Thursday, March 5, 2026, 7:45 AM - 6:30 PM Pacific

Workers in the U.S. and Worldwide: "An Endangered Species?"

7:45 AM – 8:00 AM: Introduction to Workers in the U.S. and Worldwide: "An Endangered Species?" with Course Leaders

8:00 AM – 8:50 AM: Keynote – Troubled Times: Navigating Setbacks in U.S. Occupational and Environmental Health and Safety Protections with John R. Balmes, MD, Professor of Medicine Emeritus, Division of Occupational, Environmental and Climate Medicine, UC San Francisco

NIOSH is the only U.S. research institute focused on worker health and safety.  Before April 2025, it had about 1,300 employees and an annual budget of $363 million to address all occupational injuries and illnesses, which collectively cost $250 billion per year. NIOSH research has been critical to the development of more protective federal standards for exposures to coal dust, silica, and beryllium as well as recommendations for the regulation of flavoring chemicals that cause bronchiolitis obliterans. The initial evisceration of NIOSH by the Trump administration led to the suspension of most employees and cessation of almost all programs, but complaints from Congress caused some programs to be reinstated, including the Respirator Testing and Certification Program, the Coal Workers’ Health Surveillance Program, the Health Hazard Evaluation (HHE) Program, and the National Firefighter Registry (NFR) for Cancer. NIOSH funding of training centers was also restored for the 2024-2025 fiscal year. The reinstatement of intramural program and training center funding may be short-lived.

The U.S. EPA is also undergoing significant policy and personnel shifts under the Trump administration, including repeal of the "Endangerment Finding” that underpins the regulation of greenhouse gas emissions, review of the “Waters of the United States” rule, mass layoffs of employees, and the elimination of the Office of Research and Development (ORD). The administration's initiatives include a broader deregulation agenda to support "energy dominance” with elimination of incentive funding for clean power generation and electric vehicles and substitution of increased fossil fuel extraction/production. The dismantling of the ORD removes critical scientific expertise that provides essential information underlying air quality, water quality, and chemical safety regulations. In March 2025. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announces the rollback of 31 regulations promulgated during the Obama and Biden administrations "to drive a stake into the climate change religion.” With Zeldin’s urging and President Trump’s concurrence, Congress rescinded California’s waivers for California's Advanced Clean Cars and clean truck emission rules. Multiple EPA grants to academic, non-profit, and community-based organizations have been defunded.

Dr. Balmes will talk about how we must navigate these attacks on occupational and environmental health and safety.

8:50 AM – 9:40 AM: Silica – What’s Old is New Again with Kristin J. Cummings, MD, MPH, Chief, Occupational Health Branch, California Department of Public Health

Explore contemporary issues in silica exposure control and the diagnosis and management of silicosis. Discussion will include lessons learned from the current global epidemic of silicosis related to artificial stone countertop fabrication. 

9:40 AM – 10:10 AM: Break

10:10 AM – 11:00 AM: Dead On the Job – A Post-Mortem on Hundreds of California Work Fatalities with Robert Harrison, MD, MPH, Clinical Professor of Medicine, Division of Occupational, Environmental and Climate Medicine, UC San Francisco; Public Health Officer, Occupational Health Branch, California Department of Public Health

The NIOSH-funded Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) program has investigated close to 200 work-related fatalities in California. The "lessons learned" about the prevention of these incidents will be presented, especially with relevance to clinical and public health practice.

11:00 AM – 11:50 AM: Graduate Education in Occupational and Environmental Health – Where We Have Been, Where We Are, and Where We Might Be Going with Max Blumberg, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Occupational, Environmental and Climate Medicine, UC San Francisco

Dr. Blumberg will focus on trends and changes to the pipeline of trainees for Occupational and Environmental Medicine over the last several decades, the current landscape including a recent national survey he conducted, and where the profession may be headed in the future. 

