Vision
We will lead in public health research, education and service for a healthier Canada and a healthier world.
Mission
We will create a vibrant community to achieve the Dalla Lana School of Public Health’s vision by:
- Educating practitioners and leaders in environmental and occupational health practice, research and policy through evidence-based, interdisciplinary programs
- Pushing the frontiers of disciplinary, interdisciplinary and intersectoral research with local and global partners in order to understand and address the complex determinants of environmental and occupational health
- Reaching out to diverse communities and educating citizens, decision-makers and practitioners with strategies to promote health
So as to enable enduring, positive change in environmental and occupational health, support healthier cities, homes and workplaces, and anticipate the issues of tomorrow.
The Division of Occupational and Environmental Health comprises a multidisciplinary group whose aim is to aid in the prevention of occupational and environmental disease. The Division works collaboratively with the Division of Occupational Medicine in the Department of Medicine and the Department of Occupational and Environmental Health at St Michael’s Hospital through the Gage Occupational and Environmental Health Unit.
Division faculty participate in a variety of educational programs, both professional and research oriented. Professional training is offered in Occupational Hygiene through the Master of Public Health and Occupational Medicine through the Occupational Medicine Residency Program. Training in Occupational Health Care is available for clinicians through the Master of Science in Community Health. Division faculty provide occupational and environmental health teaching for the undergraduate medical program in the Determinants of Community Health course.
Research activities focus on both occupational and environmental health. Occupational health research is focused in the Centre for Research Expertise in Occupational Disease which receives infrastructure funding from the Ontario Ministry of Labour. Centre programs include respiratory disease, skin disease, hand-arm vibration syndrome and biological hazards. The Centre works with other research groups including the Occupational Cancer Research Centre, Institute for Work and Health, and the Centre for Research Expertise in Musculoskeletal Disorders.
The key environmental research focus is air contaminants. Division researchers cover the range of questions from basic mechanisms, through detailed exposure characterization to human and population studies. The Division houses a multi-stage ambient particle concentrator. Division researchers participate in the Southern Ontario Centre for Atmospheric Aerosol Research and more recently are actively involved the Canadian Healthy Infant Longitudinal Development Study supported by CIHR and AllerGen.
The Division is integrally linked with the clinical programs at the Occupational Health Clinic at St Michael’s Hospital. The clinic provides specialist consultation services in occupational disease. It is a site for clinical and research training in occupational medicine for medical, nursing, occupational hygiene and physical therapy students. Occupational Medicine Rounds are presented every two weeks during the academic year at St Michael’s Hospital and are linked through telemedicine to sites across Ontario.
Contacts
Division Head: Jeremy Scott
MPH Degree Program: Paul Bozek
PhD Degree Program: Jeremy Scott
MScCH Degree Program: Occupational Health Care: Aaron Thompson
Residency Program in Occupational Medicine: Vincent Spilchuk
Occupational and Environmental Health Support: Agatha Blancas