NIOSH Presents 2010 Awards for Significant Scientific Contributions

Contact: Fred Blosser, (202) 245-0645
April 28, 2010

Today, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recognized significant contributions made by NIOSH researchers and their partners to occupational safety and health over the past year.

NIOSH honored researchers with the Alice Hamilton Award, for scientific excellence of technical and instructional materials by NIOSH scientists and engineers; the James P. Keogh Award, for outstanding service by an individual in the occupational safety and health field; and the Bullard-Sherwood Research-to-Practice Award, for exceptional efforts by NIOSH researchers and partners in applying occupational safety and health research to the prevention of workplace fatalities, illnesses, or injuries. The awards are presented annually. This year, the NIOSH awards ceremony also included a new presentation, the Director's Award for Extraordinary Intramural Science.

"As we present these awards today, we also observe Workers Memorial Day, the day of remembrance for men and women whose lives were ended or whose livelihood was cut short by job-related death, illness, and injury," said NIOSH Director John Howard, M.D. "As these awards illustrate, NIOSH is committed to developing and using powerful scientific tools to engage the hazards that persist in traditional industries, and to anticipate the challenges of the changing workplace of the 21st Century."

Named after Dr. Alice Hamilton, a pioneering researcher and occupational physician, the Alice Hamilton Award is given for outstanding NIOSH contributions in the areas of biological sciences, engineering and physical sciences, human studies, and educational materials. The submissions go through a rigorous review by panels of scientific experts, including peers from both outside and inside NIOSH. This year's projects contributed to a wide range of sectors including mining, construction, and health care, as well as major workplace safety and health issues, including exposure to nanomaterials, occupational skin hazards, and personal protective equipment. The full list of the Alice Hamilton Award recipients can be found at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/awards/hamilton/.

The James P. Keogh Award for Outstanding Service in Occupational Safety and Health is given to current or former NIOSH employees who have, through their work, demonstrated exceptional commitment to the field. For 2010, NIOSH honors James W. Collins, the Associate Director of Science in the NIOSH Division of Safety Research, who holds the rank of Captain in the U.S. Public Health Service. Through Capt. Collins' scientific research, NIOSH has emerged as a national and international leader in developing, testing, and disseminating recommendations and technical guidance for preventing slip, trip, fall, and patient-lifting injuries in healthcare settings. More information is available at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/awards/keogh/.

The Bullard-Sherwood Research-to-Practice Award, named for the inventor of the hard hat Edward W. Bullard, and R. Jeremy Sherwood, the inventor of the personal industrial hygiene sampling pump, is given to recognize recipients for outstanding contributions in three categories: Knowledge, Interventions, and Technology. This year, the award and honorable mentions went to projects addressing prevention of worker injuries in highway work zones, monitoring and prevention of coal workers' pneumoconiosis, inerting explosive mine gases, worker hearing protection in agriculture, and prevention of carbon monoxide poisoning. To view the list of recipients of the 2009 Bullard-Sherwood Award visit http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/awards/bullard-sherwood/.

The new Director's Award for Extraordinary Intramural Science, presented for the first time this year, recognizes outstanding collective contributions to science excellence at NIOSH by individual intramural scientists and support staff. The award in the category of Distinguished Career Scientist honored the late Paul Baron, a career NIOSH scientist who was a recognized pioneer and international leader in aerosol measurement and occupational aerosol sampling. The award in the category of Early Career Scientist was presented to Jennifer Lincoln, a nationally recognized NIOSH leader in research to prevent work-related deaths and injuries in commercial fishing. The award in the category of Scientific Support was presented to Douglas Cantis of the NIOSH Division of Safety Research for integral support in laboratory and field studies. For more information, see http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/awards/DIA.

For more information about NIOSH research activities, go to http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/.