COEH

The mission of the UCLA Center for Occupational & Environmental Healthis to address occupational and environmental health issues through advanced research, teaching, training opportunities and service to the Southern California community.

Academic Disciplines: The COEH is housed within the Schools of Public Health’s Environmental Health Sciences Department, the School of Nursing, and the School of Medicine. The UCLA COEH is one of three sites within the state of California created in 1978 in response to the outbreak of sterility associated with occupational exposure to the pesticide DBCP in Lathrop, California. During the 1970s there was considerable change in occupational and environmental health legislation including passage of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, and a host of other environmental laws at both the federal and state levels. During that period there was increased public awareness about the hazards of workplace and environmental exposures to toxic chemicals. Additionally, there was a need for professionals with training in disciplines most closely associated with occupational and environmental health to implement the new legislation at the governmental and industrial levels. While funds were available for training students in occupational health, the State of California recognized there was a deficiency in the number of faculty in the University of California system whose teaching and research were devoted to occupational health, and it sought to address this need through the creation of the Occupational Health Centers.

Since the 1970s there have been significant changes to the landscape of environmental and occupational impacts as the workforce has changed dramatically over the past four decades. One of the most important changes in occupational health since the seventies has been the recognition of the integral relationship between environmental and occupational health problems. This recognition led to the Occupational Health Centers expanding the scope of their activities by expanding the disciplinary base of faculty participating in the work of the UCLA COEH. Today faculty are contributing to research, training, and education in diverse areas of Epidemiology, Environmental Health Science, Occupational Nursing, and Occupational-Environmental Medicine.

• Environmental Health Sciences http://ehs.ph.ucla.edu/
The UCLA COEH is housed within the Department of Environmental Health Sciences (EHS) at the School of Public Health, under the Direction of Dr. Richard Jackson Department Chair and COEH Director. The EHS department’s faculty are addressing issues of environmental and occupational health through their research and teaching curriculum, such as environmental chemistry, toxicology, air pollution, built environment, water quality, psychosocial factors in the workplace, chemical and molecular toxicology and exposure assessment in occupational and environmental health. Further, training of future leaders in environmental and occupational health emerge from the UCLA EHS department.

• Epidemiology http://www.ph.ucla.edu/epi/
The UCLA School of Public Health’s Department of Epidemiology plays a strong role in addressing environmental and occupational effects through research, educational and training efforts. With strong research in injury epidemiology, occupational and environmental epidemiology, molecular and genetic epidemiology, and reproductive and developmental epidemiology, the epidemiology faculty are strong contributors to the work of the UCLA COEH. The main research areas being addressed by the Department of Epidemiology in connection with the COEH are Parkinson’s Disease and Pesticide Exposure, Air Pollution & Goods Movement, and Ergonomics

• School of Medicine http://fm.mednet.ucla.edu/
The Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine is part of the David Geffen School of Medicine's Department of Family Medicine. Lead by Philip Harber the Occupational and Environmental Medicine division has conducted research on the occupational impacts related to the development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), respiratory effects of carbon black exposure, and occupational exposure to beryllium, resulting in Chronic Beryllium Disease.

• School of Nursing http://nursing.ucla.edu/
The School of Nursing is a strong academic partner in the work of the COEH to further research and training on environmental and occupational issues. The research within the School of Nursing has been lead by the efforts of Wendie A. Robbins and ranges from training to prepare advanced practice nurses for leadership roles in occupational health & safety to conducting research on the potentially toxic reproductive effects of certain environmental exposures.

Centers Of Interest: The COEH is affiliated with a variety of innovative research centers and programs. Each program adds to the broad knowledge base of COEH related to current issues of environmental and occupational health.

Industrial Hygiene Program http://www.ph.ucla.edu/erc/indhyg.html
Labor Occupational Safety & Health Program (LOSH) http://www.losh.ucla.edu/index.html
Southern California Environmental Health Sciences Center (SCEHSC) http://hydra.usc.edu/scehsc/index.html
UCLA Center for Genes and Environment in Parkinson's Disease http://www.cspd.ucla.edu/

Research Areas: COEH Faculty are engaged in environmental and occupational health research across a broad spectrum of issues. This website serves as a summary of the major research areas for UCLA COEH Faculty.