Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences is a

research institute A research institute, research centre, research center or research organization, is an establishment founded for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research. Although the term often i ...

based at

Oregon Health & Science University Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) is a public research university focusing primarily on health sciences with a main campus, including two hospitals, in Portland, Oregon. The institution was founded in 1887 as the University of Oregon Medi ...

, in

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

. The Institute's mission is to promote health, and prevent disease and disability among working Oregonians and their families during their employment years and through retirement. It does this through basic and applied research, outreach and education.

Institute History

The Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences was formed in 1985 by Oregon House Bill 2290 in the

Oregon Legislative Assembly The Oregon Legislative Assembly is the state legislature for the U.S. state of Oregon. The Legislative Assembly is bicameral, consisting of an upper and lower house: the Senate, whose 30 members are elected to serve four-year terms; and the Ho ...

to conduct

occupational health Occupational safety and health (OSH), also commonly referred to as occupational health and safety (OHS), occupational health, or occupational safety, is a multidisciplinary field concerned with the safety, health, and welfare of people at wor ...

disease research as the Center for Occupational Disease Research. Base funding was designated from the State of Oregon

Workers' Compensation Workers' compensation or workers' comp is a form of insurance providing wage replacement and medical benefits to employees injured in the course of employment in exchange for mandatory relinquishment of the employee's right to sue his or her emp ...

income. The Center was renamed as the Center for Research on Occupational and Environmental Toxicology, or CROET, in 1989. CROET was again renamed Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences in January 2014 in order to better address Oregon's range of workplace needs and prevention of disease. Competitively awarded

research grants A grant is a fund given by an end entity grant – often a public body, charitable foundation, or a specialised grant-making institution – to an individual or another entity (usually, a non-profit organisation, sometimes a business or a local ...

support the Institute in excess of double the base funding amount.

Institute Research

The Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences conducts research on the following topics: *

Total Worker Health Total Worker Health is a trademarked strategy defined as policies, programs, and practices that integrate protection from work-related safety and health hazards with promotion of injury and illness prevention efforts to advance worker well-being. It ...

* Exposure Consequences and Prevention * Sleep and Shiftwork Dr. Steven Shea, Ph.D., a sleep and

circadian rhythm A circadian rhythm (), or circadian cycle, is a natural, internal process that regulates the sleep–wake cycle and repeats roughly every 24 hours. It can refer to any process that originates within an organism (i.e., Endogeny (biology), endogeno ...

researcher, is the Director of the Institute, selected in 2013. The founding Director was Dr. Peter Spencer, Ph.D. The Oregon Healthy Workforce Center, a

Center of Excellence A center of excellence (COE or CoE ), also called excellence center, is a team, a shared facility or an entity that provides leadership, best practices, research, support or training for a focus area. Due to its broad usage and vague legal prec ...

funded by

NIOSH The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH, ) is the United States federal agency responsible for conducting research and making recommendations for the prevention of work-related injury and illness. NIOSH is part of the C ...

, is housed within the Institute. The Institute houses the Oregon Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Program, OR-FACE, a NIOSH sponsored program designed to prevent occupational fatalities.

Education and Engagement

The Institute supports a

Toxicology Toxicology is a scientific discipline, overlapping with biology, chemistry, pharmacology, and medicine, that involves the study of the adverse effects of chemical substances on living organisms and the practice of diagnosing and treating expo ...

and Occupational Health

Information Center A visitor center or centre (see American and British English spelling differences), visitor information center, tourist information center, is a physical location that provides tourist information to visitors. Types of visitor center A visit ...

providing information, resources and continuing education to the public and occupational health, safety and wellness professionals. The most publicized assistance by this Center was to a Portland hair salon regarding the use of a non-labeled

formaldehyde Formaldehyde ( , ) (systematic name methanal) is a naturally occurring organic compound with the formula and structure . The pure compound is a pungent, colourless gas that polymerises spontaneously into paraformaldehyde (refer to section F ...

-containing hair straightening product, leading to national and international alerts and warnings.

References

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External links

Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences homepage

Oregon Healthy Workplace Center homepageOccHealthSci Library
Academic health science centres Oregon Health & Science University