Environmental and Occupational Health

Interim Department Head: Thomas McDonald Ph.D.

The Department of Environmental and Occupational Health is concerned with the health effects of exposures to air and water pollution, pesticides, organic solvents, dusts and physical hazards, which occur in the environment, the home or the workplace. The department draws from the knowledge generated from disciplines that contribute to recognizing, assessing, and controlling these risks that include epidemiology, toxicology, microbiology, safety engineering, industrial hygiene, medicine, nursing, law and labor economics.

The department includes a multidisciplinary core faculty and a large adjunct faculty. Major interests of the core faculty include environmental carcinogenesis, occupational safety and health, molecular and cellular toxicology, endocrine disruption, exposure assessment and genotoxicity. The adjunct faculty includes scientists from other academic units. The M.P.H. training program reflects a commitment to education, research and service in public health. The core of the program is a set of required and elective courses. The Department also offers an M.S.P.H. program for students interested in a research track.

Applicants range from recent college graduates to experienced physicians. Criteria for selection include background and experience relevant to environmental and occupational health, potential to make a contribution to the field, academic excellence and recommendations. All applicants should have completed college-level biology, chemistry (both general and organic) and mathematics (through calculus).