The global aim for this award is to transform the existing Occupational Medicine Program (OMP) at Yale into a fully developed Section of Environmental and Occupational Medicine with self-sustaining teaching, research and clinical programs with broad impact on the whole institution.
Specific aims to accomplish this include: 1) enhancement of curriculum for students and trainees at all levels in environmental and occupational medicine (EOM); 2) broadening, deepening and strengthening the EOM research base and research training opportunities; 3) strengthening the skills of the candidate as a leader of an EOM section with such a research base and educational mandate; 4) development and promulgation of models for teaching, research and practice of EOM; 5) evaluation of success at meeting the specific aims. The plan to accomplish these aims is based on the unique nature of the Yale environment, the strengths and weaknesses of the existing Occupational Medicine Program and related resources, and the talents and current limitations of the OMP Director, Dr. Cullen, the Award candidate. To accomplish Aim 1, the plan calls for a series of very specific initiatives designed to organize, focus and upgrade curricular offerings.
Aim 2 will be accomplished, in part, by enhancement of the Candidate's own skills, particularly in the area of experimental research, and in part by an institutional plan to build new laboratories and support development of lab-based research in EOM. The candidate's skills will be strengthened (Aim 3) by a program of coursework in experimental biology and regular interaction with research colleagues serving as mentors.
Aim 4 will be addressed by various interactions of the candidate with outside organizations, including the group of other awardees, as well as by individual efforts of the candidate, such as completion of a major text for EOM which is now in progress. Evaluation (Aim 5) will be performed by an outside consulting group who have been instrumental from the inception of the plan.
