China-California: Environmental Health Training Program

Kreutzer, Richard

Abstract

EXCEED THE SPACE PROVIDED. The California Department of Health Services (CDHS) Environmental Health Investigations Branch, in cooperation with the CDHS Environmental Health Laboratory, CDHS Genetic Disease Branch, and U.S.CDC, intends to establish a collaborative environmental epidemiology training fellowship with the Shanghai Centers for Disease Control and Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine. The training program is designed with the ultimate objective of addressing what has become a serious threat to the public health and economy of China - the impact of tobacco smoke exposure. This innovative, government-to-government, applied fellowship is focused on providing important environmental health research experience, as well as developing the kind of service orientation and skills necessary to implement complex epidemiological studies within a large-scale state or regional health agency. It is designed on the practical and urgent needs of these two Chinese environmental health agencies to ensure that mid-career health researchers receive the desired information and skills and convey them back to the corresponding organization.. As the state entity primarily responsible for community intervention in response to environmental health events or concerns, EHIB can provide training organized to emphasize health interventions and regional and national health policy changes intended to reduce smoking and exposure to environmental tobacco smoke. Two mid-career agency health scientists will be selected each year to participate in the training fellowship. One of the candidates will be assigned to EHIB for the entire year, where they will receive on-the-job experience in all aspects of conducting epidemiological studies to address environmental health concerns. This includes study design, data collection techniques, analytical methods, report writing, results dissemination and formulation of intervention strategies. The other fellow will be assigned for 9 months to the CDHS Environmental Health Laboratory to assist in developing biological monitoring measures, and for the remaining 3 months will be assigned to the CDC Laboratory for more specialized training in specific laboratory methods (particularly cotinine analysis). The proposed training fellowship is designed to foster the development of environmental health research strategies, building on existing strengths of the Chinese environmental health community that address the most profound environmental health issues. It is tailored to provide real-world experiences of immediate and direct benefit to the collaborating in-country agencies, is concentrated on pragmatic approaches to environmental health issues, and is designed to be completed within a one-year period ~ at which time the trainee reassumes his/her position in the home agency where he/she continues to work in collaboration with CDHS researchers on projects of mutual interest. PERFORMANCE SITE ========================================Section End===========================================