Environmental & Occupational Health Seminar: NIH Disaster Research Response (DR2) Program

Environmental and Occupational Health Seminar 

TOPIC: “Addressing Public Health Emergencies through Research: The NIH Disaster Research Response (DR2) Program”
SPEAKERS: Aubrey K. Miller, MD, MPH, U.S. Public Health Service, National Institute of Health, and Steven Ramsey, MPH, Project Director, Disaster Research Response Program, National Institute of Health

Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2018
Noon - 12:50 p.m.
Drachman Hall, Room A118

This event is presented by the Community, Environment & Policy Department at the University of Arizona Mel & Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health.

About the Speakers:
Aubrey K. Miller, MD, MPH, is a captain in the U.S. Public Health Service at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and is board certified in occupational and environmental medicine.  He currently is the senior medical advisor to the director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), where he oversees legislative, policy, strategic planning, and coordination of environmental health issues and activities among U.S. federal agencies, Congress, academia and other stakeholders. His experiences include numerous public health investigations and research studies involving a wide-range of occupational and environmental health issues, including TB transmission among health workers; and asphalt fume, hazardous mineral fiber, and oil spill clean-up exposures and disease. Over his career he has contributed to the leadership and management for a number of disaster responses including the Libby, Mont., public health emergency involving widespread asbestos contamination; major hurricanes; the H1N1 influenza, Ebola and Zika outbreaks; the World Trade Center and anthrax attacks, and the Gulf oil spill. He currently leads the NIH Disaster Research Response (DR2) Program which focuses on improving national and international disaster research capabilities through enhancing policies, infrastructure, training, and integration of stakeholders, especially academia and impacted communities.

Steven Ramsey, MPH, has a wealth of experience in the areas of public health preparedness, disaster response and public health research. He leads the development of protocols for rapid collection of environmental, health and exposure data in response to environmental disasters. For the Gulf Long-term Follow-up Study, he managed field operations in five states and is the project director for the NIEHS Disaster Research Response (DR2) Program.

Abstract:
Almost all disasters have environmental impacts, with human exposures ranging from molds to industrial chemicals, and a range of associated adverse health impacts. Unfortunately, vital research to better understand the human health consequences for these events is lacking due to a range of challenges that impede disaster research. To address some of these challenges, the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) has developed the Disaster Research Response Program (DR2). DR2 aims to develop products, strengthen processes and create new partnerships to improve our collective capabilities to perform time-critical studies in the U.S. and globally to promote response, recovery and future preparedness for disasters and other emerging threats.

For more information, please contact Paloma Beamer, (520) 626-0006 or pbeamer@email.arizona.edu

View, post and share the flyer for this event:  ehs-seminar_flyer_09-26-18_aubrey-miller-and-steven-ramsey.pdf