11:50 AM – 1:10 PM: Lunch Break

1:10 PM – 2:00 PM: Keynote – Ergonomics Now: The Best of Times, The Worst of Times – From the Home Office to the Slaughterhouse with Carisa Harris, PhD, CPE, Professor of Medicine, Division of Occupational, Environmental and Climate Medicine, UC San Francisco; Director, Center for Environmental and Occupational Health, UC Berkeley

2:00 PM – 2:50 PM: Why Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Still Matter in Occupational and Environmental Health with Rupali Das, MD, MPH, Clinical Professor of Medicine, Division of Occupational, Environmental and Climate Medicine, UC San Francisco; Sr. Vice President, Medical Director, Zenith Insurance Company

Despite recognition that environmental and occupational hazards are disproportionately distributed based on a range of factors, including demographics, location of residence, and representation in high-risk jobs, there remains a significant gap between acknowledging inequities and effectively addressing them. This presentation will explore the complex terrain of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in the current climate, describe opportunities, and challenges, and demonstrate that these concepts remain vitally important to pursuits to ensure healthy workers and environments.

2:50 PM – 3:40 PM: Lived Experience: What Qualitative Study Teaches Us About Occupational Safety and Health with Sandra Domeracki, RN, MSN, FNP-BC, COHN-S, FAAOHN, Clinical Professor of Nursing, Community Health Systems, UC San Francisco School of Nursing

This presentation will review four primary methods for conducting qualitative research, and how qualitative research methods can support worker health and well-being. Domeracki will review her dissertation study, as well as select examples of qualitative research conducted by occupational and environmental health professionals. 

3:40 PM – 4:00 PM: Coffee Break

4:00 PM – 4:50 PM: Respiratory Infection and Work-Related Exposure to Dust and Fume with Robert Cohen, MD, Clinical Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health Science, UIC School of Public Health, Chicago

Physicians rarely associate occupational exposures with respiratory infections. Dr. Cohen will describe occupational exposures and evidence for increased risk of pneumonias, bronchitis, and upper respiratory infections.

4:50 PM – 5:40 PM: Understanding Employment Today – What We Have Learned from the California Labor Laboratory and the Society for Total Worker Health with Edward Yelin, PhD, Emeritus Professor of Medicine and Health Policy, UC San Francisco, and Cristina Banks, PhD, Director, Interdisciplinary Center for Healthy Workplaces, UC Berkeley

Workers are often not formally hired by the firms for whom they do the work. Instead, they work as independent contractors, on-call workers, temp agency workers, or as subcontracted workers. We have demonstrated that these alternative employment modes are associated with poverty and, if not poverty, low earnings, higher rates of public benefit usage, and poorer health outcomes. Understanding the impact of alternative work arrangements on worker health, safety, and well-being, the question turns to how can workers be helped to receive this support through efforts to create working conditions and workplaces that build health, safety and well-being into their work arrangements.  This presentation will explore the relationship between worker productivity and worker health, safety, and well-being. Learn how health and well-being is the pathway to important business outcomes, how to provide features in the physical and psychosocial environment that support health, safety, and well-being, and how interdisciplinary experts are critical for forming a foundation of support to achieve these positive worker and business outcomes. 

5:40 PM – 6:30 PM: Occupational Safety and Health – How Do We Get There from Here? with Panel Discussion with Carisa Harris, PhD, CPE; Robert Cohen, MD; Sandra Domeracki, RN, MSN, FNP-BC, COHN-S, FAAOHN; and Gina Solomon, MD, MPH; moderated by Robert Harrison, MD, MPH

 

Friday, March 6, 2026, 7:50 AM - 5:30 PM Pacific

Updates in Occupational and Environmental Medicine

7:50 AM – 8:00 AM: Introduction to Updates in Occupational and Environmental Medicine with Course Leaders

8:00 AM – 8:50 AM: An Update on Multiple Chemical Sensitivity with Gina Solomon, MD, MPH, Professor of Medicine, Chief, Division of Occupational, Environmental and Clinical Medicine, UC San Francisco

Many Occupational and Environmental Medicine providers encounter patients with complex and difficult-to-treat syndromes, including Multiple Chemical Sensitivities (MCS)/Idiopathic Environmental Intolerance, and related symptoms and syndromes such as chronic fatigue and mold-related illness. This presentation will summarize what is currently known about MCS, with an emphasis on recent research and hypotheses related to potential causation. It will also touch on management of other challenging syndromes including mold-related illness. The goal is to provide clinicians with a basic approach to diagnosing and managing these challenging patients.

