The Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences provides reports to Oregon’s Management Labor Advisory Committee (MLAC) due to it’s base funding from the Workers’ Compensation System. Dr. Steven Shea is pictured describing the Institute’s vertically integrated research concept with an illustration of sleep and circadian rhythms. Molecular and cellular researchers interact with scientists conducting animal and human laboratory research. This informs applied intervention research in the Oregon workplace and that leads to safer and healthier workers that is in turn described through our outreach. This is depicted on the Occ Health Sci Institute website.
Dr. Kent Anger (to Dr. Shea’s left in the picture) described the safety, health and well-being improvements due to interventions carried out by the Oregon Health Workforce Center (OHWC), a NIOSH Center of Excellence in Total Worker Health sited at Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) at Occupational Health Sciences, but it is an affiliation of OHSU, Portland State University, University of Oregon’s Labor Education Research Center (LERC) and the Kaiser Center for Health Research. The OHWC is applying to renew the Center for 5 more years and Center Director Dr. Anger was asking MLAC for a letter of support for that application which will focus its intervention research on health care, call centers and transportation.
Dr. Leslie Hammer (to Dr. Shea’s right in the picture), the Institute’s newest faculty member, concluded the presentations by describing her research interests in the health effects of supportive supervision at work, and the health consequences of work-family conflict. She remains 1/4 time at Portland State University where she continues the Occupational Health Psychology training program as she builds her research program at OHSU.
Presentations at MLAC provide ideas and feedback from a wide range of Oregon stakeholders that is highly valued by the Institute. The annual report was distributed during the meeting.
