Mahidol-UMass Lowell Center for Work, Environment, Nutrition and Human Development (CWEND)
The goal of the Mahidol-University of Massachusetts (UMass) Lowell Center for Work, Environment, Nutrition and Human Development (CWEND) is to be the Southeast Asia GeoHealth Hub for research, training, and curriculum development in Occupational and Environmental Health.
By developing an interdisciplinary network of scientists and policy-makers we intend to address occupational and environmental health concerns in employment sectors that are key to the economies of all Southeast Asian countries: the informal sector, including agriculture, and the health care sector.
Our focus is to develop and expand our research portfolio to ensure the connection of research to policy development and research to public health practice.
About
The Mahidol/UMass Lowell Center for Work, Environment, Nutrition and Human Development (CWEND) was created to initiate research into human health and development, as it is impacted by the intersection of exposures or other factors in the environment, work, home and nutrition of populations in the developing world. Our particular focus is on Occupational and Environmental Health in Thailand and Southeast Asia and our center is in Bangkok Thailand.
Research
The research of the CWEND GeoHealth Hub has focused on occupational and environmental health issues faced in the informal work sector in Thailand, including agriculture, home-based work, craft work and street vendors. In addition, we have developed research into the occupational health issues faced by health care workers. In the future, we plan to expand our research to other Southeast Asian countries and to include other environmental health topics.
Training Program
Under our Fogarty International Institute GEOHealth Hub funding we have begun a Post-Doctoral and Doctoral training program where trainees work with a Thai and US mentors to develop and conduct an agricultural health research project and develop a strong collaborative research team. Trainees are funded to complete data collection, analysis and manuscript writing in collaboration with their US and Thai mentors
Resources
Our CWEND GeoHealth Hub Center is focused building capacity to provide research that aids in developing new policy initiatives in occupational and environmental health, as well as providing research to inform public health practices. We want to share our findings and our research tools as widely as possible.
News from CWEND
On February 6, 2019 We held our GEOHealth Neworking Meeting to discuss “Research Gaps and Future Directions for Occupational and Environmental Health Research on Pesticides”. That meeting was attended by 40 participants from NGO’s, Universities, hospitals, government ministries and NIH (NIEHS). It resulted in a publication describing the current state of research and policy gaps in the area of pesticides in Thailand:
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Laohaudomchok W, Nankongnab N, Siriruttanapruk S, , Klaimala P, Lianchamroon W, Ousap P, Jatiket M, Kajitvichyanukul P, Kitana N, Siriwong W, Hemachudha T, Satayavivad J, Robson M, Jaaks L, Barr DB, Kongtip P, Woskie S (2020) Pesticide use in Thailand: Current situation, health risks, and gaps in research and policy, Human and Ecological Risk Assessment: An International Journal, (2020) Published online Aug 27 DOI: 10.1080/10807039.2020.1808777 NIHMSID: 16258
News from CWEND
After years of debate and protests on October 22, 2019 Thailand's government Hazardous Substance Committee has decided to
ban three pesticides: the herbicides paraquat and glyphosate and the insecticide chlorpyrifos.
CWEND has received 5 years of funding from the Fogarty International Center of the U.S. National Institues of Health to continue to develop and expand our GEOHealth Hub for Occupational & Environmental Health in Southeast Asia. Our focus will be "Improving Agricultural Health in Southeast Asia". Our project will involve a research study (see under Research Tab ) as well as a post-doctoral training program (see under Training Tab).
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© 2014 by CWEND.