The University of Michigan Education and Research Center

Principal Investigator

Thomas Robins

Co-Principal Investigators

Edward Zellers, Stuart Batterman, Howard Hu

Funding Sources

UAW/GM

About this Project

The University of Michigan Center for Occupational Health and Safety Engineering (COHSE), a NIOSH-funded Education and Research Center (ERC), provides comprehensive professional and research training in Industrial Hygiene (IH), Occupational Health Nursing (OHN), Occupational Safety Engineering and Ergonomics (OSE), Hazardous Substances Academic Training (HSAT), Occupational Epidemiology (OE), and Pilot Project Research Training (PPRT). We have functioned as an ERC since 1982. The ERC provide direct funding of Masters and doctoral students, as well as pilot research projects, and generally serves to strengthen the faculty, curriculum, and research training opportunities in its affiliated programs. Highlights of the past 3-year grant period (2005-2007) include: hiring of 9 new Center faculty including a new Chair of Environmental Health Sciences, initiation of an external search for a new OHN Director, introduction of 10 new courses across all Center programs and a project-oriented research course carried out by interdisciplinary teams of students; and launching of a new Nora Pre-Doctoral Scholarship. During the 2005-2007 period, the academic programs within the Center enrolled 126 students and graduated 77 Masters and 16 Doctoral students. There were 3010 Continuing Education students in 56 different programs. Nine pilot research (PPRT) projects were funded. Goals for the next 5-year period include: 1) maintaining excellence in all academic programs, 2) development of new sources of financial support for trainees, 3) continuing curriculum refinement and improvement, 4) establishment of two new Targeted Research Training programs: Pre-Doctoral Research and Research to Practice.