International Training and Research in Environmental and Occupational Health

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant) This project continues the University of Iowa's multi-level International Training and Research Program in Occupational and Environmental Health (ITREOH) in an expanded number of developing democracies in Central and Eastern Europe. This program will build upon previous investments in research and training capacity at collaborating institutions in Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia, to further develop a network of centers of excellence in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, Macedonia, and Romania. The proposed program model is based on our previous experience in the region and takes advantage of new developments in information and communications technology. The primary capacity building activity will be (5-month) intermediate-term training of 25 early- and mid-career professionals at the University of Iowa. Cost-effective "short-term-equivalent" distance education training in environmental and occupational health will be provided to several hundred scientists and health professionals from throughout the region using real-time, internet-based web-conferencing technology. The core of this short-term distance training will be two 15-week Global Forums on environmental and occupational health held each year for the five year duration of the project. Centers of excellence will be developed and strengthened by the increased knowledge and skills of returning trainees, by 20-25 small collaborative research projects, by widespread participation in global forums, and by participating in and co-hosting an annual Network Institute meeting. The transition of trainees to positions of responsibility and influence will be facilitated by recognition of their expertise and leadership through organizing and conducting short courses/workshops at the annual ITREOH Network Institute, by support for participation in scientific meetings and conferences, and by publishing and presenting the results of ongoing research. Research results will be translated into public health practice through the above-mentioned short courses/workshops, the Network Institutes, and by the direct influence of the mid-career trainees in positions of responsibility within the countries of Central and Eastern Europe.