Education and Research Center
The Harvard T.H. Chan Education and Research Center for Occupational Safety and Health (ERC) is one of the 18 regional centers funded by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). The Harvard Chan ERC supports traineeships at the master, doctoral, and postdoctoral levels.
665 Huntington Avenue
Building 1, 14th floor
Boston, MA 02115
About
Our ERC aims to provide an educational bridge from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health to external constituencies to ensure that practicing professionals, workers, their representatives, supervisors, policymakers, and other educators benefit from the School’s occupational health and safety expertise.
Our History
In 1977, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) established regional centers of learning for occupational safety and health professionals within universities throughout the United States.
The Centers were developed in response to the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, which mandated that the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services ensure an adequate supply of trained professionals for this field.
The Harvard School of Public Health was selected as the site of a NIOSH-sponsored Occupational Safety and Health Educational Resource Center (ERC) to serve the New England region. This award greatly enhanced the School’s training capacity in this field and helped to strengthen the core of professionals conducting research as well.
In 1996, Dr. David Christiani, Professor of Occupational Medicine and Epidemiology, and Elkan Blout Professor of Environmental Genetics, assumed Directorship of the ERC.
In 1997, the name of the center was changed to the Education and Research Center for Occupational Safety and Health, reflecting the Center’s dual mission of professional training and research. Under Dr. Christiani’s leadership, research has continued to expand with an emphasis on innovative multidisciplinary investigations aimed at defining exposure-related disorders and developing methods to control them.
Current investigations draw upon the expertise of epidemiologists, industrial hygienists, biostatisticians, toxicologists, cancer biologists, physiologists, engineers, chemists, physicists, and other occupational health specialists, as well as economists, sociologists, and behavioral scientists.
In recent decades, work and workplaces have undergone dramatic changes that are the result of technological advances, globalization, new and emerging risks, and health disparities associated with the changing demographics of the US workforce. Our NIOSH-sponsored ERC is part of a national network that addresses these challenges and provides the next generation of practitioners, researchers, and leaders with the mission to protect workers and ensure a healthier national workforce.
David Christiani, MD, Harvard Chan ERC Director
Our Mission
The mission of the Harvard Chan ERC is to provide a broad, multidisciplinary educational experience involving student and faculty collaborations in the classroom and on research and service projects.
Activities are grounded in multi-site, interactive teaching programs that translate knowledge into information that can be used to improve worker safety and health. Additionally, through the Continuing Education Program, the ERC provides continuing education courses and outreach activities to other health professionals. Our Outreach Program provides translational activities to stakeholders in the New England region.
Our ERC strives to integrate an occupational safety and health perspective in all of its activities, including practicum placements, research projects, and summer internships, as well as the School’s broader activities in environmental health research.
