Expanding Research Partnerships Webinar Series
To receive e-mail updates about this page and other ORI activities, please enter your e-mail address:
This webinar series has been organized by the NIOSH Office of Research Integration (ORI) and designed to promote the work of innovative and impactful research and expand intramural and extramural partnerships in occupational safety and health (OSH). Researchers, practitioners, and OSH stakeholders engage in discussion of pressing issues and opportunities for collaboration. For more information on past or present webinars, please contact ORI@cdc.gov.
Free continuing education credit is available for select webinars. Please see below for details.
NewUpcoming Webinar: June 14, 2023
Please join us on Wednesday, June 14, 2023 from 11:00 am – 12:30 pm ET for the second installment of the 2023 Expanding Research Partnerships Webinar Series: Leveraging collaboration to address key challenges to OSH research, training and practice.
This webinar will approach the topic from the perspective of OSH training. This second installment of the 2023 series is hosted by the NIOSH Office of Research Integration.
More information on speakers and presentation topics will be added soon!
Learning Objectives
At the conclusion of the session, the participant will be able to:
- Identify at least one pressing occupational safety and health issue facing workers, employers, or occupational safety and health professionals today.
- Describe the importance of interprofessional collaboration in occupational safety and health.
- Discuss different approaches to addressing the occupational safety and health issue(s) presented.
Free continuing education credit is available for this webinar.
Please register to attend this free webinar by clicking on the registration link below. You will receive a confirmation e-mail and link to the Zoom webinar.
Past Webinars
Coming Soon
On Wednesday, March 8, 2023 we held the first installment of the 2023 Expanding Research Partnerships Webinar Series. This webinar explored operationalizing Ex4OSH research paradigm.
Partnering with Employers to Prepare for the Future (and Now) of Work
Lili Tenney
Center for Health, Work & Environment, Colorado School of Public Health
Leveraging Collaborations to Address OSH Challenges for Workers Across the Lifespan
Gretchen Petery and Jim Grosch
National Center for Productive Aging and Work, NIOSH
Establishing, Maintaining, and Nurturing Community Partnerships for Effective Participatory Action Research in Occupational Safety and Health
Kirsten Almberg
Center for Healthy Work, University of Illinois Chicago
Featured Speakers:
Liliana (Lili) Tenney, DrPH, MPH, Associate Director for Outreach and Programs at the Center for Health, Work & Environment and Assistant Professor at the Colorado School of Public Health
Lili Tenney is the associate director for outreach and programs at the Center for Health, Work & Environment and an assistant professor at the Colorado School of Public Health where she teaches graduate courses in the Department of Environmental & Occupational Health. As PI of the Center’s Outreach Core, her work focuses on leading implementation science. She has over ten years of experience in partnering with industry, government, and businesses to design and implement workplace interventions and research studies. Lili is the co-founder and director of Health Links™, an initiative that partners with employers across a range of industries and geographical locations to identify solutions for worker health and safety by providing them with assessment, consulting, and certification. She speaks nationally on the role employers and work environments play in creating a healthier workforce. She is passionate about integrating TWH with business sustainability, helping develop impact goals and planning for work, health, and corporate social responsibility. As a mother of two, she prioritizes finding ways to supporting working parents.
Gretchen A. Petery, PhD, Social Scientist and Co-Manager of the National Center for Productive Aging and Work, NIOSH
Dr. Gretchen A. Petery is a Social Scientist with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and serves as Co-Manager for the National Center for Productive Aging and Work. She is also an Associate Investigator for the Centre of Excellence in Population Ageing Research (CEPAR) in New South Wales, Australia, and a Research Affiliate for the Center for the Promotion of Health in the New England Workplace (CPH-NEW), a TWH Center of Excellence. Gretchen’s research focuses on issues central to an aging and age diverse workforce, including workplace age stereotypes and age bias, successful aging at work, and worker health and well-being. Dr. Petery earned her PhD and Master’s in Industrial-Organizational Psychology and a graduate certificate in Occupational Health Psychology from the University of Connecticut, and her B.S and Certificate in Human Resource Management from Washington State University, Vancouver. In additional, she has over 20 years of industry experience in management and other roles, and owned her own business, giving her a unique perspective of work and working life.
James W. Grosch, PhD, MBA, Research Psychologist, Co-Manager, National Center for Productive Aging and Work, NIOSH
James Grosch is a Senior Research Psychologist and Co-Manager of NIOSH’s Center for Productive Aging and Work. He has a Ph.D. in Organizational Psychology and an M.B.A.—both from the University of New Hampshire. His work at NIOSH focuses on better understanding how behavioral and work organization factors affect a worker’s safety and health. Recent projects include: changes in health and cognitive ability that workers experience as they age, characteristics of age-friendly workplaces, job stressors associated with increased risk of heart disease and depression, and the impact of job transitions (e.g., retirement, being laid off) on both physical and mental health outcomes.
Kirsten S. Almberg, PhD, Research Assistant Professor, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Illinois Chicago and Director of the UIC Center for Healthy Work
Dr. Almberg is an occupational epidemiologist with a strong research focus on the occupational health and safety of workers in precarious employment; occupational respiratory health; and the relationship between work and mental health. She serves as the Director of the University of Illinois Chicago’s Center for Healthy Work (UIC CHW), a Center of Excellence for Total Worker Health, which has the core tenet of community engagement and participation in occupational safety and health research.
Recording: Archived Presentation – Now Available
On Wednesday, September 14, 2022, we held the third installment of the 2022 Expanding Research Partnerships Webinar Series. This webinar explored the impacts of technological change on work and well-being, with a focus on OSH systems.
Using Health and Safety Management Systems to Facilitate the Integration of New Technologies
Emily Haas
NIOSH
Opportunities, Limitations, and Consequent Disparities in Occupational Data Collection
Zeke McKinney
HealthPartners Institute
Featured Speakers:
Emily Haas, Ph.D., Research Health Scientist, NIOSH
Emily Haas is a Research Health Scientist at NIOSH’s National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory (NPPTL). She is the principal investigator for several projects that focus on identifying personal, organizational, and environmental risk factors in workplace settings. In the development, implementation, and evaluation of these workplace-level interventions, Dr. Haas emphasizes the application of occupational safety and health (OSH) management system elements such as employee engagement and culture enhancement to improve the integration and safe adoption of new OSH technologies. Dr. Haas has authored numerous papers that have empirically showed how the use of an OSH management system and related practices, or standards can support worker perceptions and decision making. Dr. Haas has been the recipient of the Arthur S. Flemming Award in the Social Science, Clinical Trials, and Translational Research, the Gears of Government Presidential Award, and a Samuel Hyman Finalist for her research advancements in OSH standards and practices. Dr. Haas received her PhD in Health Communication from the Brian Lamb School of Communication at Purdue University.
Zeke McKinney, MD, MHI, MPH, FACOEM, Program Director, HealthPartners Occupational and Environmental Medicine Residency
Zeke McKinney practices clinical occupational and environmental medicine in the Twin Cities, and he is one of few clinicians in Minnesota who evaluates work and community-related environmental toxicologic exposures. He is also the Program Director of the OEM residency program where he trained, an affiliate assistant professor at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, and a clinical investigator for the HealthPartners Institute. Most notably, he is a co-investigator for the Oxford University/Astra-Zeneca COVID-19 vaccine trial for which the HealthPartners Institute is a site. His general interests are in preventing work-related illness/injury, improving data-driven decision-making in clinical contexts, environmental toxicology, health equity, environmental justice, public safety medicine, managing complex impairment/disability, and increasing the health literacy of patients and communities. Dr. McKinney wants to ensure that healthcare systems and insurers address the social determinants of health that affect patients outside of the exam room, such as healthcare access, housing, employment, environmental hazards, and nutrition. In addition, Dr. McKinney is passionate about justice for all patients, both in the clinic as well as in the community, and ensuring that healthcare outcomes and preventable hazards are equitably distributed across populations rather than disproportionately affecting some more than others. He focuses on the individual’s needs, recognizing that every patient has their own unique situation. Each person’s story is different and he attempts to get to know them as individuals and to help them reach their goals. Overall, he wants each patient to reach their optimal level of performance and function, whether at work or in their individual activities. [Source: Linked In, Accessed Aug 8, 2022]
Recording: Archived Presentation – Now Available
On Wednesday, June 8, 2022, we held the second installment of the 2022 Expanding Research Partnerships Webinar Series. This webinar explored the impacts of technological change on work and well-being, with a focus on disparities.
