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AIHA NEWS AND NOTES
Michael Larrañaga Named New Editor-in-Chief for JOEH Michael Larrañaga, PhD, PE, CIH, CSP, FAIHA, is the new editor-in-chief for the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene (JOEH), AIHA and ACGIH announced in December. Larrañaga, an internationally recognized expert in industrial hygiene and occupational and environmental health and safety, is the founding principal and president of the safety, health, and risk management consulting firm R.E.M. Risk Consultants. He succeeds T. Renee Anthony, PhD, CIH, CSP, FAIHA, who served as the journal’s editor-in-chief from 2018 to 2022.
“I am excited to become the editor-in-chief of JOEH, and I hope to leverage the outstanding editorial review board to encourage a broader audience, seek submissions of high-quality international articles, and work with allied professions to secure a mix of practical and research submissions that expand the journal’s reach,” said Larrañaga. “My goal is to facilitate efficient and thorough peer reviews that continue to make JOEH the first-choice journal for high-quality research in the field of occupational and environmental health.”
An appointed member of the Scientific/Technical Advisory Committee of the World Trade Center Health Program, Larrañaga also serves as a representative of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society on the Technical Advisory Group ISO/TC 159, which develops international standards in ergonomics. He previously served on the NIOSH Board of Scientific Counselors, the joint NIOSH Cumulative Exposure Risk Group, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Opioid Working Group, and the DHS First Responders Group. Larrañaga has held academic faculty positions at the University of North Texas Health Science Center, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State University, and Royal Roads University in Victoria, British Columbia. He is co-creator and founding scholar for innovation and creativity in the Center for Homeland Defense and Security at the United States Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. In 2022, Larrañaga was awarded the inaugural AIHA Fellows Special Interest Group Mid-Career Award for his contributions to the industrial hygiene profession.
Published jointly by AIHA and ACGIH, JOEH is a peer-reviewed publication devoted to enhancing the knowledge and practice of occupational and environmental health and safety. Since 2004, JOEH has published peer-reviewed research studies that examine exposures, risks, and controls that can be used to understand how exposures relate to health outcomes, and how these can be managed for the betterment of society. Read more in AIHA’s press release.
CEC Accepting Membership Applications AIHA is now accepting applications for positions on the Continuing Education Committee. The CEC comprises 12 members who serve four single-year terms. The CEC’s mission is to ensure the highest possible quality for AIHA training programs and educational opportunities for professionals in occupational and environmental health. The CEC provides one of the levels of technical peer review of AIHA’s professional development courses, or PDCs. CEC members are also asked to audit new educational offerings, which provides an opportunity for them to earn CM hours at no cost.
Selection of new CEC members will be completed in the spring, and terms will begin with AIHce EXP 2023 in Phoenix, Arizona.
Applications are due by March 15. Prospective volunteers are asked to submit a current resume or CV and fill out an application listing their experience, knowledge, and primary areas of interest. The application is available on AIHA’s website. For more information, email Erin Breece, CEC staff liaison, or visit the committee webpage.
Subscribe or Contribute to SynergistNOW The SynergistNOW blog offers ideas, insights, and perspectives on important topics affecting industrial hygiene professionals, written by and for experienced IHs, researchers, academics, and AIHA leaders. SynergistNOW typically features two new posts per week. Recent posts have covered topics such as inhalation exposures and respiratory health in coffee workers, standards development, making better exposure risk decisions, and noise at sporting events.
SynergistNOW is available to everyone with an interest in the IH and OEHS fields, but even AIHA members must subscribe. To read SynergistNOW or subscribe, visit the blog home page.
Are you interested in contributing a guest blog post? If you have a topic in mind, please email a short description of your proposed post to the editors before you begin to write. The SynergistNOW blog author guidelines can be found on AIHA's website. Questions may also be directed to the Synergist team via email.
Keynote Speakers for AIHce EXP Announced Poppy Crum, PhD, and Faridodin “Fredi” Lajvardi will be the keynote speakers at AIHce EXP 2023, which will be held May 22–24 in Phoenix, Arizona. Crum will kick off the conference with the presentation “Optimizing Human Performance Through Technology,” and Lajvardi will deliver the closing keynote session, “Diversity Is Key to Move the OEHS Agenda Forward.”
