National Occupational Injury Research Symposium (NOIRS)

Letitia Davis, ScD, EdM
Director, Occupational Health Surveillance Program
Massachusetts Department of Public Health

For close to 30 years, Dr. Davis has worked to develop and implement state-based surveillance systems for work-related illnesses and injuries in Massachusetts. She has overseen the formation of surveillance systems for: fatal occupational injuries, occupational asthma, acute chemical poisonings, sharps and ergonomic injuries among hospital workers, amputations, and work-related injuries to workers under age 18, which was recently expanded to include young adults. The Massachusetts Occupational Health Surveillance Program (OHSP) is committed to using data for action. Dr. Davis and the OHSP staff work with a wide range of community and agency partners to address identified occupational health and safety problems. Dr. Davis also advises the Department leadership on matters of occupational health policy.

Dr. Davis has conducted numerous surveillance research studies exploring use of a wide range of existing public health data sources to document work-related injuries and illnesses, with a special focus on identifying and addressing the needs of underserved worker populations. She has a special interest in integrating occupational health considerations into mainstream public health and exploring innovative opportunities to collaborate with other public health programs.

Dr. Davis is also a lead consultant in occupational health to the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists, and has played a leadership role nationally the development of state Occupational Health Indicators and in the effort to integrate occupational health into public health practice at the state level. She is a past member of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Board of Scientific Counselors and currently serves on the National Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health. She has also served on a number of Institute of Medicine committees, including most recently a committee addressing incorporation of occupational information in electronic health records.

She received her doctorate in Occupational Health from the Harvard School of Public Health in 1983.