UK College of Public Health Occupational Safety Expert Appointed to NIOSH Board

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Jan. 6, 2016) — The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has appointed Terry Bunn, a University of Kentucky preventive and environmental medicine expert and director of the Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center (KIPRC), as a member of an independent advisory committee to the director of NIOSH.

Bunn, an associate professor in the UK College of Public Health, will serve as one of the 15 occupational health experts on the NIOSH Board of Scientific Counselors. Experts on the board represent the fields of occupational medicine, occupational nursing, industrial hygiene, toxicology, occupational health and safety engineering, ergonomics, epidemiology, biostatistics and psychology. Her term will last as long as four years.

Bunn’s research interests span from injury prevention to drug abuse in both workplace environments and the general population. She serves as the principal investigator for the Kentucky Occupational Safety and Health Surveillance, Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation, Core Violence and Injury Prevention, and other state injury prevention programs. In addition, a research team she leads at KIPRC recently acquired a $4 million Centers for Disease Control and Prevention grant to combat drug abuse, including heroin abuse, in the state.

Established from the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, NIOSH is the branch of the CDC dedicated to preventing illness and injuries in the workplace. NIOSH promotes safe and healthy workplaces through research, interventions, recommendations and global collaborations.

MEDIA CONTACT: Elizabeth Adams, elizabethadams@uky.edu