OccPod: the official ACOEM podcast

Everywhere you look, it seems as though Artificial Intelligence (or AI) is at the forefront of public discourse. In this episode of OccPod, Erin and Dr. Nabeel are joined by Dr. Zaira Chaudhry for a conversation about AI in occupational and environmental medicine. Dr. Chaudhry is a board-certified Occupational Medicine physician and a PhD student at West Virginia University’s College of Engineering whose research focuses on the human factors related to AI integration in clinical OEM practice. She is also a member of ACOEM’s Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning/Virtual Reality in OEM Practice Workgroup and currently serves on ACOEM’s Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee as well as the Council on External Relations and Communications. Thank you for joining us for another episode of OccPod!

On this episode of OccPod, Erin and Dr. Nabeel talk with the incoming Presidential Line of ACOEM. We welcome our guests, Drs. Tanisha Taylor, Laura Gillis, and Jill Rosenthal. Dr. Tanisha Taylor is Senior Medical Director for RWJBH Employee Health and Wellness, New Jersey. Dr. Taylor received her MD from New York Medical and her MPH from Yale University. Dr. Taylor is the current President-Elect of ACOEM. She joined the College in 2005, and served as Young Physician Director from 2013 – 2016, after which she was a Director on the Board for several years. She has been active on the American Occupational Health Conference Planning Committees and currently serves on the Council on Governmental Affairs and chairs the Vaccine Workgroup. Dr. Gillis is currently the Chief Medical Officer at Union Pacific Railroad. Her previous positions include serving as a US Naval Flight Surgeon, a private practice physician and business owner, the US Federal Maritime Surgeon, and a Medical Director at BNSF Railway. Dr. Gillis is currently ACOEM’s Vice President. She has held multiple roles in ACOEM, including Chair of the Council on Membership Engagement, Chair of the Transportation Section, and has been member of the ACOEM Board of Directors since 2019. Dr. Jill Rosenthal is the Chief Medical Officer at Zenith Insurance, a Fairfax Financial Company. She is also an Affiliate Assistant Professor at the University of South Florida Occupational Medicine Residency Program and the past Chairperson of the Florida Prescription Drug Monitoring Program Foundation Board. Dr. Rosenthal has served as the Medical Director for General Motors, Evanston-Northwestern Hospital’s Employee Health Department, and two Johnson and Johnson companies. She is the current Treasurer and incoming Vice President of ACOEM and chairs ACOEM’s Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion committee. In May, Dr. Taylor will be installed as ACOEM President, Dr. Gillis ascends to President Elect, and Dr. Rosenthal becomes ACOEM’s Vice President. Please join us at the 108th American Occupational Health Conference – AOHC – May 19-22, at Lowes Royal Pacific Resort in Orlando, FL, where our incoming leaders take office! Learn more about the conference and register today at acoem.org/aohc.

Thank you for joining us for another episode of OccPod, ACOEM's official podcast. In this episode, Erin and Dr. Nabeel discuss updated guidance from the CDC for respiratory viruses, including COVID-19. This coincides with the fourth anniversary of the pandemic's declaration around the globe. Dr. Nabeel is an Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Siani. He is a Fellow of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, serves on the ACOEM Board of Directors, and chairs ACOEM's Council on OEM Science.

Thank you for joining us for another episode of OccPod. In this episode, Erin and Dr. Nabeel are joined by Dr. Amy Behrman for a conversation about COVID-19 and outbreaks of Measles, and how workers can protect themselves. Dr. Behrman is the Medical Director of Occupational Medicine Services and Professor of Emergency Medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Behrman serves on the National Adult and Influenza Immunization Summit which is dedicated to improving vaccine use as recommended by the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

Thank you for joining us for another episode of OccPod, ACOEM's official podcast. In this episode, Erin and Dr. Nabeel are joined by Dr. Brett Perkison and Ms. Cynthia Hernandez for a conversation about flood zone workers who respond to climate-related natural disasters. Ms. Hernandez is the National Training Director for the Resilience Force, an organization that serves as a voice for workers who respond to climate disasters in the United States, many of whom are immigrants. She began her career as a researcher and instructor at Florida International University’s Center for Labor Research & Studies, investigating the intersection of labor and immigration. Dr. Perkison is an assistant professor at the University of Texas School of Public Health in Houston, TX, and is the program director for the Occupational and Environmental Medicine residency program in Houston. He is board certified in both family medicine and occupational and environmental medicine and is a Fellow of ACOEM. One of his main research interests is improving the health and safety of construction workers grappling with the aftermath of natural disasters.

