Dawn Castillo, James P. Keogh Award Winner for 2004

Dawn Castillo has been Chief of the Surveillance and Field Investigations Branch in DSR since 1998. She also is an active member of the NIOSH-wide Surveillance Coordination Group which is responsible for developing recommendations for tracking work-related injuries, illnesses, and hazards. Dawn received her B.S. in Biology in 1985 from the University of California, Irvine, and her M.P.H. in Epidemiology in 1986 from the University of California, Los Angeles. Before joining NIOSH in 1991, she performed research at these universities on AIDS and on traffic-related injuries to children.

Dawn has authored 15 articles in peer-reviewed journals, four book chapters, and six NIOSH technical documents addressing a range of occupational injury topics, most notably injuries among youth. This expertise was key in her leadership of a NIOSH-wide committee that identified research needs related to child labor, and was instrumental in developing and implementing the NIOSH Childhood Agricultural Injury Prevention Initiative. She also established an interagency agreement with the Department of Labor to conduct research contributing to the regulation and enforcement of child labor and led the development of NIOSH recommendations for changes to child labor laws. Dawn's expertise and dedication to the protection of working youth is recognized world-wide as she frequently provides consultation on youth work to the World Health Organization and International Labour Organization.

The James P. Keogh Award for Outstanding Service in Occupational Safety and Health award recognizes one current or former NIOSH employee each year for exceptional service to the field. The award is offered in honor of Dr. James P. Keogh, a tireless advocate for worker safety and health who died in June 1999, at the age of 49. The Keogh Award committee, chaired by Dr. Kathleen Rest, solicited nominations from NIOSH employees and judged the nominees on the basis of contributions above and beyond the call of duty. The committee placed special emphasis on contributions made by public health workers willing to fight long odds to achieve safer and healthier workplaces.