Exploring the Use of Innovative Technologies to Address Racial/Ethnic Occupational Health Disparities & Inequities
Rashaun Roberts
NIOSH
Technology in the Hospitality Industry and the Impact on Workers
Eric Clinton
UNITE HERE! Local 362
The Use of Technology to Improve the Health and Safety of Vulnerable Workers
Maria Espinola
Institute for Health Equity and Innovation
Featured Speakers:
Rashaun Roberts, Ph.D., Associate Director for Diversity & Inclusion, NIOSH
Rashaun Roberts is the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)’s Associate Director for Diversity and Inclusion and Director of the Institute’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Office, established in 2021. Prior to assuming these roles, Dr. Roberts was a researcher and scientific leader in the NIOSH Division of Applied Research and Technology from 2002 to 2018. In that role, she provided leadership and oversight to research and dissemination projects covering a wide variety of content areas- including but not limited to workplace discrimination, minority health/health disparities, aging, and women’s health.
Eric Clinton, President of UNITE HERE! Local 362
Eric Clinton is President of UNITE HERE! Local 362, which represents 10,000 hospitality workers in Central Florida and South Carolina, including attractions and custodial cast members at Walt Disney World, and food service workers in airports and industrial kitchens. UNITE HERE! is a national labor organization representing 300,000 hotel, gaming, food service and textile workers across North America. Eric is also the President of the Central Florida AFL-CIO, the umbrella group of organized labor, which represents 70,000 Union members from over 50 local Unions in the Central Florida area. As a Disney worker, Eric first became active in his union in 1998 as a member and Shop Steward for his area at the Disney-MGM Studios. He joined the Executive Board of his Local Union and then went on to work full-time for the organization in 2001. In 2005, he was promoted to Lead Organizer and became President of Local 362 in April of 2008. Eric specializes in Collective Bargaining, Labor/Management relations and Leadership Development.
Maria Espinola, PsyD, Chief Executive Officer, Institute for Health Equity and Innovation
Maria Espinola is the CEO of the Institute for Health Equity and Innovation in Cincinnati, Ohio. She has over 12 years of experience providing vision, leadership, and strategic planning for the development and implementation of health equity initiatives in multifaceted organizations. She has a record of successful collaboration with leaders across universities, Fortune 500 companies, non-profit organizations and the three branches of government. She has been a consultant for NIOSH and has served on the Ohio Commission on Minority Health’s Medical Expert Panel, the University of Cincinnati President’s Diversity Council and the Health Policy Institute of Ohio’s Board of Directors. Dr. Espinola has received over 25 awards for leadership, health equity initiatives, innovation and community impact, and she has been featured by a wide range of media outlets, including the U.S. News and World Report, ABC News, CNN and Reuters Health.
Recording: Archived Presentation – Now Available
On Wednesday, March 9, 2022, we held the first installment of the 2022 Expanding Research Partnerships Webinar Series. This webinar explored the impacts of technological change on work and well-being, with a focus on work arrangements.
Work Arrangements and Worker Well-being
Rene Pana-Cryan
NIOSH
The Leadership Updraft: Rising Expectations on Health/Safety in a Joint-Employer Environment
Presenter: Scott DeBow
Randstad USA
Health Impacts of Precarious Employment Opportunities to Effect Change
Presenter: Lorraine M. Conroy
University of Illinois Chicago, School of Public Health
Featured Speakers:
Rene Pana-Cryan, PhD, Chief Economist, NIOSH
Rene Pana-Cryan is Chief Economist and Director of the Economic Research and Support Office in the Office of the Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). She also co-manages the NIOSH Healthy Work Design and Worker Well-being Cross-Sector Program. Her interests include understanding how to improve the design of work, management practices, and the physical and psychosocial work environment in order to enable workers to thrive and contribute productively at work, at home, and in society. She is particularly interested in understanding the economic factors that affect work arrangements and the effects of work arrangements on the well-being of workers and their families. Rene joined NIOSH in 1996 as a post-doctoral Prevention Effectiveness fellow.
Scott DeBow, CSP/ARM, Practice Leader: Risk and Safety, Randstad USA
Scott DeBow is a highly collaborative, strategic thinker with 19 years of progressive leadership in risk management and occupational safety. As a safety professional in non-traditional employment settings, he sees tremendous opportunity for systems improvements that can create and maintain safer work environments. Scott works to align people, teams, and industry resources for improved safety within the joint employer community and devotes much of his time to developing safety leadership with an emphasis on systems improvements to address critical workplace risks. Scott currently serves as the Practice Leader for Risk/Safety at Randstad, a global leader in the HR services industry that provides workforce solutions in the areas of engineering, IT, legal, life sciences, healthcare and manufacturing/logistics. Randstad operates with the belief that how we operate as a company should move society forward. Scott is a professional member of the American Society of Safety Professionals and serves on the NIOSH/NORA workgroups on Contingent Labor Workforce and Traumatic Injury Prevention.
Lorraine M. Conroy, ScD, CIH, Professor and Division Director, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, Director, UIC Center for Healthy Work, University of Illinois Chicago, School of Public Health
Lorraine Conroy is Professor and Division Director of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), School of Public Health. She serves as the Director for the UIC Center for Healthy Work, a NIOSH-funded Center of Excellence in Total Worker Health®. The focus of the UIC Center is precarious employment- understanding how working conditions and work arrangements associated with precarious work impact the health of workers, their families, and their communities; and developing multi-level intervention strategies to turn unhealthy work into healthy work. She is also the co-Director of the Occupational Safety and Director of the Pilot Projects Research Training Programs in the Great Lakes Center for Occupational Safety and Health Education and Research Center. Lorraine is certified in the comprehensive practice of industrial hygiene by the American Board of Industrial Hygiene and has more than 30 years of experience in research, curriculum development, and teaching in occupational and environmental health. Her expertise is in the evaluation and control of hazards in the workplace and community. Lorraine has an undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and a master and doctoral degree in Environmental Science and Physiology, with a focus in industrial hygiene, from Harvard University, School of Public Health.
Recording: Archived Presentation – Now Available
On Wednesday, September 8, 2021, we held the third installment of the 2021 Expanding Research Partnerships Webinar Series. This webinar explored perspectives on worker health and safety in the post-pandemic world from OSH professional associations.
When COVID redefined “essential worker” occupational medicine physicians kept them healthy and working
Robert Bourgeois
American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
Future directions and impact-opportunities for occupational health psychology
Chris Cunningham
Society for Occupational Health Psychology
American Society of Safety Professionals’ (ASSP) history, current and future role in research dissemination and collaboration with NIOSH
Joel Haight
American Society of Safety Professionals
Introducing the new AIHA/ACGIH “Defining the Science” Initiative
John Mulhausen
American Industrial Hygiene Association
AIHA and CDC/NIOSH Grant Partnership: “Improving Clinical & Public Health Outcomes through National Partnerships to Prevent and Control Emerging Infectious Disease Threats”
Larry Sloan
American Industrial Hygiene Association
Featured Speakers:
Robert Bourgeois, American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
Dr. Bourgeois has practiced in an Occupational Medicine group in Morgan City, Louisiana since 1993. Prior to that he was the Medical Director of the Martin Marietta Electronics, Information and Missiles Group in Orlando, Florida. He served as a Consultant to SeaWorld of Florida and Walt Disney World. Since 1993, his Louisiana based Occupational Medicine group has provided services to hundreds of companies across South Louisiana and the Gulf of Mexico. An expert in Maritime and Oil Worker Fitness for Duty, he has testified as an expert in multiple jurisdictions including for the National Transportation Safety Board. He serves as the 2021-2022 President of the American College of Occupational & Environmental Medicine.
