2022-2023 Graduate & Professional Studies Catalog [Archived Catalog]
Department of Environmental and Occupational Health
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The mission of the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health (EOH) is to study and elucidate the health effects of exposure to chemical, physical, and biological agents encountered in the workplace or general environment. Intrinsic to this research mission is that fundamental information regarding actions of environmental toxicants will provide insight into basic human biology in health and disease. Accordingly, current research includes fundamental studies on free radical biology and especially oxidative lipidomics and mitochondrial function, genetic basis of susceptibility to injurious agents including gene x environment approaches, cellular and molecular regulation of reparative response to injury including mesenchymal stem cells as modifying biological therapeutic agents, cardiopulmonary toxicology of heavy metals and particulate matter including nanoparticles, molecular carcinogenesis including metabolism of telomeres and DNA damage and repair, genetic and epigenetic contributions to neurodegenerative disease with focus on cholesterol dyshomeostasis and integrated studies in complex disorders such as environmental induced interstitial pulmonary fibrosis. In addition, a focus on exposure science and environmental epidemiology supports efforts into the health effects of air pollution and public health concerns associated with energy procurement including unconventional natural gas development. Translation of these collective efforts in basic and applied research is in part provided by members of EOH active in environmental policy, risk assessment, and community behavioral sciences. These efforts coincide and are coordinated with mentoring and educational programs for PhD, MS and MPH students.
Contact Information
Departmental Chair
Sally Wenzel, MD
4126 PUBHL
130 DeSoto Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15261
412-624-9345 P
412-624-9361 F
swenzel@pitt.edu
www.eoh.pitt.edu
For information on admission or registration, contact Bryanna Snyder at bms85@pitt.edu
Admissions
Course work in mathematics and the physical, chemical, and biological sciences must be documented in the undergraduate transcript. Acceptable undergraduate training includes a bachelor’s degree in the physical, chemical, or biological sciences with a minimum of two courses each in organic chemistry, biology, physics, and calculus.
Applicants for admission must also take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE). The MPH program also accept MLATS and DATS. If the candidate already has a graduate or professional degree a waiver may be approved by the department. Consistent with Pitt Public Health requirements, students are ordinarily required to have at least a 3.00 (on a 4.00 scale) overall undergraduate GPA, and a 3.00 GPA in the basic science courses (chemistry, physics, biology, mathematics).
Financial Assistance
Financial support is available for tuition and stipend for PhD students through a graduate research assistance program from the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health. Stipends are made available from the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, and from individual research laboratories. Although master’s students in the environmental health and/or environmental health risk assessment programs are eligible for support, in general it is expected that tuition and stipends for these students will be derived from external sources.
Graduate Degree Programs
PhD and MS Programs
The PhD in Environmental Health Sciences is designed to provide a broad theoretical and practical education for individuals who desire positions in academic, industrial or government laboratories as teachers and/or researchers in the multifaceted discipline of Environmental Health Science with an emphasis on environmental impact on human disease and disease susceptibility. The Environmental Health Sciences program is an integrated modern curriculum combining training in the toxicological and environmental biophysics disciplines that are traditional to the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health with the new and continually developing fields of cellular and molecular pathobiology of environmental disease and gene environment interactions. The program provides an understanding of how relevant environmental exposures, laboratory based model systems, and gene-environment responses can be interpreted and applied to the study of disease etiology in exposed and potentially exposed human populations. Master of Science degree in Environmental Health Sciences may be pursued and obtained along the way or independently.
EOH MS and PHD Handbook
MPH Program
The Master of Public Health in Environmental and Occupational Health is a key component of Public Health. Local environmental health professionals are the “front line troops” in the public health battle to prevent disease. The Department of Environmental and Occupational Health offers an MPH degree program to provide professional education for individuals who desire positions in environmental health or who already have environmental health positions and are seeking to strengthen their professional competency. The Doctor of Public Health in Environmental and Occupational Health provides further advanced professional education for those individuals who desire leadership positions in public health practice, policy analysis, professional communication, program management, high-level administration, and/or decision-making in an environmental health setting.
EOH MPH Handbook
Certificate Programs
The certificate in Environmental Health Risk Assessment is offered for interested students and for professionals currently employed in environmental health positions. The risk assessment certificate program provides concentrated coursework relevant to human health risk evaluation and is an efficient means for achieving proficiency in this area of environmental health.
ProgramsCertificateDoctoralMaster’s
CoursesEnvironmtal & Occupatnal Hlth
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