Administration

The University of Cincinnati Education and Research Center (UC ERC) is administered through the Department of Environmental and Public Health Sciences in the College of Medicine. Dr. Kermit Davis is the ERC Director as of August 1, 2024, assisted by Dr. Amit Bhattacharya as Deputy Director. Dr. Davis is a Professor at the University of Cincinnati where he is the Division Director of the Environmental and Industrial Hygiene division in the department of Environmental and Public Health Science.  Dr. Davis is a past president of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES) and a Fellow of HFES (2013), the American Industrial Hygiene Association (2019), and the International Ergonomics Society (2023). He is the Director of the University of Cincinnati’s Education and Research Center that is sponsored by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. His research has gained national and international recognition by receiving prestigious awards including: Volvo Award in Low Back Pain Research in Biomechanical Studies for the International Society for the Study of the Lumbar Spine (2002), Alice Hamilton Award in Human Services (2003), Liberty Mutual Prize for the International Ergonomic Society (2003), Bernice Owen Award of Research in Safe Patient Handling (2018), and Fulbright Scholar (2022). His research has concentrated on the reducing ergonomic stressors of healthcare workers and patients in healthcare settings (e.g. hospitals, long-term care facilities, and home health care).

The ERC unites departments in the Colleges of Medicine, Nursing, and Engineering and Applied Science to provide a rich learning environment for the study of the generation, evaluation, and control of occupational exposures to eliminate stressors that lead to reduced health and capacity. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has provided funding for the ERC since 1977.

Each academic training and service activity is led by a program director recognized as a specialist in their respective field. Drs. Davis and Bhattacharya work with all of the program directors to fulfill the overall mission of the ERC. Visit the programs page to learn more about each of the programs that make up the ERC.

Of particular importance are interdisciplinary educational opportunities, both on campus and off campus. On-campus activities include the annual Careers Workshop and Pilot Project Symposium which brings together students and faculty interested in health and safety research. The annual topical workshop has dealt with firefighter health and safety, nanotechnology, sensors, healthcare ergonomics, respiratory protection in healthcare, and regional preparedness for COVID-19 and Ebola outbreaks. Off-campus experiences have included visits to a surface coal mine, an underground coal mine, and a range of sites with the NY/NJ ERC Historical Tour including a winery, commercial fishing, granite quarrying, and stone dressing, asbestos mining and milling, and hazardous waste remediation. Students and faculty from all disciplines work together on a project to evaluate exposure and stresses during fire fighting and home healthcare. Descriptions of these and other activities are shown on the ERC blog.

The classroom, fieldwork, and interdisciplinary educational opportunities away from campus provide graduates with specialized experiences in occupational safety and health.

Business aspects are coordinated through the Department of Environmental and Public Health Sciences with the assistance of the business officials in the Colleges of Nursing and Engineering.