For the past five years, the “UCLA-Mexico Collaborative Training and Research Program” has developed training and research projects related to environmental and occupational health (EOH) in Mexico. The major goal of the Program has been to train scientists to deal effectively with EOH issues through environmental monitoring and research in epidemiology, toxicology, medicine, environmental chemistry, occupational hygiene/exposure assessment and ergonomics. UCLA’s approach to its efforts under this Program focuses on four pathways: (1) Conducting high level collaborative scientific research with faculty and trainees at Mexico’s advanced institutions; (2) Providing training and collaborative research opportunities to faculty/students at Mexican institutions with less developed programs; (3) Providing EOH training to the professional community throughout Mexico; and (4) Developing short courses on special topics that provide means for greater research collaboration and skill building. Our activities have resulted in the training of hundreds of Mexican students, professionals and government officials, and the development of important research projects. Our collaborative research has emphasized investigations of important Mexican EOH problems including air pollution, arsenic in drinking water, water quality and ergonomics issues in maquiladoras. A key ingredient to the success of the program results from our leveraging our FIC resources to attain working partners and additional funding for our projects. We have worked with other Fogarty Centers on collaborative efforts and begun outreach to other Latin American countries. The session will include a review of our UCLA-Fogarty projects and how we have been able to develop and maximize the impact of these partnerships.
Learning Objectives: At the end of this session participants will be able to describe international research training efforts underway at the University of California at Los Angeles and discuss issues related to the sustainability of these efforts
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.