THE HOGAN YEARS: - University of Massachusetts Lowell

CampusNews
University Introduces
Public Health Laboratory
Scientist Graduate
Certificate
To help satisfy a critical need for
qualified public health laboratory
scientists, the Department of Clinical
Laboratory and Nutritional Sciences
has established a graduate certificate
course in that area.
The program began this fall and Prof.
Kay Doyle, chair of the department,
says plans call for it to go online eventually
so that it will be offered, literally,
to students across the country.
“This is the first program of its kind
in the country and perhaps in the
world,” she says.
Concerns about bioterrorist attacks
post 9/11, the threat of disease epidemics
from natural disasters such as
Hurricane Katrina and worries about
Colleges - Health
Stecchi Awards First Annual Scholarship
Former dean of the School of Health and Environment Jan Stecchi, center,
celebrates with the recipients of her First Annual Janice M. Stecchi Scholarship.
Kristin Palladino, left, and Doreen Duquette were chosen based on their
academic excellence and desire to be actively involved in health care.
pandemics such as avian flu present
a need for trained public health
laboratory personnel. But there is
a documented shortage of these
professionals in Massachusetts and
throughout the nation.
Kay Doyle
“In these times of natural disasters
and biological and chemical terrorism,
it’s essential that we have clinical lab
scientists who understand the public
health network and services,”
Doyle says.
But the average number of clinical
lab science/medical technology graduates
is only about 5,000 a year while
the projected need is more than double
that number. In addition, 72 percent of
board certified medical laboratory
personnel are 40 years old or older,
with the average age being 47.
The University’s certificate program
is designed for laboratory professionals
and public health informatics specialists
or administrators now working in
or with experience in a public health
career or related science field.
SHE Researchers Receive
$5M Federal Grant
UMass Lowell has received a $5
million, five-year grant under the
National Institutes of Occupational
Safety and Health’s Centers for
Excellence to Promote a Healthier
Workforce initiative. The grant was
one of only two awarded nationwide
out of more than 60 applications.
The grant is for the creation of the
Center for the Promotion of Health in
the New England Workplace. It will be
implemented under the direction of
Work Environment Prof. Laura Punnett
with assistance from Lenore
Azaroff of Work Environment, Lin
Zhan of Nursing and Nicole Champagne
of Community Health and
Sustainability—all departments in the
University’s School of Health and
Environment (SHE). UML researchers
will collaborate with the University
of Connecticut’s health promotion
research team.
“It has always been easiest to achieve
safer and healthier workplaces by
implementing preventive measures,
such as ergonomically designed work
stations or patient-lifting devices for
14 UMASS LOWELL MAGAZINE WINTER 2007