Capitalizing on longstanding strengths of UC Davis, the Academic Senate has approved the establishment of a new Division of Environmental and Occupational Health.

The new division is within the Department of Public Health Sciences. Its acting division chief is Marc Schenker, professor and chair of the department.

"Environmental health has been a strength of our program since I came to UC Davis in 1983 to start an occupational health program," Schenker said. "It's an area where both the Davis campus and UC Davis Health System have particular expertise, and I'm delighted that the new division has been approved."

Schenker noted that the Department of Public Health Sciences has several collaborations with investigators in different departments at the Davis campus.

In his proposal to the Academic Senate, Schenker stated, "This is particularly important because our department faculty represent the human health component of this research, thus complementing the campus strengths in toxicology, ecology and other fields. The creation of a division will bring together our faculty working in this area and facilitate collaborative research and teaching with other campus units."

Schenker also noted that the Department of Public Health Sciences is a part of the Northern California Center for Environmental and Occupational Health, based at UC Berkeley, and receives funding from the center. Maintaining the identity of the department's environmental and occupational health programs will assist in interactions with the center.

The expertise of the Division of Environmental and Occupational Health encompasses multidisciplinary areas appropriate for such a division, Schenker said, including occupational and environmental medicine, exposure assessment, toxicology and epidemiology.

In addition to Schenker, the other members of the division are Steve McCurdy, professor of public health sciences; Bruce Leistikow, associate professor of epidemiology and preventive medicine; Alan Buckpitt, professor of molecular biosciences in the School of Veterinary Medicine; Debra Bennett, assistant professor of public health sciences; Irva Hertz-Picciotta, professor of public health sciences; Paul Leigh, professor of public health sciences; and one pending appointment.