Chris Cunningham, Society for Occupational Health Psychology
Christopher J. L. Cunningham, PhD is a UC Foundation Professor and the Industrial and Organizational Psychology graduate program director in the Department of Psychology at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC). He holds an adjunct clinical assistant professor position for research and evaluation at the University of Tennessee College of Medicine-Chattanooga. Chris is also the Chief Science Officer for Logi-Serve (a provider of science-based talent management technologies). He teaches graduate-level seminars for organizational and occupational health psychology (OHP), consulting skills and ethics, and organizational development/design, and undergraduate courses for professional ethics and career planning. His current research addresses multiple OHP topics, including: stress and recovery processes and practices; the influence of individual differences and environmental factors on cognitions and behaviors; and topics related to managing multiple work and nonwork roles. Chris is the 2020-2022 President for the Society for Occupational Health Psychology. He also serves as an editorial board member for five top-ranked journals in applied psychology and occupational health.
Joel Haight, American Society of Safety Professionals
Dr. Haight, Ph.D., P.E.CSP, CIH, is Professor of Industrial Engineering in the Swanson School of Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh where he teaches and does research in the areas of productivity, human factors engineering and safety engineering. Prior to joining the University of Pittsburgh in 2013, he served as Chief of the Human Factors Branch at NIOSH in the Pittsburgh Office of Mine Safety and Health Research. Dr. Haight served for nearly 10 years as an Associate Professor of Energy and Mineral Engineering at the Pennsylvania State University. He also worked as a manager and engineer for the Chevron Corporation for 18 years prior to joining the faculty at Penn State. Dr. Haight has a Ph.D. and Master’s degree in Industrial and System Engineering, both from Auburn University. He is a professional member of the American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP), the Institute for Industrial and Systems Engineering (IISE), the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) and the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES). He has published numerous peer-reviewed scientific journal articles, book chapters and proceedings papers, and is the editor-in-chief and contributing author for the J.W. Wiley and Sons’ Handbook of Loss Prevention Engineering and the ASSE Safety Professionals Handbook. Dr. Haight has served on the NIOSH Board of Scientific Counselors, the American Society of Safety Engineers Foundation Board, and the American Society of Safety Professionals Board of Directors.
John Mulhausen, American Industrial Hygiene Association
John Mulhausen Ph.D., CIH, CSP, is currently President of AIHA. He retired in 2018 from 3M where he worked for 31 years in a variety of global health and safety risk management roles, most recently as Director of Corporate Safety and Industrial Hygiene. He has authored / co-authored over 100 presentations, publications or professional development courses in forums throughout the world and contributed advice and expertise on various working committees sponsored by NIOSH, AIHA, ACGIH, and the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine. John is an adjunct assistant professor at the University of Minnesota, a Fellow of the AIHA, recipient of ABIH’s Lifetime Achievement Award and AIHA’s Edward J. Baier Technical Achievement Award and Henry F. Smyth Award.
Larry Sloan, American Industrial Hygiene Association
Larry Sloan, CAE, stepped into the role of CEO at the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) in October 2016. Prior to this, he served as CEO for seven years at SOCMA, a trade association representing the interests of the US specialty chemical industry. Larry started his non-profit career at the Adhesive and Sealant Council, a trade association representing adhesive and sealant manufacturers, and was promoted to his first CEO role there in January 2005. He led this group for five years. Larry began his career as a chemical engineer at Air Products and later worked for Nalco Chemical Company in marketing, manufacturing, and sales capacities. Larry earned a BS degree in chemical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, and later graduated from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management where he earned his MBA. In 2006, Larry received his Certified Association Executive (CAE) designation through the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE). Currently he serves in a leadership role on the ASAE Foundation’s Research Committee. He has served as a speaker and thought leader at various non-profit community events over the years, including ASAE and CESSE (Council of Engineering and Scientific Society Executives). Prior volunteer leadership roles include serving as board member and chair (in 2012) of the National Association of Manufacturers’ Council of Manufacturing Associations; a board member of the Société de Chemie Industrielle; an executive committee member of the Science History Institute’s Joseph Priestly Society; and a board member of the Chemical Educational Foundation.
Recording: Archived presentation – Now Available
On Wednesday, June 9, 2021, we held the second installment of the 2021 Expanding Research Partnerships Webinar Series. This webinar explored perspectives on worker health and safety in the post-pandemic world from employer groups in the U.S.
Pandemic challenges in the oil and gas industry and long-term key learnings
Presenter: Gary Childress
Oil States Energy Services
Future industrial worker health and safety challenges
Barbara Dawson, MS, CIH, FAIHA, CSP
DuPont
Leading people safely in the post COVID-19 era
Brian Fielkow, CEO
Jetco Delivery, LLC & EVP, The GTI Group
COVID-19 – Impact and future of agriculture operations
Paul Riley, MS
Agriculture Safety and Health Council of America
Featured Speakers:
Gary Childress — Oil States Energy Services
Gary Childress has 43 years of combined operations and quality, health, safety and environment management experience in the oil and gas industry, serving in global roles supporting both manufacturing and field service operations. Gary presently serves as the global Vice President of Quality, Health, Safety, Environmental and Employee Development for Oil States Energy Services based in Houston, Texas. He also conceived and produced the award-winning industry movie; Left Undone, supporting H2S safety worldwide.
Barbara Dawson, MS, CIH, FAIHA, CSP — DuPont
Barbara J. Dawson is an EHS Fellow and Global Occupational Hygiene Competency Leader at DuPont. She has over 40 years of experience in occupational health and safety and is a Past President of the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) and a Past Chair of the American Board of Industrial Hygiene (ABIH). Prior to her current assignment, Barbara was the Safety, Health, and Environmental Resource for DuPont Chemical Solutions Enterprise, the chemical business of DuPont. Barbara spent her first 10 years at DuPont as the Industrial Hygiene Programs Manager at the DuPont Chambers Works site and Laboratory Director of an AIHA-accredited lab. Prior to DuPont, Barbara worked as an industrial hygienist for SmithKline Corporation and the Rohm and Haas Company. Barbara has a Master of Science in environmental health (industrial hygiene) from Temple University and a Bachelor of Science in biology from Muhlenberg College. She is a Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH) and Certified Safety Professional (CSP). Barbara is an AIHA Fellow . Barbara has served as President of the Yuma Pacific Southwest AIHA Section, President of the Delaware Section of the AIHA, President of the Delaware Valley AIHA Section (now the Philadelphia Section), and President of the Philadelphia Chapter of the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSP). Barbara has received the AIHA Distinguished Service Award, was recognized as a Salem County, NJ Woman of Achievement, and was awarded 2020 American Chemistry Council Member Company Employee of the Year.
Brian Fielkow, CEO, Jetco Delivery, LLC & EVP, The GTI Group
Brian Fielkow is a senior executive, author, and keynote speaker who is passionate about building high performing business cultures, with a special focus on employee engagement and safety culture. Brian approaches business with the philosophy of “strong on the inside – unbeatable on the outside.” He currently serves as CEO of Houston-based Jetco Delivery and Executive Vice President of Montreal-based The GTI Group. The GTI Group offers open deck/heavy haul, intermodal, dedicated van, and freight brokerage services. Brian is author of dozens of articles and two books, including Leading People Safely: How to Win on the Business Battlefield. Brian recently launched “Making Safety Happen,” an online course and workshop designed to help organizations of all sizes grow their safety cultures. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Brian spoke extensively on how to lead people through crisis. He also worked with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on their development of safety best practices for long haul professional truck drivers. Brian is especially proud of receiving the National Safety Council’s Distinguished Service to Safety Award for his work in the field of applied safety. Brian holds a JD from Northwestern University School of Law (1989) and BA from University of Wisconsin Madison (1986).
Paul Riley, MBA, CSP — Agriculture Safety and Health Council of America
Paul Riley is a Certified Safety Professional (CSP) with 30 years of experience in Occupational Safety and Health. He received his bachelor’s degree in environmental and occupational safety and health from Brigham Young University and holds a Master of Business Administration. He has worked in the safety and health profession in several different industries, including mining, agriculture, insurance, government, and construction. Paul is currently the Director of Safety and Health for AgReserves, Inc. AgReserves, Inc. is a multi-national agriculture company involved in beef, dairy, almonds, pistachios, walnuts, pecans, oranges, olive oil, potatoes, onions, corn, wheat, and soybeans. Paul sits on the board of directors for the Agricultural Safety and Health Council of America and has served as President of the Utah Chapter of the American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP) and other national leadership positions within ASSP.
