The University of Iowa’s Heartland Center for Occupational Health and Safety has been awarded a grant of $9 million over five years to continue to provide graduate training, continuing education, and outreach in the areas of occupational health and safety. The center serves the states of Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska, and supports over 30 graduate students annually through funding from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

The Heartland Center, directed by Patrick O’Shaughnessy, professor of occupational and environmental health and based in the College of Public Health, offers graduate-level training leading to master’s and doctoral degrees in agricultural safety and health, ergonomics, industrial hygiene, occupational injury prevention, and occupational safety. The occupational safety training program is a collaboration with faculty in the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering at Iowa State University.

The Heartland Center’s graduates have obtained successful careers in manufacturing, insurance, health care, food processing, and research, among other industries.

“We are proud of our hundreds of graduates who have gone on to apply their training in professions that impact thousands of workers,” says O’Shaughnessy, noting that more than a third of the program’s trainees are employed by companies and organizations in Iowa.

In addition, over the past five years, more than 6,000 occupational health and safety professionals from across its four-state region have taken part in the Heartland Center’s many continuing education programs. Quarterly newsletters and educational aids through the center’s outreach program positively influence the region’s workforce.

The Heartland Center has been continuously funded since 2000 and is one of 18 university-based Education and Research Centers throughout the United States. Learn more about the center at this link.