Contact: Fred Blosser (202) 401-3749
March 21, 2006

Three recent developments underscore the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health’s (NIOSH) internationally recognized leadership in working with diverse partners to further research on the occupational safety and health implications and applications of nanotechnology:

• A Feb. 23, 2006, presentation by NIOSH Director John Howard, M.D., is available for viewing as video on the web page of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Dr. Howard, looking forward in 2006, notes that NIOSH’s emphasis will be on three key areas: continuing the dialogue with NIOSH’s partners, forming field assessment teams to research actual work practices with nanomaterials in the field, and developing a medical surveillance model to help provide guidance to others researching in this field. To view the Wilson Center presentation, go to: http://www.wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?topic_id=166192&fuseaction=topics.event_summary&event_id=168645#.
  
  
• Aleksandr Stefaniak, Ph.D., C.I.H., of the Division of Respiratory Disease Studies, was named the 2006 American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) John T. Bloomfield Award recipient for his significant contributions as an up and coming industrial hygienist. The formal award presentation will take place at the American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exposition on Sunday, May 14, 2006. Dr. Stefaniak, a Senior Service Fellow, provides input as an industrial hygienist to develop targeted studies that supply the occupational safety and health community with a better understanding of current and emerging occupational exposures to nanoparticles. The Bloomfield Award is presented to a young industrial hygienist who pursues the problem of occupational health hazards primarily by doing fieldwork, and who demonstrates significant contribution to the profession.
  
  
• On December 3-8, 2006, NIOSH and the University of Cincinnati will cosponsor the International Conference on Nanotechnology Occupational and Environmental Health and Safety: Research in Cincinnati, Ohio. Centered on the impact of nanotechnology on occupational and environmental health and safety abstracts for paper presentations and workshops are due by May 31, 2006. Abstracts for poster presentations will be accepted until June 30, 2006. For more information, visit the conference Web site at http://www.uc.edu/noehs. The conference follows other successful international forums co-sponsored by NIOSH in Buxton, U.K., in 2004, Minneapolis in 2005, and Miami earlier in 2006.

To learn more about NIOSH’s strategic program for conducting advanced research on the occupational health and safety implications of nanotechnology, providing interim guidance on occupational health practices, and stimulating new partnerships visit: http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/nanotech.