Research Topics

The Department of Environmental Health conducts a wide range of basic and applied research in the area of occupational and environmental health.  Administratively, the department is made of five Program Areas, each with a hierarchy and support staff similar to a small department.  The department also supports externally funded multidisciplinary research centers that are organized around specific research topics.  These areas are emphasized and implemented through five training levels.

Research Programs

Environmental Epidemiology: 
Environmental Science and Engineering
Occupational Health
Physiology
Population Genetics

Research Centers

• THE KRESGE CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
• THE HARVARD EDUCATION AND RESEARCH CENTER FOR OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH
• THE PROGRAM IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND RISK MANAGEMENT-WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH POLICY AND MANAGEMENT
• THE PROGRAM IN ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH AND HUMAN HABITATION
• THE JOHN B. LITTLE CENTER FOR RADIATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH SCIENCES
• THE LIBERTY MUTUAL-HARVARD PROGRAM IN OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH
• THE BIOIMAGING LABORATORIES
• THE PROGRAM IN WATER AND HEALTH

Implementation Strategy:

The expertise of the faculty, students, and staff give the Department of Environmental Health the capability to address complex environmental problems and to provide training at 5 critical levels:

• Exposure assessment research answers too questions such as:  What concentrations of toxins are present in air, water, and food?  What work ergonomic and safety exposures are present at the workplace and at home?  What activities and circumstances are associated with the highest exposures?  What is the relationship between exposure to a toxin and the biologically relevant dose a person receives?

• Epidemiologic studies define the connections of environmental exposures and genetic susceptibility with resulting responses, disease, and death.

• Molecular, cellular, and physiological studies reveal how pollutants affect the body and provide mechanistic explanations for environmental diseases.

• Risk analysis integrates scientific finding to help create sound environmental and occupational health policies.

• Risk management and control seek to apply practical, cost-effective strategies to prevent pollution and reduce environmental and occupational health hazards in cooperation with government, industry, workers, and communities. 
  
  

Note: This page is under construction and is no means a substitution for the official HSPH Registar Catalog.
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Copyright, 2001,  President and Fellows of Harvard College Updated 5 November 2001