Dr. Kales became the Director of the Occupational & Environmental Medicine Residency (OEMR) in July 2006. He is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Associate Professor of Occupational Medicine at the Harvard School of Public Health.
Dr. Kales is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Preventive Medicine: Occupational Medicine, and has been elected to Fellowship by both the American College of Physicians and by the American College of Occupational & Environmental Medicine. He has participated in a wide range of research, advisory and teaching activities on three continents. His primary research has focused on firefighters and has received Massachusetts, Federal and Canadian funding. Other collaborations focus on cardiovascular and metabolic risk factors and their evolution over time, including a new cohort study of young adults in Cyprus funded by the Research Promotion Foundation of Cyprus. Additional research areas have included carbon monoxide exposure, chemical terrorism and chemical emergencies and heavy metals.
Dr. Kales is on the editorial boards of Environmental Health Perspectives and the Archives of Environmental and Occupational Health. He is an occupational medicine consultant to the Massachusetts/Rhode Island Poison Control Center, served for several years as the medical consultant to Massachusetts' Adult Lead Registry and worked with the state's regional hazardous materials teams for 10 years.
As the Medical Director of Employee Health & Industrial Medicine at the Cambridge Health Alliance, he performs clinical and administrative work providing residents with ample opportunities for practical learning. As an active Occupational Medicine practitioner, researcher and educator, Dr. Kales seeks to further develop the HSPH OEMR’s tradition of rigorous training, research excellence and diverse practicum opportunities. His primary goal is to ensure that graduates are prepared for whatever potential career option they choose, whether in healthcare, academia, corporate medicine, public service or consulting.
