Environmental Health Symposium Showcases Occupational Health and Safety Research

Cincinnati—Scientists will discuss the latest occupational and environmental health research at the University of Cincinnati (UC) Education and Research Center’s 11th annual Pilot Research Project Symposium on Thursday, Oct. 14, and Friday, Oct. 15, 2010.

The symposium is free and open to public and will take place in Kettering Laboratory’s Kehoe Auditorium at the UC College of Medicine’s environmental health department.

Led by Amit Bhattacharya, PhD, professor of environmental health, the Pilot Research Project seeks to increase the Tristate’s research capacity through collaboration with 12 universities and colleges. The program offers financial support to doctoral students and junior faculty with promising research ideas.

The center aims to increase the research capacity of trainees and young investigators in occupational health and safety, and to encourage those in related disciplines at collaborating universities throughout the region to pursue occupational health and safety research.

During the conference, the previous year’s research award winners will present their results and 2010–2011 winners will display poster presentations of their proposed work.

Linda Forst, MD, director and professor of environmental and occupational health sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health, will speak on the topic of "Hispanic Day Laborers in Construction” during a keynote address on Oct. 14 at 1 p.m. 

Ren Dong, PhD, leader of the physical effects research team in the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health’s Engineering and Control Technology Branch, will give the keynote address Oct. 15 at 8 a.m. on "Future Research in Hand-Transmitted Vibration Exposure.”

Continuing education units are available. To register, contact Marianne Kautz at kautzm@ucmail.uc.edu by Oct. 7. For more information, contact Cyndy Cox at (513) 558-5710 or erccoor@uc.edu, or visit eh.uc.edu/erc. 

UC is one of only 17 NIOSH-funded Education and Research Center programs in the United States. The center includes eight specialty occupational safety and health program tracks with more than 50 students at the graduate and residency levels.