Western Center for Agricultural Health and Safety

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PROJECT SUMMARY Based at the University of California, Davis, the Western Center for Agricultural Health and Safety (WCAHS) is a comprehensive, multidisciplinary program dedicated to understanding and preventing illness and injury in agriculture in Arizona, California, Hawaii, and Nevada. Over its 30-year history, the center has become a leader in the field by partnering with diverse stakeholders, conducting innovative research, providing interactive trainings, and developing tailored resources. WCAHS is unique among the NIOSH-funded agriculture centers in that it is located at an internationally renowned research and land grant university, which houses both a School of Medicine and a School of Veterinary Medicine. To extend its 30 years of success in improving agricultural health and safety, WCAHS has the following strategic goals: 1. Leverage research and education to address persistent, emerging, and unique health and safety challenges of the agricultural industry in the west. 2. Enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion of underrepresented investigators and stakeholders in research and education related to agricultural health and safety. 3. Equip farmers, agricultural employers, supervisors, and farmworkers with knowledge and practices to improve safety in their workplace. 4. Develop and translate knowledge to enable new processes, policies, and technologies to improve agricultural health and safety through Research to Practice. WCAHS is directed by Kent Pinkerton, Ph.D., who is an internationally renowned expert in respiratory health. Pinkerton will be responsible for the overall management of the Evaluation and Planning Core and the center as a whole. The center’s Deputy Director, Fadi Fathallah, Ph.D., is an internationally respected expert in agricultural equipment and ergonomics. Fathallah will serve as Acting Director in the event of a prolonged absence of the Director. The Director and Deputy Director will be supported by an expert Leadership Group of WCAHS faculty and staff. The center is guided by a highly engaged External Advisory Board comprised of representatives from across the agricultural industry.