World Health Organization Designates UAlbany Institute for Health and the Environment as a Collaborating Center

ALBANY, N.Y. (October 24, 2011) -- The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)/World Health Organization (WHO) has named the University at Albany’s Institute for Health and the Environment as a Collaborating Center in Environmental Health. The criteria on which WHO based its designation of the Institute as a Collaborating Center is based upon its scientific and technical standing, how the organization works with its respective country’s health, scientific or educational structures, its operational stability and its active participation in international activities related to environmental health. David Carpenter, M.D., director of the Institute for Health and the Environment and professor in the University at Albany School of Public Health's Environmental Health Sciences Department, is director of the Center. The Institute is the only PAHO/WHO Collaborating Center in Environmental Health.

In this role, the UAlbany Center will provide WHO with technical support for the development of evidence-based policy based on local and international needs. Additionally, it will support global training in environmental health and investigate human disease caused by exposure to environmental chemical pollutants, electromagnetic fields, and ionizing radiation. The Center will also collect, collate and disseminate information, research, and training focused on chemical safety, environmental health and hazards, and non-communicable diseases.

Dr. David Carpenter heads UAlbany’s Institute for Health and the Environment, named a Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)/World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Center in Environmental Health. (Photo Mark Schmidt)

"By naming the Institute for Health and the Environment a World Health Organization Collaborating Center in Environmental Health, WHO is recognizing the mission of the Institute and the dedicated scientists who define the research and academic enterprise at the University at Albany," said School of Public Health Dean Philip C. Nasca.

Currently, some 800 institutions in 80 countries are designated as collaborating centers, supporting the goals of PAHO/WHO through a system of multilateral networks. Centers throughout the world work and collaborate with other regional and international institutions, opening opportunities for funding from WHO-partner organizations.

Institute of Health and the Environment
The Institute for Health and the Environment strives to promote interdisciplinary research among faculty of the University at Albany and local academic and research institutions who have interest in the areas of environmental science, ecology, environmental policy, environmental health, environmental law, geographic information systems, hazardous waste management, occupational health, risk assessment, management and communication, urban environmental health, and the social and psychological aspects of environmental pollution in regard to human behavior. Members of the Institute have active research and collaborative activities in China, Mongolia, Japan, Australia, Pakistan, Romania, Georgia, Russia and Uganda. Membership in the Institute is open to others with research interests in health and the environment, particularly those with international programs.

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