Thank you for joining us for another episode of OccPod, ACOEM's official podcast. In this episode, Erin and Dr. Nabeel are joined by Dr. Vincent Michaud for a conversation that is truly out of this world – aerospace medicine and supersonic transport. Dr. Michaud is the Deputy Chief Health and Medical Officer at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC. He is responsible for the oversight of all NASA health and medical activities including medical aspects of all national and international NASA missions. Dr. Michaud earned his medical degree from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas and completed residencies in Aerospace Medicine and Occupational Medicine at the United States Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine at Brooks Air Force Base, Texas. He is a Fellow of the Aerospace Medical Association and is certified by the American Board of Preventive Medicine. Don't forget to subscribe to OccPod so you never miss a new episode!

Thank you for joining for another episode of OccPod. In this episode, Erin and Dr. Nabeel are joined by Dr. Judith Green McKenzie for a discussion on vaccines, particularly her experiences with the rapid delivery of the COVID-19 vaccine to employees. Dr. McKenzie is a Medical Officer at the Occupational Safety &Health Administration and Professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, where she was Inaugural OEM Division Chief & OEM Residency Program Director. She also served as Professor of Medicine & OEM Division Director at Johns Hopkins Medicine and as Executive Director for Health, Safety and Environment for Johns Hopkins University and Johns Hopkins Health System.

Thank you for joining us for another episode of OccPod. In this episode, Erin and Dr. Nabeel are joined by guests Drs. Robert Bourgeois and Brett Perkison to discuss the relationship between heat stress and worker health. Dr. Bourgeois is the Medical Director of the Bourgeois Medical Clinic, an occupational medicine practice in Morgan City, Louisiana. He helped to design the Heat Stress plan for the Deepwater Horizon response. Dr. Perkison is the Associate Medical Director at the University of Texas Health Science Center, Employee Health, and the Program Director of UT’s Occupational and Environmental Medicine Residency. Dr. Perkison’s work measures the extent chronic diseases in employees affect workplace productivity, absenteeism, employer-covered healthcare costs, and other work-related indices of occupational health.

Thank you for joining us for another episode of OccPod. In this episode, Erin and Dr. Nabeel discuss the latest variant of COVID-19, the summer surge, and the forthcoming updated vaccines. Don't forget to subscribe to OccPod so you never miss a new episode!

Thank you for joining us for another episode of OccPod. In this episode, Erin, Dr. Nabeel, and guest Dr. Gary Toups discuss hyperbaric medicine, including the recent implosion of the Titan submersible. Dr. Toups also discusses decompression illnesses in divers and case-on workers. Dr. Toups has practiced Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine since 2004, when he treated recreational divers and military aviators for decompression illness at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan. He is a former US Air Force officer, and served as a navigator, pilot, flight safety officer, and aircraft mishap investigator. In 1995, he left aviation and attended the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, earning his MD in 1999.

Thank you for joining us for another episode of OccPod. In this episode, Erin and Dr. Nabeel are joined by Dr. Michael Sauri to discuss Mpox, formerly known as Monkeypox, recent outbreaks, and the status of vaccines. Dr. Sauri is the Medical Director of Occupational Health Consultants, which services over 130 biomedical research laboratories. Dr. Sauri’s 12-year military career included residency training in General Preventive Medicine in the US Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine, General Internal Medicine at Brooke Army Medical Center, and Infectious Diseases Fellowship training at Bethesda Navy Hospital.

Thank you for joining us for another episode of OccPod. In this episode, Erin and Dr. Nabeel discuss air quality and the detrimental effects of climate change, highlighting the hundreds of active wildfires in eastern Canada and the consequential particulate haze over New York City and the American Northeast.

Thank you for joining us for another episode of OccPod! On today’s episode, Erin, Dr. Nabeel and guest Dr. Rivera Margarin discuss occupational and environmental residency programs and the topics that interest OEM students, particularly those related to climate change. Dr. Rivera Margarin is faculty at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health where serves as the program director for the Occupational and Environmental Medicine Residency, advises pre-med students in the masters in environmental health sciences program and teaches an environmental and occupational toxicology course. She is co-principal investigator for the Department of Energy funded Johns Hopkins Former Workers Program for Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories and is a medical advisor for health and safety to the International Association of Fire Fighters.

Thank you for joining us for another episode of OccPod. In this episode, Erin, Dr. Nabeel and guest Dr. Silpa Krefft discuss Deployment Related Respiratory Diseases, including burnpit exposure. Dr. Krefft is an occupational pulmonologist and critical care physician. She completed training in Internal Medicine at Boston University Medical Center and a Pulmonary/Critical Care fellowship and Occupational Medicine training at the University of Colorado. She joined the faculty in the Division of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences at National Jewish Health in Denver, CO in 2016 as well as the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care at the Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center in Aurora, Colorado in 2017 where her practice includes evaluation and management of occupational and environmental lung diseases.

