Rick Neitzel is an exposure scientist whose research focuses on the characterization of exposures to noise, heavy metals and other ototoxins, psychosocial stressors, and injury risk factors, as well as a range of adverse health effects associated with these exposures. His work, and the work of his team in the UM Exposure Research lab, takes place in occupational and community settings both domestically and abroad. He is particularly interested in incorporating new methodologies and exposure sensing technologies into research, and also has a strong interest in translating his research findings into occupational and public health practice. He directs the UM Risk Science and Human Health Certificate program, and is also Director of the Pilot Project Research Grant Program of the UM Center for Occupational Heath and Safety Engineering.
Prior to his appointment to the faculty of the UM Department of Environmental Health Sciences, he worked as a Research Scientist in the University of Washington Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences from 1998-2011. He has been a Certified Industrial Hygienist since 2003.
Dr. Batterman's research and teaching interests address environmental impact assessment, human exposure and health risk assessment, and environmental management. His research addresses both theoretical work and applied laboratory and field studies. He is particularly interested in improving exposure measures that can be used in risk assessments and epidemiological studies; measuring toxic compounds including volatile organic compounds (VOCs) found as pollutants in drinking water, ambient and indoor air, and statistical and modeling methods that can be used to interpret and extend available measurements. His research is applied to contemporary problems including ambient and indoor air quality, environmental epidemiology, policy analysis, environmental engineering, environmental justice, and life cycle analysis. His international projects include training and research programs in the environmental sciences and engineering in Africa (especially South Africa) and Europe (especially Portugal, Russia and Finland). He directs the Hazardous Substances Academic Training Program and the Pilot Project Research Program in the NIOSH-supported Education and Resource Center. Professor, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Coimbra, Portugal
Dr. John Meeker is a Professor in the SPH Department of Environmental Health Sciences and the Senior Associate Dean for Research for SPH. He holds a B.S. in Industrial Technology from Iowa State University, as well as M.S. and Doctor of Science (Sc.D.) degrees in Environmental Science & Engineering and Exposure, Epidemiology & Risk, respectively, from Harvard University, where he also completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Environmental and Reproductive Epidemiology. He is a Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH). Dr. Meeker's work is wide-ranging, and focuses on defining sources, magnitudes and consequences of human exposure to environmental and occupational contaminants, as well as identifying and evaluating strategies to control harmful exposures. Much of his current research involves human exposure science and reproductive and developmental epidemiology studies of known or suspected endocrine disrupting chemicals, such as phthalates, BPA, pesticides, flame retardants, and others. Dr. Meeker is principal investigator on numerous large-scale research studies, is Associate Editor of Environmental Health Perspectives, and has served on numerous peer-review and advisory panels for EPA, NIH, and others in recent years.
Quantitative risk assessment and cost-benefit analysis of environmental and occupational health and safety regulations, with particular focus on (1) decision-making in the face of uncertainty; and (2) interindividual variability in susceptibility, exposure, and public preferences. Current and previous foci of research include beryllium, halogenated solvents (methylene chloride, perchloroethylene, 1-bromopropane), repetitive strain injuries, commercial applications of synthetic biology, and chronic traumatic encephalopathy in professional football and other occupations. Dr. Finkel was the Director of Health Standards Programs at the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) from 1995-2000, responsible for analyzing, promulgating, and defending (in Congressional and judicial forums) regulations to protect U.S. workers from chemical, infectious, and radiological exposures. From 2000-2003, he was Regional Administrator in charge of all OSHA operations in the Rocky Mountain region (CO, MT, ND, SD, UT, WY).
Dr. Manz’s research and teaching interests are in environmental chemistry, including (A) understanding natural chemical transformation in the environment, (B) developing remediation technologies to minimize pollutant exposure, and (C) discovering previously unidentified environmental exposures in humans. Her research team utilizes state-of-the-art analytical chemistry techniques, such as high-resolution mass spectrometry, to monitor chemical transformation in groundwater and soils and to develop new techniques to assess total exposure. In addition to using these techniques to identify new exposures, Dr. Manz is interested in understanding the molecular mechanisms, or metabolisms, that are impacted due to chemical exposure in humans and the environment.
Dr. Bradley Joseph PhD joined Ford Motor Company in June 1988 as the Ford Corporate Ergonomist. Before retiring from Ford, Brad managed The Virtual Assembly Engineering Methods Group within Powertrain Manufacturing Engineering. His duties include design and development of Powertrain assembly lines during the early engineering design phases. In addition, his department coordinates engineering teams to design, develop and assess new assembly systems and workstations for safety, labor workload, ergonomics, material handing and product feasibility before systems are built.
Prior to taking on that role, Brad managed the Powertrain Ergonomics and Core Industrial Engineering Teams. This team taught ergonomics to engineers, assessed jobs on the plant floor and in the early engineering design, monitored and tracked labor for competitive reporting and developed standards for setting labor targets.
Brad started at Ford in the Corporate Occupational Safety and Health Office where he held positions as Corporate Occupational Safety and Health manager, Corporate Ergonomics and Safety Process Manager and Corporate Ergonomist. In those positions, he worked with the UAW-Ford National Joint Committee on Health and Safety and together, developed materials, standards and assisted in the implementation of the UAW-Ford Ergonomics Process in UAW represented locations. In addition, he was involved in developing systems and processes within Ford to improve Incident Investigation, Engineering Design Standards, and auditing of Health and Safety Processes.
Professor Zellers' research and teaching programs are concerned with various aspects of characterizing and controlling human exposures to toxic chemicals, including sampling and analytical methods and instrumentation, assessment strategies, and protective equipment. His primary research interests are in the development of microfabricated sensor arrays and integrated microanalytical systems for the direct determination of organic compounds in air and biological media and for characterizing the interfacial interactions of such compounds with various media. Among the applications being pursued for these new chemical sensing technologies are miniaturized, wireless instrumentation for indoor-air quality assessments, personal-exposure monitoring, breath analysis, ambient air pollution mapping, and in-situ assessments of the barrier effectiveness of polymeric chemical protective clothing. Prof. Zellers maintains an active interdisciplinary research group that involves collaborations among students, faculty, and research scientists from several UM departments, national laboratories, and small R&D firms. He teaches lecture and laboratory courses on chemical hazard evaluation, exposure assessment, and chemical microsensors and microsystems. As director of the Occupational Health Program, Dr. Zellers administers the industrial hygiene component of the NIOSH-funded Education and Research Center Training Grant. He is a member of the faculty in the Department of Chemistry and also serves as a Group Leader in the NSF-funded Engineering Research Center for Wireless Integrated MicroSystems (WIMS) headquartered in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
Pending