Recording: Archived presentation – Now Available
On Wednesday, March 10, 2021, we held the first installment of the 2021 Expanding Research Partnerships Webinar Series. This webinar explored perspectives on worker health and safety in the post-pandemic world from labor associations of major industry sectors in the U.S.
Health and Safety Priorities and Research Needs for AFT Members in a Post-Pandemic World
Presenter: Amy Bahruth, MS
American Federation of Teachers (AFT)
Occupational Safety and Health Issues Confronting Warehouse and Transportation Workers in a Post-Pandemic World
Presenter: Lamont Byrd, CIH, MS
International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT)
The Future of Worker Health in the Construction Sector
Presenter: Chris Cain, CIH
North America’s Building Trades Union (NABTU)
Opportunities for Advancing Worker Health in the Healthcare Sector
Presenter: Mark Catlin, BS (Retired)
Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
Featured Speakers
Amy Bahruth, MS – American Federation of Teachers (AFT)
Amy Bahruth has been a safety and health specialist and educator for over 30 years. She is an associate director in the Health Issues Division at the American Federation of Teachers in Washington, DC, which represents over 1.7 million members across five divisions – K-12 teachers and paraprofessional staff, higher education faculty and staff, public employees and healthcare workers. She has trained hundreds of members and developed curricula on bullying, workplace violence, emergency preparedness, and indoor environmental quality. Additionally, Amy is a part-time lecturer at the Rutgers University School of Management and Labor Relations; she has taught OSHA, Introduction of Labor Studies and Employment Relations, Development of the Labor Movement II, and Internships in Labor Education and has been teaching in the labor studies program since 1997. Ms. Bahruth holds a bachelor’s degree from Rutgers in labor studies and a master’s degree from Hunter College, City University of New York in environmental and occupational health science.
Lamont Byrd, CIH, MS — International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT)
Lamont Byrd, Director of the Teamsters Safety and Health Department is a Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH) in comprehensive practice, with a master’s degree in industrial hygiene from the University of Cincinnati and a Bachelor of Science degree in environmental health from East Carolina University. He has 30 years of experience working for the Teamsters Union. Under his leadership, the Safety and Health Department has grown to include a diverse staff of industrial hygienists, safety professionals, administrative specialists, grant managers, communications liaisons, and administrative support staff. He was instrumental in establishing 12 Teamsters Safety and Health Training Centers nationwide that employ 50 union rank-and file safety and health instructors. During the past 10 years, over 60,000 Teamsters workers, in addition to other workers and community partners, have benefited from the safety and health training offered by the Teamsters. Mr. Byrd is actively involved in developing occupational safety and health and transportation safety policy and providing technical and regulatory support to rank-and-file Teamsters members, IBT Trade Divisions & Conferences, and Local Union Affiliates. He is a member of the NIOSH NORA Committee on Transportation, Warehousing, and Utilities, and has served on the OSHA National Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health; NIOSH Board of Scientific Counselors; Transportation Research Board – Safety Synthesis Committee; and the Transportation Research Board – Motor Carrier Safety Research Analysis Committee.
Chris Cain, CIH — North America’s Building Trades Union (NABTU)
Chris Cain is CPWR’s (The Center for Construction Research and Training) Executive Director and leads its construction research, training, and service programs funded by federal agreements, grants, and contracts. She works with CPWR’s partners in the government, unions, and the larger construction safety and health community. She also serves as the director of safety and health for North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU), the umbrella organization also known as the Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO. NABTU is comprised of 14 national and international unions collectively representing over three million workers. She has been working in construction safety and health for 24 years.
Mark Catlin, BS – Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
Mark Catlin has worked as an industrial hygienist for 40 years, including much experience in the healthcare sector. His work in healthcare began in 1991 when he was the industrial hygienist at the Harborview Occupational Medicine Clinic at the University of Washington School of Medicine, in Seattle, as OSHA Bloodborne Pathogen Standard became effective and during the beginning of efforts to protect healthcare workers from Tuberculosis, back and other ergonomic injuries and workplace violence. Mr. Catlin retired in 2018 as Occupational Health and Safety Director for the 2-million member Service Employees International Union (SEIU) representing healthcare, public sector and property services work, including on emergency preparedness and response and during the H1N1 pandemic and the Ebola outbreaks in the United States. During his fifteen years with SEIU, he helped win groundbreaking OSHA protections in California – the Aerosol Transmittable Disease (ATD) Standard in 2009 and the Workplace Violence Prevention in Healthcare Standard in 2016. Prior to joining SEIU in 2003, Mr. Catlin worked with labor unions and employers in construction, manufacturing, and environmental industries. Over his career in occupational health and safety, he has contributed to the integration of worker health and safety protections and the development, delivery, and evaluation of effective training for workers employed in this emerging work. During this pandemic, Mr. Catlin is consulting for labor unions, government agencies, and others.
Recording: Archived Presentation – Now Available
On Wednesday, September 2, 2020, we held the third and final installment of the 2020 Expanding Research Partnerships Webinar Series with presentations by intramural and extramural speakers on Developing Partnerships during a Pandemic.
The NIOSH Disaster Science Responder Research Program: Integrating Worker Safety and Health Research with the COVID-19 Response
Presenters: Angela Weber, MS, and Elizabeth Whelan, PhD
NIOSH Disaster Science Responder Research Program
Engaging seafood processing workers in a pandemic
Presenters: Laura Syron, PhD, MPH, and Kaitlin Kelly-Reif, PhD
NIOSH Western States Division and Division of Field Studies and Engineering
Role of NIOSH-funded Extramural Centers COVID-19 Response
Presenter: Elizabeth Fisher, CHES, MAc
University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health
Learning from and helping small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic
Presenter: Marissa Baker, PhD
University of Washington School of Public Health
Oregon Healthy Workforce Center COVID-19 Partnerships and Projects
Presenter: Dede Montgomery, MS, CIH
Oregon Healthy Workforce Center, Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences
Disaster Workforce Planning for 2020 and Beyond: Studies from the Sunshine ERC
Presenter: Jennifer Marshall, PhD
University of South Florida Sunshine Education and Research Center
Carolina PROSPER: Promoting Safe Practices for Employees Return
Presenter: John Staley, PhD, MSEH
University of North Carolina, Occupational Safety and Health Education and Research Center
Featured Speakers
Angela Weber, MS – NIOSH
Angela Weber is the Program Coordinator for the CDC’s NIOSH Disaster Science Responder Research Program located within the Emergency Preparedness and Response Office in Atlanta, GA. In this position, she advances research and stakeholder collaborations to protect the health and safety of emergency responders and recovery workers in anticipation of and during responses to natural and man-made disasters and novel emergent incidents. Over the past 20+ years at CDC, she has prepared for and responded to a variety of infectious disease outbreaks and public health emergencies including the 2003 SARS response, multiple anthrax and ricin incidents, Ebola, hurricanes, and the on-going COVID-19 response. She formerly served as an industrial hygienist in the NIOSH Health Hazard Evaluation Program; in the National Center for Environmental Health, Office of Terrorism Preparedness and Emergency Response; and in the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Division of Preparedness and Emerging Infections.
Elizabeth Whelan, PhD -- NIOSH
Dr. Elizabeth Whelan received her Ph.D. in epidemiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1991 and joined NIOSH as an Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) Officer that same year. She is currently chief of the Field Research Branch in the Division of Field Studies and Engineering. Dr. Whelan has over 25 years of experience conducting occupational epidemiology studies and her research interests include reproductive health, take-home exposures, occupational cancer, and emergency response research. Dr. Whelan is a Commissioned Officer in the United States Public Health Service and was deployed to West Africa in 2014 in response to the Ebola virus outbreak. She currently serves as co-chair of the NIOSH Disaster Science Responder Research (DSRR) Steering Committee.
