Deep South Occupational Safety and Health Education and Research Center

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Program Director/Principal Investigator (Last, First, Middle): Lungu, Claudiu T. Project Summary The Deep South Center for Occupational Health and Safety (DSC) is a consortium of two major universities in Alabama, University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and Auburn University (AU) established in 1982 as an Education and Research Center (ERC) funded by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). The mission of the DSC is to Train and develop professionals who protect and promote the health and safety of workers through interdisciplinary education, training, research and outreach. The DSC offers high quality interdisciplinary graduate training in three OSH academic programs: Industrial Hygiene (UAB), Occupational Health Nursing (UAB), Occupational Safety and Ergonomics (AU) and one allied discipline, Occupational Injury Prevention (AU). The DSC has a long tradition of training OSH professionals in our region through the Continuing Education program and has provided training resources, information and consulting to businesses and organizations through the Outreach program. The Center is also providing research training to investigators and students through the Pilot Project Research Training program. Recognizing the OSH burden that affects disproportionally racial and ethnic minority groups as well as disadvantaged communities and individuals, the DSC will focus on minimizing this burden while striving to eliminate disparities showing our commitment to DEI. The mission of the DSC will be achieved through the following specific aims: Specific Aim 1: Maintain and enhance our excellence in interdisciplinary academic education. The DSC will continue to offer high quality academic programs at the level of master’s, doctoral and certification in Industrial Hygiene (IH), Occupational Health Nursing (OHN) and Occupational Safety and Ergonomics (OSE) with the allied Occupational Injury Prevention Research Training (OIP) program. Specific Aim 2: Continue to be the main training and outreach resource of OSH for business and organizations in the region. The DSC will continue to offer our Continuing Education (CE) core courses to a broad spectrum of OSH professionals including offering to military personnel on US military bases and health care professionals (HCPs). Specific Aim 3: Collaborate with other academic and research institutions, businesses, non-profit and professional organizations, other ERCs and TPGs to find the best mechanisms and tools to protect the life, health and wellbeing of broad categories of workers. The DSC will continue to be an active participant and support state and regional organizations and conferences. Specific Aim 4: Conduct high quality fundamental and applied research related to the NIOSH NORA agenda to advance the field of OSH. One of the main goals of the DSC faculty is to develop new knowledge investigating the causes of occupational diseases and injuries, and proposing new solutions for prevention. OMB No. 0925-0001/0002 (Rev. 03/2020 Approved Through 02/28/2023) Page Continuation Format Page