8:50 AM – 9:40 AM: Metal and Other Nanoparticle Health Risks – Is There a There There? with Timur Durrani, MD, MPH, MBA, Clinical Professor of Medicine, Associate Chief for Clinical Services, Division of Occupational, Environmental and Climate Medicine, UC San Francisco

Dr. Durrani will review current literature on in vivo and in vitro nano metal exposures to human cells and organ systems. Explore what is currently recognized as potential risks to humans exposed to nanoparticles and review recommendations for further research as well as limiting potential human injury from these materials.

9:40 AM – 10:20 AM: Break

10:20 AM – 11:10 AM: Benefits and Challenges of Applying Integrative Medicine Approaches to Occupational and Environmental Health Issues with Rahmat Balogun, DO, MS, MPH, Medical Director, Occupational Health Services; Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, Division of Occupational, Environmental and Climate Medicine, UC San Francisco

Dr. Balogun will review Integrative Medicine and how Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment (OMT) relates to Integrative Medicine. Learners will also explore Integrative Medicine modalities commonly used in Occupational and Environmental Medicine (OEM) and discuss the benefits and evidence as it relates to OMT and common conditions in OEM.

11:10 AM – 12:00 PM: Occupational Exposures Among Active Duty Military and Veterans – What Is the Big Picture? with Reza Hosseini, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor, SUNY Upstate Medical University, New York

Military personnel and veterans face a wide range of occupational and environmental exposures, both during deployment (e.g., burn pits) and through routine military activities that involve exposure to vapors, gas, dust, and fumes (VGDF). These exposures contribute to chronic respiratory disease and increased healthcare utilization. This session will highlight the scope of these risks, review emerging evidence, and provide clinicians with practical strategies to better recognize, document, and address exposure-related health outcomes in this population.

12:00 PM – 1:10 PM: Lunch

1:10 PM – 2:00 PM: Wildland Fires, Heat, and Climate Change – A Trifecta of Threat for Working People with Margaret Murray, MD, MS, MPH, Public Health Medical Officer, Cal/OSHA

Firefighters continue to work to protect our communities, despite rising temperatures and more frequent wildfires. Yet, the laws protecting these brave workers have largely gone unchanged. This presentation will discuss how today's dynamic climate has affected the health of California firefighters, with a focus on heat-related illness and respiratory issues. 

2:00 PM – 2:50 PM: The Links Between Ocean Health and Worker Health with Matthew Gribble, PhD, DABT, Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of Occupational, Environmental and Climate Medicine, UC San Francisco

The Blue Economy is one of the most vital dimensions of the American (and global) economy, with robust employment in diverse sectors with distinct worker health risks including but not limited to commercial fishing, offshore energy, military, and marine biotechnology sectors. This talk reviews some of the major domains of the Blue Economy and opportunities for health promotion for workers in those domains.

2:50 PM – 3:10 PM: Break

3:10 PM – 4:00 PM: Occupational and Environmental Published Research: The Year in Review with Sam Goldman, MD, MPH, Professor of Clinical Medicine, Division of Occupational, Environmental and Climate Medicine, UC San Francisco

Dr. Goldman will review several key Occupational and Environmental Medicine publications from 2024 - 2025 across a range of topics, with a focus on papers that may have been overlooked by most attendees. 

4:00 PM – 5:30 PM: Poster Discussion Session with Session Leader and Coordinator: Sheiphali Gandhi, MD, MPH, CTropMed® and TBA