Laura Syron, PhD, MPH -- NIOSH
Dr. Laura Syron is a researcher at NIOSH. She earned a Ph.D. in Environmental and Occupational Health, and an M.P.H in International Health, from Oregon State University. For the past six years, she has conducted occupational safety and health research in high-risk maritime industries, including seafood processing and commercial fishing. Dr. Syron serves on leadership teams for two NIOSH Core and Specialty Programs, the Center for Maritime Safety and Health Studies and the Occupational Health Equity Program. She has been involved in developing guidance for COVID-19 prevention in the workplace.
Kaitlin Kelly-Reif, PhD – NIOSH
Dr. Kaitlin Kelly-Reif is an epidemiologist at NIOSH and earned her PhD in environmental and occupational epidemiology from the Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. She is the co-project officer for a NIOSH study on COVID-19 prevention among Seafood Processors. Additionally, Kaitlin leads chronic disease studies of workers exposed to ionizing radiation, particulate matter, and chemicals. She collaborates with several international research consortia to develop large international datasets of radiation exposed workers. Kaitlin is currently working to develop the largest cohort of workers exposed to carbon nanotubes and nanofibers (CNT/F) in response to biomarker studies indicating potential respiratory health effects from CNT/F exposure. She and her colleagues are also in the early phases of a multifaceted study of workers exposed to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances.
Elizabeth Fisher, CHES, MAc -- University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health
Ms. Fisher is currently a research specialist at the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health in the Division of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences and Deputy Director of the Center for Healthy Work, a NIOSH-funded Center of Excellence for Total Worker Health. In this role, she serves as the primary contact and liaison with internal and external stakeholders and manages the dissemination of scholarly materials and other communications. Central to her role with the Center for Healthy Work, Ms. Fisher works to build the capacity of the public health workforce to address precarious work, by supporting trainings such as the Healthy Work Collaborative. As a Certified Health Education Specialist, translating research to shape accessible health promotion messaging has been one of Ms. Fisher’s guiding goals in the public health workforce. Elizabeth Fisher holds a Bachelor of Science in Community Health Sciences degree from Ohio University and she is currently a Masters’ candidate in Health Communication at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Ms. Fisher’s focus areas include health communications, community and economic development, occupational health, social and structural determinants of health, as well as systems change.
Marissa Baker, PhD -- University of Washington School of Public Health
Marissa Baker is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences in the University of Washington School of Public Health. She is also the program director of the industrial hygiene training program at the Northwest Center for Occupational Health and Safety. Dr. Baker's research has mostly focused on exposure to manganese in welders and shipyard and foundry workers. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she has worked with a variety of workplaces and labor organizations to help develop and implement plans to protect workers. Additionally, she has utilized existing data sources to identify occupational groups most at risk for exposure to disease or infection, and characterized workers that cannot work from home, in order to inform public health guidance and COVID-19 risk communication.
Dede Montgomery, MS, CIH -- Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences, Oregon Healthy Workforce Center
Dede Montgomery has more than thirty years experiencing working as an industrial hygienist and safety and health professional. Dede leads up outreach and education for both the Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences and the NIOSH-funded Oregon Healthy Workforce Center as well as provides industrial hygiene technical expertise to its research. Dede is currently the VP of the Columbia-Willamette Chapter of ASSP, recently ended terms on ASSP’s Council on Professional Affairs and ASSP’s Total Worker Health Taskforce, and sits on the ASSP/ANSI Total Worker Health Standard Committee.
Jennifer Marshall, PhD -- University of South Florida Education and Research Center
Dr. Jennifer Marshall is an Associate Professor at the University of South Florida (USF) College of Public Health, Chiles Center, teaching courses in Maternal and Child Health, Community Partnerships and Advocacy, and Community‐based Research Methods and Program Evaluation. She serves as Interdisciplinary Faculty Lead and is also Director of Research and Evaluation and Deputy Director of Outreach for the NIOSH-funded Sunshine Education, Research and Training Center for occupational health and safety. Leading Florida’s HRSA‐funded Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting evaluation since 2013 and the statewide Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems Impact Project evaluation, she conducts interdisciplinary public health systems research assessing perinatal support and infant mortality prevention programs and workers; family‐centered care and access to services for women, families and children; mental health programs; and Florida’s Early Childhood Courts. Her worker health research primarily focuses on health disparities, social determinants of health, and social services and health care providers. Her interests stem from over 25 years of experience working with community programs that support perinatal women’s health, underserved communities, and parents of young children with special health care needs. Areas of expertise include mixed‐methods, community‐ based, participatory research and program evaluation. Dr. Marshall has worked with the Florida Birth Defects Registry and USF Birth Defects Surveillance Program for 10 years lead for community‐based research on systems of care and family supports, including Zika virus epidemic response and hurricane preparedness.
John Staley, PhD, MSEH -- University of North Carolina Occupational Safety and Health Education and Research Center
John Staley is NC OSHERC’s Director of Outreach and Continuing Education. Dr. Staley is also a member of the BSPH core faculty in the Gillings School of Global Public Health, and Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Staley has over 20 years of experience as a public health policy and management expert, including occupational safety and health micro/macro level management. His work includes disaster preparedness and response program development, infectious disease and environmental health/safety, and pedagogy and program/curriculum design for undergraduate, masters and doctoral level programs. Dr. Staley has a strong interest in outreach with the first responder community (e.g., fire/EMS, law enforcement, military) and vulnerable work populations. Dr. Staley is also collaborating with NIOSH sponsored southeastern ERCs from the University of South Florida, University of Florida, University of Alabama Birmingham, and the University of Kentucky, focusing on COVID-19 specific occupational safety and health issues prevalent in the southeastern United States, fostering regional cross-collaboration to improve the health of the US workforce.
Recording: Archived Presentation – Now Available
On Wednesday, June 10, 2020, we kicked off the second installment of the 2020 Expanding Research Partnerships Webinar Series, with a special collaboration with the NIOSH Office for Total Worker Health® and the NIOSH Future of Work Initiative. We featured exciting topics on the future of work and implications for aging workers.
A Look at the Intersection of Aging, Worker Well-being and the Future of Work
Presenter: L. Casey Chosewood, MD, MPH
NIOSH Office for Total Worker Health (TWH)
When Aging and Work Collide
Presenter: James Grosch, PhD
NIOSH National Center for Productive Aging and Work
Aging Workers in the Future of Work
Presenter: Martin Cherniack, MD, MPH, and Jennifer Garza, ScD
University of Connecticut Health Center
Featured Speakers
L. Casey Chosewood, MD, MPH – NIOSH
Dr. L. Casey Chosewood is currently the Director of the Office for Total Worker Health® at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In this role, he promotes the protection and improvement of the safety, health and well-being of workers around the world. Since 2018, he has also coordinated NIOSH’s work addressing the nation’s opioid overdose epidemic. From 2004 to 2009, he served as the Director of the CDC Office of Health and Safety safeguarding the 15,000 members of the CDC workforce as they faced the new challenges of the modern public health era, including emerging infectious diseases, bioterrorism and other global health challenges. His office led numerous CDC workforce protection programs, including all occupational health services, laboratory and biosafety programs, environmental and compliance activities, and workplace well-being and prevention initiatives. He has served as the Medical Director of CDC’s three occupational health clinics. His team has overseen a multi-faceted workplace health program providing more than 200,000 encounters, screenings, and health opportunities annually. He has presented extensively on worker safety and occupational health, biological and laboratory safety, international travel medicine, and workplace well-being.
Dr. Chosewood received his medical degree at the Medical College of Georgia and completed his residency in Family Medicine at the University of Connecticut. He has been an Assistant Professor of Family and Community Medicine at Emory University School of Medicine since 1997. He received a Master of Public Health in Health Policy and Management from Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health in May 2014. Before coming to CDC, Dr. Chosewood was the Medical Director for the Southeastern Region of Lucent Technologies.
James Grosch, PhD – NIOSH
Dr. James Grosch is a Senior Research Psychologist and Co-Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Center for Productive Aging and Work. He has a Ph.D. in Organizational Psychology and a Master of Business Administration---both from the University of New Hampshire. His work at NIOSH focuses on better understanding how behavioral and work organization factors affect a worker’s safety and health. Recent projects include: changes in health and cognitive ability that workers experience as they age, characteristics of age-friendly workplaces, job stressors associated with increased risk of heart disease and depression, and the impact of job transitions (e.g., retirement, being laid off) on both physical and mental health outcomes.
