Dr. Derek G. Shendell, D.Env, MPH, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at the School of Public Health (SPH) at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ). He is co-Director of the Center for School and Community-Based Research and Education at UMDNJ. He is also on the graduate faculty of Rutgers University and a member of the Exposure Science Division of the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute (EOHSI). EOHSI is a joint institute of UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and Rutgers University. See: http://sph.umdnj.edu/staff/staffDetail.cfm?tblPers_ID_pk=785
He works to “bridge” science, education and policy in a multidisciplinary fashion to reduce and/or prevent environmental exposures and health effects. He focuses on community/schools-based research with local participation in planning and execution; educational trainings and materials, service and technical assistance; and, informed/evidence-based policy advocacy.
His research and professional publications have focused on:
- incident (injury, illness) surveillance among minors/young workers reported in NJ, including among special health care needs students;
- indoor air and environmental quality in homes, office buildings and schools, including portable versus traditional, site-built school classrooms and facilities;
- urban outdoor air quality and environment characterization, including relationships between indoor, outdoor, personal (adult, child) and in-vehicle air concentrations of fine particles and various toxic air contaminants;
- ventilation and energy efficiency, and linkages to student attendance; and,
- asthma among children and older adults, with novel exposure measurement techniques.
Furthermore, he is Director of the NJ Safe Schools Program (http://www.njsafeschools.org) and co-facilitates the NJ OSHA Alliance. The program includes injury surveillance, science-to-policy, regular statewide e-communications, and training for teachers and administrative professionals in secondary education (public and private) concerning safety and health.
His other prior work experience included being:
- Senior Research Associate at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (11/2000-3/2004);
- The California Endowment funded “Community Action to Fight Asthma Initiative’s” (8/2002-12/2005; CAFA-I) Statewide Director of Environmental Health Sciences and Education Projects (2/2004-12/2005) and the Interim Executive Director (10/2004-6/2005). In addition, he was the main technical and administrative advisor to the eight asthma coalitions in the Central California region and an interdisciplinary health policy research fellow with Fresno State University (2-12/2005).
- Assistant Professor and founding faculty member of a newly accredited MPH program at the Institute of Public Health at Georgia State University (GSU) in Atlanta, GA. At GSU, he was also affiliated faculty with two programs (Non-profit Studies, Environmental Policy Studies) at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies.
- Attended and completed American Lung Association Asthma Educator Institute, 6/2007.