Karen B. Mulloy, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine associate professor, was recognized for a career advocating for the health and safety of workers in the U.S. and internationally.
Mulloy earned the Alice Hamilton Award from the Occupational Health and Safety Section of the American Public Health Association (APHA). Hamilton—considered the mother of occupational health—was known as a compassionate, service-oriented scientist and a leader in higher education. A pioneer in the field of toxicology, Hamilton studied occupational illnesses and the dangerous effects of industrial metals and chemical compounds on the human body.
“I am quite overwhelmed,” said Mulloy. “Dr. Alice Hamilton has been a great inspiration for my life. She worked tirelessly to improve the health and safety of workers, served as the first female faculty member at Harvard University and lived to be 101 years old!”
Mulloy teaches occupational and environmental health to Master of Public Health and first-year medical students, and family medicine and preventative medicine to residents. Her research interests include developing and evaluating environmental and occupational health science curricula, the establishment of occupational illness, toxic exposure and injury surveillance programs and health effects among nuclear weapons workers. Mulloy’s current research includes being a co-investigator on the grant “Local level air pollution exposure among agricultural workers.”
Mulloy will accept the award at APHA’s annual conference in November and said she is humbled her APHA colleagues nominated her for the award.