Martin Cherniack, MD, MPH - University of Connecticut Health Center
Dr. Martin Cherniack is an occupational medicine physician and Professor of Medicine at the University of Connecticut (UConn) Health Center. He has worked as an academic physician and investigator for the past 34 years. Dr. Cherniack has worked principally on occupational musculoskeletal diseases and concentrated clinically on management of chronic disease in the working population. In more recent years, he has been engaged in translational research, combining biomedical and social sciences with the goal of developing preventive health interventions for general implementation.
Since 2006, he has been the co-director of the Center for the Promotion of Health in the New England Workplace (CPH-NEW) – one of six NIOSH-funded Centers of Excellence for Total Worker Health (TWH). Since 2008, he has been the Principal Investigator for the UConn-SAM (University of Connecticut Study on Aging and Musculoskeletal Disease), NIOSH-funded longitudinal study directed to aging and work, He has directed domestic and international studies on hand-arm vibration, the physiology of aging, integrated interventions in manufacturing and public sector work forces, ergonomic tool development, and radiation related health effects at Chernobyl.
Jennifer Garza, ScD - University of Connecticut Health Center
Dr. Garza is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine at the University of Connecticut (UConn) Health Center. Her research interests include ergonomics, musculoskeletal health, and occupational exposure assessment. She has been the co-Principal Investigator on UConn-SAM (University of Connecticut Study on Aging and Musculoskeletal Disease) since 2017 and is principally working on wearable instrumentation for assessing activity demands in and out of work.
Recording: Archived presentation– Now Available
On Wednesday, March 11, 2020, we kicked off the first installment of the 2020 Expanding Research Partnerships Webinar Series. We featured exciting topics on the future of work and implications for occupational safety and health.
Future of Work: Risks and Opportunities
Presenter: John Howard, MD
NIOSH Director
Mapping the Future of Work for the Safety and Health of Workers
Presenter: Paul A. Schulte, PhD
NIOSH Director of the Division of Science Integration
Horizon Scanning for Identifying Emerging Issues
Presenter: Andy Hines, PhD
Assistant Professor and Program Coordinator
University of Houston Graduate Program in Foresight
Featured Speakers
John Howard, MD – NIOSH
Dr. John Howard is the Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), and the Administrator of the World Trade Center (WTC) Health Program in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Dr. Howard was first appointed NIOSH Director in 2002 during the George W. Bush Administration and served in that position until 2008. In 2009, Dr. Howard worked as a consultant with the US-Afghanistan Health Initiative. In September of 2009, Dr. Howard was again appointed NIOSH Director, and was reappointed for a third six-year term in 2015. Prior to his appointments as NIOSH Director and WTC Health Program Administrator, Dr. Howard served as Chief of the Division of Occupational Safety and Health in the State of California’s Labor and Workforce Development Agency from 1991 through 2002.
Dr. Howard earned a Doctor of Medicine from Loyola University of Chicago; a Master of Public Health from the Harvard University School of Public Health; a Doctor of Law from the University of California at Los Angeles; and a Master of Law in Administrative Law and Economic Regulation, and a Master of Business Administration in Healthcare Management, both degrees from The George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Dr. Howard is board-certified in internal medicine and occupational medicine. He is admitted to the practice of medicine and law in the State of California and in the District of Columbia, and he is a member U.S. Supreme Court bar. He has written numerous articles on occupational health, policy and law.
Paul A. Schulte, PhD – NIOSH
Dr. Paul Schulte is the Director of the Division of Science Integration and Co-Manager of the Nanotechnology Research Center at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Dr. Schulte has 40 years of experience in conducting research and developing guidance on occupational cancer, nanomaterials, risk communication, workplace well-being, and genetics. He also has examined the convergence of occupational safety and health and green chemistry and sustainability. He is the co-editor of the textbook, Molecular Epidemiology: Principles and Practices. Dr. Schulte has served as guest editor of the Journal of Occupational Medicine and the American Journal of Industrial Medicine and was on the initial editorial board of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention. He is currently on the International Advisory Board of the Annals of Occupational Hygiene. Dr. Schulte has developed various frameworks for addressing the aging workforce, burden of occupational disease and injury, well-being of the workforce, and translation research and synthetic biology and occupational risk.
Andy Hines, PhD - University of Houston
Dr. Andy Hines is Assistant Professor and Program Coordinator for the University of Houston’s Graduate Program in Foresight and is also speaking, workshopping, and consulting through his firm, Hinesight. His 30 years of professional futurist experience includes a decade’s experience working inside first the Kellogg Company and later Dow Chemical, and consulting work with Coates & Jarratt, Inc. and Social Technologies/Innovaro. His books include Thinking about the Future (2nd edition), Teaching about the Future, ConsumerShift: How Changing Values Are Reshaping the Consumer Landscape, 2025: Science and Technology Reshapes US and Global Society, and his dissertation was The Role of an Organizational Futurist in Integrating Foresight into Organizations. He is a member and former Chair of the Association of Professional Futurists.
Recording: Archived Presentation – Now Available
On Wednesday, September 18, 2019, we kicked off the final installment of the 2019 Expanding Research Partnerships Webinar Series. We featured exciting topics on an expanded focus for occupational safety and health.
Towards An Expanded Focus for Occupational Safety and Health
Presenter: Paul A. Schulte, Ph.D, NIOSH Director of the Division of Science Integration
The Expanded Focus for Occupational Safety and Health (OSH): Implications for Research and Training of OSH Professionals
Presenter: George Delclos, MD, MPH, PhD, Professor, University of Texas Health Science Center School of Public Health
Featured Speakers
Paul A. Schulte, PhD – NIOSH
Dr. Paul Schulte is the Director of the Division of Science Integration and Co-Manager of the Nanotechnology Research Center at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Dr. Schulte has 40 years of experience in conducting research and developing guidance on occupational cancer, nanomaterials, risk communication, workplace well-being, and genetics. He also has examined the convergence of occupational safety and health and green chemistry and sustainability. He is the co-editor of the textbook, Molecular Epidemiology: Principles and Practices. Dr. Schulte has served as guest editor of the Journal of Occupational Medicine and the American Journal of Industrial Medicine and was on the initial editorial board of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention. He is currently on the International Advisory Board of the Annals of Occupational Hygiene. Dr. Schulte has developed various frameworks for addressing the aging workforce, burden of occupational disease and injury, well-being of the workforce, and translation research and synthetic biology and occupational risk.
George Delclos, MD, MPH, PhD - University of Texas Health Science Center School of Public Health
Dr. George Delclos is a Distinguished Teaching Professor of the University of Texas System and a faculty member in the Department of Epidemiology, Human Genetics and Environmental Sciences at the University of Texas School of Public Health in Houston. He also serves as Deputy Director of the NIOSH-supported Southwest Center for Occupational and Environmental Health Education and Research Center. Dr. Delclos obtained his medical degree from the University of Barcelona in 1981 and completed residency training in internal medicine and pulmonary diseases at the Baylor College of Medicine. He has a Masters of Public Health degree from the University of Texas School of Public Health and a Ph.D. in Health and Life Sciences from Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, and he is board-certified in internal medicine, pulmonary diseases and occupational medicine. Dr. Delclos’ current areas of research focus include: a) occupational and environmental asthma (epidemiological and clinical aspects with an emphasis on healthcare workers and cleaners); b) national surveys of working conditions, employment and health; and c) determinants of sickness absence, presenteeism and disability.
Recording: Archived presentation – Now Available
On Wednesday, June 12, the second installment of the 2019 Expanding Research Partnerships Webinar Series featured exciting topics on occupational safety and health issues of emerging technologies.