Crum is the chief scientist at NextSense Inc., a company spun out of Alphabet's “moonshot” division, and an adjunct professor at Stanford University. Her presentation at AIHce EXP will aim to explore the human and consumer applications of rapidly advancing technology. Outlining the many ways that smart technology will improve people’s lives in years to come, she will describe a future society in which companies better provide consumers with products that match their specific needs, doctors more quickly diagnose and treat patients, human brains have evolved to see at the same resolution as computers, and the human capacity for knowledge has been exponentially expanded.
Lajvardi, a science teacher, found that his background as an Iranian immigrant helped him connect with students in the predominantly Hispanic high school where he taught for more than 30 years. His AIHce EXP presentation will seek to show attendees why diversity is key to igniting interest in science, technology, engineering, and math education; building teams in which members support and motivate each other; and fueling creative innovation and problem-solving. Lajvardi will also discuss reasons why certain teams are successful and the critical role that diversity plays in building resilient, innovative organizations.
AIHce EXP 2023 programming, including professional development courses occurring May 20, 21, and 25, will be held in the Phoenix Convention Center. More than 4,000 OEHS professionals are expected to attend this year.
For more information or to register for the conference, visit the conference website.
AIHce EXP Sponsorship Applications Due March 10 AIHA invites students and early career professional members to apply for sponsorship to attend AIHce EXP either virtually or in person in Phoenix, Arizona. A sponsorship includes registration to AIHce EXP 2023, round-trip coach airfare, and three nights' accommodation at a pre-selected conference hotel.
Applicants must be AIHA student or early career professional members in good standing through June 1, 2023. Applicants must submit a short video or a written statement of interest addressing their motivation for attending the conference or ways in which attending AIHce EXP would benefit their career goals. Applications must also include two letters of recommendation, which can come from a current professor, an AIHA member, or an employer.
Applications are due by 11:59 p.m. ET on March 10. For more information, visit the AIHce EXP website. Please email Janice Allen, AIHA’s project specialist, with questions.
Vote in the 2023 AIHA Board Election From Feb. 10 to March 3, AIHA members will vote in the 2023 AIHA Board of Directors election. AIHA will partner once again with ElectionBuddy to provide a safe, secure web-based voting system during this year’s election cycle. Instructions on how to vote in the election will be emailed to members this month. More information about the candidates for the 2023 election appears elsewhere in this issue.
Email questions to Thursa Pecoraro.
AIHA Accolades Congratulations to Anthony Oliveri, PhD, MPH, CIH, who was recently appointed by EPA to the Children’s Health Protection Advisory Committee, which comprises researchers, academicians, healthcare providers, environmentalists, state and tribal government employees, and members of the public who advise EPA on regulations, research, and communications related to children's health. Oliveri also currently serves as past chair of AIHA’s Government Relations Committee and secretary of the Toxicology Committee. Read EPA’s news release.
AIHA Seeks Ambassadors to Brazil, Mexico, and Puerto Rico AIHA seeks members to serve as ambassadors to Brazil, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. The AIHA Ambassador Program is intended to support the development of a cooperative infrastructure of industrial hygienists and occupational and environmental health and safety professionals internationally. More information about the open positions and the program can be found on AIHA’s website.
Dates and Deadlines
Feb. 10–March 3
Vote in the 2023 Board of Directors election.
March 9 AIHA University webinar: “Research Laboratory Safety in the 21st Century.”
March 10 Deadline for students and early career professionals to apply for AIHce EXP sponsorship.
March 14
Synergist webinar: "Better Root Cause Analysis Yields Effective Ergonomics Controls." Registration is free.
March 15 Deadline to apply for a position on AIHA’s Continuing Education Committee.
March 28 AIHA University webinar: “An IH and a Data Scientist Swap Perspectives on Big Data.”
May 22–24 AIHce EXP 2023 in Phoenix, Arizona.
For a complete list of events, visit AIHA's website.