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Contact: Fred Blosser (202) 260-8519
January 22, 1998

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) announced a new name -- Education and Research Centers -- for the 15 university-based programs that it funds for the training of occupational safety and health specialists.

Formerly known as Educational Resource Centers, the NIOSH-supported programs will retain the acronym "ERCs."

"The new name better reflects the unique role that has evolved for these programs," said NIOSH Director Linda Rosenstock, M.D., M.P.H. "As an integral part of their mission in training the nation's occupational physicians, occupational health nurses, and other professionals in the field, these institutions have built strong capabilities in teaching and developing research skills in individuals. As multidisciplinary centers, these institutions bring wide ranging expertise in conducting biomedical and other advanced occupational safety and health research."

Supported by NIOSH training grants, the ERCs graduate almost half of the nation's post-baccalaureate occupational health and safety specialists, including the majority of occupational health nursing and occupational medicine graduates. In the last five years, these programs graduated about 1,800 occupational safety and health professionals and provided continuing education for 184,000 professionals. The program was established in 1977.

ERCs are funded for five-year periods by NIOSH under a competitive peer-review process. A program announcement is published in the Federal Register every year, and proposals by applicants are evaluated extensively by NIOSH staff and independent scientific reviewers. The 15 ERCs are listed on the following page.

For further information on the ERC program or on NIOSH research activities, call toll-free 1-800-35-NIOSH (1-800-356-4674) or visit NIOSH's home page on the World Wide Web at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh.

NIOSH EDUCATION AND RESEARCH CENTERS

• Deep South Center for Occupational Health and Safety (University of Alabama at Birmingham and Auburn University)
• Northern California Center for Occupational and Environmental Health (University of California at Berkeley, Davis, and San Francisco)
• Southern California Education and Research Center (University of Southern California, University of California at Los Angeles, and University of California at Irvine)
• University of South Florida Education and Research Center
• Great Lakes Center for Occupational and Environmental Safety and Health (University of Illinois at Chicago)
• Johns Hopkins Education and Research Center (Johns Hopkins University)
• Harvard Education and Research Center (Harvard University)
• Michigan Center for Occupational Health and Safety Engineering (University of Michigan)
• Midwest Center for Occupational Health and Safety (University of Minnesota)
• New York/New Jersey Education and Research Center (Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, Hunter College, New Jersey Institute of Technology, University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey)
• North Carolina Education and Research Center (University of North Carolina, Duke University Medical Center)
• University of Cincinnati Education and Research Center
• Southwest Center for Occupational and Environmental Health (University of Texas at Houston)
• Rocky Mountain Center for Occupational and Environmental Health (University of Utah)
• Northwest Center for Occupational Health and Safety (University of Washington).