The NIOSH Advanced Manufacturing Initiative: Collaborative Research in Support of the Future of Work
Presenter: Charles Geraci, PhD, CIH, FAIHA, NIOSH Associate Director for Emerging Technologies
Partnership to Advance Research and Guidance for Occupational Safety and Health in Nanotechnology
Presenter: Nicole M. Neu-Baker, MPH, CPH, Research Associate for NanoHealth Initiatives, SUNY Polytechnic Institute
Featured Speakers
Charles Geraci, PhD, CIH, FAIHA – NIOSH
Dr. Charles Geraci is the NIOSH Associate Director for Emerging Technologies where he leads the Nanotechnology Research Center, Advanced Manufacturing Initiative, and new Emerging Technologies Program. He has practiced multiple aspects of Industrial Hygiene for more than 43 years in both the public and private sectors, including two tours at NIOSH and serving as Associate Director for HS&E (Health, Safety and Environmental) at the Procter & Gamble Company. Dr. Geraci earned a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from the University of Cincinnati and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Michigan State University. He is an American Board of Industrial Hygiene Certified Industrial Hygienist and is a Fellow of the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA). Dr. Geraci earned national and international recognition for his scientific leadership in the field and for his ability to translate complex scientific issues into practical guidance for worker protection, earning him the NIOSH Distinguished Career Scientist status in 2017. He serves as a subject matter expert on various national and international panels and advisory boards, including representing NIOSH on the U.S. National Nanotechnology Initiative and the White House OSTP Sub-Committee on Advanced Manufacturing. Additional accomplishments include the 2019 Henry Smyth, Jr. Award from the AIHA, the 2018 Jeffrey Lee Lecture Award from the Foundation for Occupational Health and Safety and the 2015 Edward J. Baier Technical Achievement Award from the AIHA.
Nicole M. Neu-Baker, MPH, CPH, Research Associate for NanoHealth Initiatives, SUNY Polytechnic Institute
Nicole Neu-Baker is a Research Associate for NanoHealth Initiatives at the State University of New York (SUNY) Polytechnic Institute, Colleges of Nanoscale Science & Engineering in Albany, NY, and she is an assignee to NIOSH. At SUNY Polytechnic Institute, she coordinates a research portfolio focused on occupational and environmental health and safety and conducts field and laboratory-based research in occupational health, exposure assessment, and nanotoxicology with regard to engineered nanomaterials currently used by the nanoelectronics industry. Since 2014, Ms. Neu-Baker has been on assignment to NIOSH addressing high-priority occupational health and safety needs for the nanotechnology workforce. From 2014-2018, her main focus was on developing and evaluating new identification and characterization methods for engineered nanomaterials found in the workplace, using enhanced darkfield microscopy and hyperspectral imaging. Since 2018, she has been compiling and summarizing NIOSH Field Studies Team data from historical nano-specific exposure assessments for publication in peer-reviewed journals. Additionally, she is evaluating the suitability of existing global regulatory, non-regulatory, and other nano-specific models for occupational exposure assessment of manufactured nanomaterials. Ms. Neu-Baker has a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Neuroscience from Ithaca College and a Masters of Public Health, with a concentration in Biomedical Sciences, from the University at Albany School of Public Health. Prior to joining the Nanobioscience Constellation at SUNY Polytechnic Institute, she conducted occupational and environmental neurotoxicology research at the Wadsworth Center (New York State Department of Health).
Recording: Archived Presentation – Now Available
On Wednesday, April 10, the first installment of the 2019 Expanding Research Partnerships Webinar Series featured exciting topics on robotics and workplace safety and health.
Looking to the Future: Occupational Robotics Safety and Health Research at NIOSH
Presenter: Dawn Castillo, MPH, Director, NIOSH Division of Safety Research
Potential Ergonomic Benefits of Personal Collaborative Robots in Strawberry Harvesting
Presenter: Fadi Fathallah, PhD, Associate Vice Provost of Global Affairs, University of California, Davis
Probabilistic Posture Modeling Enhances the Ergonomics and Safety of Human-Robot Collaborations
Presenter: Andrew Merryweather, PhD, Director, University of Utah Ergonomics and Safety Program
Featured Speakers
Dawn Castillo, MPH – NIOSH
Dawn Castillo is the Director of the Division of Safety Research at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This Division serves as the focal point for traumatic occupational injury research and prevention programs at NIOSH. Ms. Castillo began her career at NIOSH in 1991 as an epidemiologist. Between 1998 and 2011, she served as Chief of a Division Branch responsible for occupational injury data collection, analysis and interpretation. In 2000, she was the fourth recipient of the James. P. Keogh award, an annual NIOSH award recognizing a current or former employee for exceptional service to the field of occupational safety and health. Ms. Castillo was appointed as Director of the Division of Safety Research in July 2011. She manages two NIOSH research programs, and co-chairs affiliated National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) Councils for Traumatic Injury Prevention and, Transportation, Warehousing and Utilities. She also manages the new NIOSH Center for Occupational Robotics Research.
Ms. Castillo has authored numerous articles, book chapters, and technical documents on a variety of occupational injury topics, including occupational injuries among young workers, older workers, fire fighters, and workplace violence. She received her Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of California, Irvine and her Masters of Public Health in Epidemiology from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Fadi Fathallah, PhD - University of California, Davis
Dr. Fathallah is a Professor in the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering and is Associate Vice Provost of Global Affairs at the University of California (UC), Davis. Dr. Fathallah has more than 30 years of experience conducting studies on workers in various industries, including farmworkers in the past two decades. He directs the UC Agricultural Ergonomics Research Center and its Occupational Biomechanics Laboratory, and he is Associate Director of the NIOSH-supported Western Center for Agricultural Health and Safety.
His research focuses on the development and evaluation of interventions to help reduce musculoskeletal disorders among farmworkers, especially those who perform prolonged bending (stooped) postures in the harvesting and cultivation of many fresh fruits and vegetables. Dr. Fathallah also directs the USDA California AgrAbility Program, which provides assistance to disabled California farmers, farmworkers, and their families. He received a Bachelor of Science from Texas Tech University, Masters of Science from Virginia Tech and Ph.D. from Ohio State University, all in industrial engineering.
Andrew Merryweather, PhD - University of Utah
Dr. Merryweather is Director of the Ergonomics and Safety Program at the University of Utah and Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. He is also an Adjunct Associate Professor in the departments of Family and Preventative Medicine and Physical Therapy and Athletic Training at University of Utah. Dr. Merryweather teaches and directs research in the areas of biomechanics, human factors, musculoskeletal injury prevention and human-system modeling. NIOSH also recently developed a video featuring his work on preventing robot-related worker injuries. Dr. Merryweather obtained his Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Utah in 2008, as a NIOSH Education and Research Center trainee in Occupational Injury Prevention.
Over the past decade, he has managed significant research projects investigating musculoskeletal injuries in the workplace, assistive technologies for persons with disabilities, adaptive technology development, robotics and human-system engineering. A significant amount of his current research relates to wearable technology to determine occupational exposures and safe human robot interactions. To contribute to the body of knowledge in this field, Dr. Merryweather is engaged in team science and has worked with researchers from multiple disciplines, including health sciences, school of medicine, college of nursing, computer science, mechanical engineering, industrial and systems engineering, and agricultural systems technology and education. He has received numerous honors and awards, and the University of Utah’s College of Engineering recognized him as an outstanding teacher on multiple occasions. Along with his colleagues, Dr. Merryweather received the 2017 IEA/Liberty Mutual Medal for original research titled “Relationships between job organizational factors, biomechanical and psychosocial exposures”.
Recording: Archived presentation – Now Available
On Wednesday, November 14, the final installment of the 2018 Expanding Research Partnerships Webinar Series featured these exciting topics on health and safety in construction.
Utilizing Partnerships to Prevent Workplace Musculoskeletal Disorders in Construction Workers Across Age Groups
Presenter: Juliann Scholl, PhD, Social Science Researcher, NIOSH
Leadership Skills for Strengthening Job Safety Climate
Presenter: Linda Goldenhar, PhD, Director of Research and Evaluation, CPWR – The Center for Construction Research and Training
Featured Speakers
Juliann Scholl, PhD – NIOSH
Dr. Scholl is a Social Science Researcher at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Dr. Scholl is Co-director of the NIOSH National Center for Productive Aging and Work (NCPAW). She explores how occupational safety and health research findings can best be turned into guidance and delivered through a variety of channels to NIOSH stakeholders for application to the work environment. In addition to co-directing NCPAW, Dr. Scholl conducts translation research with emphasis on the reduction of musculoskeletal disorders among construction workers of different age groups. She also examines workplace intergenerational tensions and does survey research in assessing stakeholder satisfaction and impact. Dr. Scholl has expertise in cultural communication, qualitative methods, and health issues among Hispanics and older adults. Prior to NIOSH, she was a tenured professor in the Department of Communication Studies at Texas Tech University. Dr. Scholl received her Ph.D. in Communication from University of Oklahoma and her Masters in Communication Studies from University of Alabama.