Thank you for joining us for another episode of OccPod, the official ACOEM podcast. In this episode, Erin and Dr. Nabeel discuss the end of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency Declaration. On May 11, 2023, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) allowed the federal Public Health Emergency (PHE) for COVID-19, declared under Section 319 of the Public Health Service (PHS) Act, to expire. Over the last two years, the Biden Administration has implemented the largest adult vaccination program in U.S. history, with nearly 270 million Americans receiving at least one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine. Because of this and other efforts, daily reported COVID-19 cases are down approximately 92 percent since the peak Omicron surge in January of 2022. For information on COVID-19 vaccines and other immunizations, please visit acoemvaxinfo.org.

Thank you for joining us for another episode of OccPod. In this episode, Erin and Dr. Nabeel are joined by Mr. Steve Jones and Dr. Eric Shuping to discuss toxic exposures resulting from burn pits in military personnel. Mr. Steve Jones is the Director of Force Readiness and Health Assurance Policy for the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Readiness Policy & Oversight of the U.S. Department of Defense. Mr. Jones is responsible for developing policy for force health protection, deployment health, occupational and environmental health, burn pits, individual medical readiness, comprehensive health surveillance, and biosurveillance. He is also responsible for advising on health issues related to garrison and deployment occupational and environmental exposures. Mr. Jones is a retired Army Environmental Science and Engineering Officer and senior consultant with over 41 years of medical, public health, and environmental health experience at all levels of the Department of Defense. Dr. Eric Shuping is the Director of Operations for Health Outcomes of Military Exposures (HOME) within the Office of Patient Care Services/Public Health of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. HOME administers various programs related to environmental and occupational exposures of U.S. Veterans during military service. Dr. Shuping came to the Veterans Health Administration after retiring from 27 years of service in the Army, and is board certified in family practice, preventive medicine, and occupational medicine. He has significant experience in environmental health issues within the Army and Department of Defense in deployed and garrison settings, including a 2006-2007 deployment to Iraq as a Theater Preventive Medicine Consultant.

Thank you for joining us for another episode of OccPod. In this episode, which discusses the toxic chemical spill and train derailment that took place in East Palestine, Ohio in early February, Erin and Dr. Nabeel are joined by Dr. Paul Brandt-Rauf. Dr. Brandt-Rauf is a Distinguished University Professor and the inaugural Dean of the School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems at Drexel University. He is also an Emeritus Dean of Public Health and an Emeritus Professor of Occupational and Environmental Health at the University of Illinois, Chicago and an Emeritus Professor of Public Health, Medicine and Engineering at Columbia University. Dr. Brandt-Rauf’s major research interest is environmental carcinogenesis, particularly the molecular biology and the molecular epidemiology of cancer-related proteins. If you would like to learn more about occupational and environmental medicine, consider attending the American Occupational Health Conference! This year's conference will take place in Philadelphia from April 16-19, 2023. To learn more, visit acoem.org/aohc

In this episode of OccPod, Erin and Dr. Nabeel are joined by guest Dr. Laura Breeher for a discussion on the Minnesota Retaining Employment and Talent After Injury or Illness Network, or RETAIN. Dr. Breeher is the Section Chief of Occupational Medicine and Medical Director of Employee Occupational Health Services at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. Since 2018, she has also served as co-medical director and principal investigator of RETAIN. Minnesota RETAIN is funded and sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor and the Social Security Administration under a multi-year grant to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development. Implementation of the Minnesota RETAIN program is a collaboration among several core organizations including the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, Minnesota Department of Health, Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, Mayo Clinic, Workforce Development Inc, and the Minnesota Governor’s Workforce Development Board. To learn more about Minnesota RETAIN, visit www.mnretain.com. Thank you for listening!

Thank you for joining us for another episode of OccPod, the official podcast of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. This episode serves as a continuation of a special series investigating vaccinations. Funding for this series was made possible (in part) by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In this episode, Erin and Dr. Nabeel discuss COVID-19 vaccine side effects and vaccine hesitancy. Thanks for tuning in to OccPod. We hope to see you at the 2023 American Occupational Health Conference in Philadelphia, April 16-19! For more information on the conference and to register, visit acoem.org/aohc.

Thank you for joining us for another episode of OccPod. Today's guest, Dr. Zeke McKinney, is the Occupational and Environmental Medicine Program Director at HealthPartners and is an affiliate assistant professor at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. He is also the President of Advocates for Better Health, formerly known as the Twin Cities Medical Association. In this episode, Erin, Dr. Nabeel, and Dr. McKinney discuss the future of occupational and environmental medicine.