UAB-South Asia International Training and Research in Environmental and Occupational Health (ITREOH)

The UAB-South Asia International Training and Research in Environmental and Occupational Health (ITREOH) is a collaborative research training effort with the Aga Khan University (AKU) in Karachi, Pakistan, the Manipal University (MU) in Manipal, India, and the University of Kelaniya (UK) in Colombo, Sri Lanka. This program focuses on etiologic and intervention research, as applied to the mitigation of environmental and occupational health (EOH) hazards in the South Asia region. Limited technical expertise and the lack of university-based training programs specifically designed to address EOH issues are barriers to broadening the scope of EOH research.

This program, initiated in 2001 as a UAB-AKU partnership, has resulted in the establishment of a core group of researchers/trainers, pilot research in the areas of heavy metals, air pollution (outdoor and indoor) and pesticides, a formal EOH certificate program at AKU, and the expansion of regional collaborations with other countries, including India and Sri Lanka.

Partnership with the Sparkman Center for Global Health was formalized in 2006, upon renewal of the ITREOH project by the NIH/Fogarty International Center. The collaboration with the Sparkman Center has enabled the ITREOH program to expand its network of partnering institutions and trainees in South Asia and to lay the foundation for a strong MPH curriculum at its partnering institutions in Sri Lanka and India and an Environmental and Occupational Health curriculum in Pakistan. The Sparkman Center also supports several trainee pilot projects in the following areas: Indoor and Outdoor Air Pollution; Pesticides; Heavy Metals; and Climate Change (time series analysis and knowledge, attitudes and practices).

Major highlights of the current initiative include:

  • expanding pilot projects to major research projects
  • broadening research focus to include intervention research
  • encouraging new pilot research initiatives
  • development of an EOH graduate degree program at AKU and Epidemiology/EOH graduate programs at MU and UK

Our major partners in these research and training efforts are the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Aerospace and Space Administration (NASA). This project is lead at UAB by Dr. Nalini Sathiakumar, Associate Director for Asian Programs for the Sparkman Center for Global Health.