinical epidemiology. Evanoff finds occupational health research exciting because “it offers the ability to combine clinical medicine with public health.” He acknowledges that “there is no shortage of controversies in our field, which will continue to have important social consequences and gen-erate interesting questions for academic research.” He has been involved, for example, in ergonomics regulation at the national level. He received his clinical training at Washington University School of Medicine before entering the Occupational and Environmental Medicine program at UW. He returned to Washington University to start a new research and teaching program in occupational diseases. He
still relies on the training in epidemiology, industrial hygiene,
and toxicology that he received at UW, either In Seattle, he found “an incredible group of faculty” who served as role models. He also learned from his peers, a diverse group of nurses, industrial hygienists, epidemiologists, and fellow physicians. He
encourages students to take advantage of these opportunities. “You
are unlikely to again be in a setting where you He sees “great opportunities available in occupational medicine and occupational health,” both in academic research and its application in the real world. For
more information: |
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| New Faculty Member | ||
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Scott Meschke Bridging the gap
The Department’s newest faculty member, Scott Meschke, hopes to establish a nationally recognized research program in environmental and public health microbiology. Dr. Meschke would also like to help bridge the gap between science, policy, and law. “The law treats public health and the environment as separate areas, when they really are the same thing,” said Meschke, who holds a PhD in environmental microbiology in addition to a law degree. As an assistant professor of Environmental Health Technology, Dr. Meschke will research causes of foodborne and waterborne illnesses. His research will focus on environmental fate and transport of viruses, bacteria, and other pathogens, as well as water and wastewater treatment, including alternative methods of disinfection. Much of his research is with a particular family of viruses, the caliciviruses, which includes the Norwalk-like viruses. The Environmental Protection Agency has recognized the importance of caliciviruses as water contaminants by including them on the Contaminant Candidate List. Other areas of research will include developing methods for detection and recovery of pathogens from the environment, and using surrogate organisms as indicators for human pathogens in the environment. The new arrival from the University of North Carolina School of Public Health would like to see more effort in explaining hard sciences to legislators and rule-makers in state and federal agencies. Dr. Meschke wants to build bridges between the School of Public Health and Community Medicine, the Law School and the Evans School of Public Affairs. “There should be more collaboration between lawyers, policy-makers and scientists,” he said. Additionally, he would like the public—and the news media—to recognize the public health implications of environmental policy. “Most environmental statutes are designed to protect the public health, but they are rarely treated that way in the media,” he said. “When people think about the Clean Water Act, they are more likely to think about salmon than they are about drinking water.” Dr. Meschke is a member of several national and international professional organizations, including American Society for Microbiology, International Water Association, American Water Works Association, and National Association of Lake Managers. His
faculty Web page is located at: |
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| Database and Websites |
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Databases The undergraduate and graduate program offices maintain alumni databases so we can continue to be a resource to alumni long after you have graduated. You might like to receive the departmental newsletter or attend departmental events such as Student Research Day or Career Day alumni mixers. Your
information is an important tool for the department. We are routinely
asked to report on the career paths of our alumni when submitting
grant renewals. Applicants to our programs are often curious to
know the variety of jobs our alumni hold. To
update your information, please
fill out this form. Graduate The
Department has launched a Web site designed to keep alumni involved,
The site will help you keep your contact and career information up to date, let your classmates know what you’ve been up to, and provide continuing education and career information. As
alumni, this is your site. Please help us to build it so that it
serves your needs. We welcome your comments, either using the form
on the site or by sending an e-mail to ehgrad@u.washington.edu. Also,
if you haven’t seen our new graduate program brochure, you
can download a copy from Undergraduate The Department’s undergraduate Web site has a new look. You’ll find it at http://depts.washington.edu/ehug. The site focuses on recruiting, as well as service to existing students. It offers an overview of “What is Environmental Health” and descriptions of the various careers to which our bachelor’s degree can lead. You
can also download a fact sheet about the program. Graduates of this
program are invited to share information through the DEH alumni
site, http://depts.washington.edu/envhlth/alumni/.
A new
graduate brochure can be downloaded at: Web
designers Devon DeLapp
and Leigh Caplan are
responsible for the design of these sites. Do
you want to receive this newletter in its paper form, or continue
your current subscription? Phone 206-543-1564 or e-mail kiplingw@u.washington.edu. |
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| People and Places |
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Elaine Faustman was in Bangkok, Thailand for a WHO conference called "International Conference on Environmental Threats to the Health of Children: Hazards and Vulnerability" in March. Nancy Judd, research scientist with the Institute for Risk Analysis and Risk Communication, won an award for her paper on beryllium analysis at the Society for Risk Analysis in Seattle in December. Terry Kavanagh has been appointed Toxicology program director and Joel Kaufman Occupational and Environmental Medicine program director. Jane Koenig made a scientific presentation on acute respiratory disease studies at the Environmental Protection Agency’s Science Advisory Board, Particulate Matter Research Centers Interim Review Panel in Washington, DC, in February. Lianne
Sheppard spoke at the World Health Organization/Health Effects
Institute workshop Chuck Treser was invited to participate in a workshop sponsored by the National Environmental Health Science & Protection Accreditation Council/CDC/HRSA reviewing the guidelines for accreditation of environmental health academic programs in New Orleans in March. Gerald van Belle has been appointed to the National Research Council Committee to Review the EPA Research Program. The committee, formed in January, will meet five times during the next year, and will issue a report in March 2003. Jim
Woods was an invited guest speaker at the Instituto Piaget in
Lisbon, Portugal, delivering a lecture on environmental mercury
toxicity. |
| CE Catalog |
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| THE FINE PRINT | |
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Environmental Health News is published three times a year by the Dept. of Environmental Health at the University of Washington. Inquiries
should be addressed to Phone: 206-543-1564; E-mail: kjhall@u.washington.edu. Find the department on the World Wide Web at http://depts.washington.edu/envhlth. Reprint permission is granted providing that copyright notice as given below is included. We would appreciate receiving a copy of your reprinted material. ©
2002, ISSN number 0029-7925 |
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Managing Editor - Sharon L. Morris Senior Writer & Editor - Kathy Hall Designer & Illustrator - Cathy Schwartz Editorial Assistant - Kipling West Interim Department Chair - David A. Kalman |
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