NIOSH Recognizes 2007 Award Winners for Their Excellence and Dedication in Occupational Safety and Health Research

Contact: Fred Blosser (202) 401-3749
May 1, 2007

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) today presented the annual Alice Hamilton Award, James P. Keogh Award, and Bullard-Sherwood Research-to-Practice Award. The awards are given annually to recognize great contributions to the occupational safety and health field over the past year. The three awards highlight scientific excellence of technical and instructional materials by NIOSH scientists and engineers, exceptional service by an individual in the occupational safety and health field, and outstanding efforts by NIOSH scientists and their partners in applying occupational safety and health research to preventing workplace fatalities, illnesses, or injuries.

“These awards are an opportunity to recognize the dedication and innovation of individuals in the occupational safety and health field,” said NIOSH Director John Howard, M.D. “This year’s selections demonstrate the wide scope of research done at NIOSH, ranging from emerging concerns such as the occupational health implications of nanomaterials, to safeguarding fire fighters and police officers, and protecting health care staff.”

The Alice Hamilton Award is named after pioneering research and occupational physician Dr. Alice Hamilton. The award is given on the basis of rigorous reviews by panels of scientific experts, including peers from both outside and inside NIOSH, for outstanding NIOSH contributions in the areas of biological sciences, engineering and physical sciences, human studies, and educational materials. The 2007 award will be presented to four NIOSH technical products of superior scientific merit from 2006.

The James P. Keogh Award for Outstanding Service in Occupational Safety and Health is presented to current or former NIOSH employees who have demonstrated exceptional commitment to the occupational safety and health field. The 2007 winner is Dr. Steven Sauter, who is recognized for his tireless and dedicated efforts to integrate the behavioral sciences into the mainstream of research and practice aimed at reducing injury and promoting worker well being.

The Bullard-Sherwood Research-to-Practice Award is presented for excellence in applying research to occupational illness and injury prevention. Named for Edward W. Bullard, inventor of the hard hat, and R. Jeremy Sherwood, inventor of the personal industrial hygiene sampling pump, the award was first given in 2005. The 2007 recipients were selected for their outstanding contributions in three categories: knowledge, for research resulting in developing and transferring new knowledge into practice; interventions, for research resulting in interventions put into practice; and technology, for research resulting in new technologies put into practice.

The list of recipients of the 2007 Alice Hamilton Award can be found at www.cdc.gov/niosh/awards/hamilton/. The list of recipients of the 2007 Bullard-Sherwood Award can be found at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/awards/bullard-sherwood/.