Linda Goldenhar, PhD – CPWR – The Center for Construction Research and Training
Dr. Goldenhar is Director of Research and Evaluation at CPWR—The Center for Construction Research and Training. CPWR is the NIOSH-funded National Center for Construction Safety and Health Research and Translation. Dr. Goldenhar has been with CPWR for the past six years. She directs the project that created the Foundations for Safety Leadership - a leadership-training module for frontline foremen and supervisors in construction. She is also the lead on CPWR’s safety climate initiatives, which include creating the Workbook and Rating Tool to Help you Strengthen Jobsite Safety Climate and the Safety Climate Assessment Tool (S-CAT). Dr. Goldenhar received her PhD in Public Health at University of Michigan and began her professional career as a Research Psychologist with NIOSH, where she worked for nine years. While at NIOSH, she focused on construction-related topics such as tradeswomen’s safety and health concerns, employee perceptions on working overtime, job stress and injury outcomes. She served as construction coordinator and was a member of the National Academies’ review of the NIOSH Construction Sector Program. Dr. Goldenhar has published 70 peer-reviewed publications, articles in trade magazines, book chapters and manuals. She also has presented extensively at national and international academic and construction conferences.
Recording: Archived presentation – Now Available
On Wednesday, May 16, the second installment of the Expanding Research Partnerships Webinar Series featured these exciting topics on new technologies to reduce exposure to health and safety hazards.
NIOSH’s VEM System – Helmet-CAM: An Innovative Tool for Assessing Workers’ Exposure to Respirable Dust and Other Contaminants
Presenter: Andrew Cecala, MBA, Principal Supervisory Mining Engineer, NIOSH
Reducing Logging Fatality and Non-Fatal Trauma Incidence Rates with New Real-Time Operational GNSS-RF Communications, Recommended Safety Procedures, and Education
Presenter: Robert Keefe, PhD, Director, University of Idaho Experimental Forest
Featured Speakers
Andrew Cecala, MBA – NIOSH
Andrew Cecala is a Principal Supervisory Mining Engineer with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). He has been with NIOSH for 22 years in the Office of Mine Safety and Health Research. In 2015, he became the team leader of the Aerosol and Toxic Substances Team within the Dust, Ventilation, and Toxic Substances Branch. He now serves as the first line supervisor of ten different researchers. Prior to NIOSH, he worked with the U.S. Bureau of Mines for 16 years. Andrew received his Masters of Business Administration from Duquesne University and a Bachelor of Applied Science in Mining Engineering from West Virginia University. He authored more than 150 publications and is the primary author of 106 of those manuscripts. During his career, he worked in many different research areas to improve the health and safety of miners. One research area of interest is reducing workers’ respirable dust exposures in the metal/nonmetal mining industry with special emphasis in the industrial minerals processing area.
Robert Keefe, PhD – University of Idaho
Dr. Keefe is Associate Professor of Forest Operations at the University of Idaho and the Director of the 10,000-acre University of Idaho Experimental Forest. He received his Ph.D. and Masters in Forestry from the University of Idaho and obtained a Bachelor of Science in Forestry from University of New Hampshire. The Experimental Forest, which Dr. Keefe oversees, is a working forest classroom with forestry activities carried out both by professional and student workers. This makes it a unique environment for teaching and research in natural resources. Dr. Keefe’s lab group works closely with regional, state, industrial and federal forestry stakeholders. His work relies on a variety of methods. However, he places emphasis on quantifying work activities on logging operations through use of mobile and wearable technologies that are equipped with location sharing. These technologies quantify and improve safety by increasing situational awareness among coworkers. This has unique challenges in remote, forest work environments where communication and sharing of mobile data are often limited. NIOSH funds Dr. Keefe through a cooperative agreement (U01) to conduct research on reducing logging fatalities and non-fatal trauma incidence rates with new real-time operational Global Positioning System (GPS) communications.
Recording: Archived presentation – Now Available
On Wednesday, February 14, the kick-off of the Expanding Research Partnerships Webinar Series featured these exciting topics about work and health-related factors associated with injury and illness outcomes.
Work Arrangement, Job Stress, and Health-Related Quality of Life
Presenter: Tapas Ray, PhD, Economist, NIOSH
Health-related Predictors of Workers’ Compensation Claims
Presenter: Erin Shore, MPH, Professional Research Associate, Colorado School of Public Health
Featured Speakers
Tapas Ray, PhD – NIOSH
Dr. Ray is as an economist with National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Currently, he serves as the assistant coordinator for the NIOSH Healthy Work Design and Well-Being Program. He received his Ph.D. in Economics from University of Connecticut and his Masters from Delhi School of Economics. Prior to joining CDC/NIOSH in 2004 as a Prevention Effectiveness Fellow, he taught at the University of Connecticut, worked in India as a social researcher, and at the Connecticut Center for Economic Analysis as a research economist. His current interests are economics of work stress, non-standard and precarious employment arrangement, and contribution of work towards health-related quality of life (HRQL) and well-being. His scholarly work includes numerous articles, presentations, workshops, and symposia in both environmental and public health economics. Dr. Ray also teaches economics at the Miami University, Oxford.
Erin Shore, MPH – Colorado School of Public Health
Erin Shore is a Professional Research Assistant for the Center for Health, Work & Environment at the Colorado School of Public Health—one of six NIOSH-funded Centers of Excellence for Total Worker Health®. She conducts research for projects, including program evaluation and occupational health and safety. Erin earned her MPH with a concentration in Epidemiology from Emory University. She also has a BS in Health and Exercise Science from the University of Oklahoma.
The 2018 Expanding Research Partnerships Webinar Series featured exciting topics on work and health-related factors associated with injury and illness outcomes, new technologies to reduce exposure to health and safety hazards, and health and safety in Construction. Three webinars were held on February 14, May 16 and November 14.
Click here for more details.
ORIGINATION DATE: June 8, 2022
RENEWAL DATE: N/A
EXPIRATION DATE: June 8, 2024
TARGET AUDIENCE: Advanced Practice Nurses, Physicians (MD/DO), Certified Health Education Specialist, Medical Assistants, Other Health Educators, Epidemiologists, Physician Assistants, Program Managers, Industrial Hygienists, Registered Nurses, Occupational Health Professionals, Laboratorians, Licensed Practical/Vocational Nurses
HARDWARE/SOFTWARE: Computer Hardware, Internet connection, Browser
MATERIALS: None
PREREQUISITES: None
ACCREDITATION STATEMENTS:
In support of improving patient care, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.
CME: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention designates this live activity for a maximum of 1.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
CNE: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention designates this activity for 1.5 nursing contact hours.
CEU: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is authorized by IACET to offer 0.2 CEU’s for this program.
CECH: Sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a designated provider of continuing education contact hours (CECH) in health education by the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing, Inc. This program is designated for Certified Health Education Specialists (CHES®) and/or Master Certified Health Education Specialists (MCHES®) to receive up to 1.5 total Category I continuing education contact hours. Maximum advanced level continuing education contact hours available are 1.5. Continuing Competency credits available are 1.5. CDC provider number 98614.
For Certified Public Health Professionals (CPH)
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is a pre-approved provider of Certified in Public Health (CPH) recertification credits and is authorized to offer 2.0 CPH recertification credits for this program.
DISCLOSURE: In compliance with continuing education requirements, all presenters must disclose any financial or other associations with the manufacturers of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services, or commercial supporters as well as any use of unlabeled product(s) or product(s) under investigational use.
CDC, our planners, presenters, and their spouses/partners wish to disclose they have no financial interests or other relationships with the manufacturers of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services, or commercial supporters. Planners have reviewed content to ensure there is no bias.
Content will not include any discussion of the unlabeled use of a product or a product under investigational use.
CDC did not accept commercial support for this continuing education activity.