Overview

The purposes of the Region IX Southern California Education and Research Center are to:

Educate professionals in the various disciplines of occupational health and safety
Provide continuing education for professionals and others in occupational safety and health fields
Expand occupational health and safety activity through outreach to regional institutions and organizations
Foster research on issues important to occupational health and safety
Be an occupational health and safety resource to organizations and agencies that need our expertise
Facilitate assemblence of community resources to address and solve occupational health and safety problems
Respond through educational programs and research to the changing range of occupational safety and health problems
Educate non-academic stakeholders including business, labor, and vulnerable worker populations

The mission of the Southern California Education and Research Center (SCERC) is to contribute to the safety, health, and wellness of the workforce in Region IX and the nation. Our mission is accomplished by researching critical problems in occupational safety and health; disseminating research to promote workers’ health, safety, and well-being; and educating occupational safety and health professionals and researchers who, through their professional and scholarly practice, positively improve workplaces by creating more inclusive, equitable, and effective work practices.

The SCERC comprises of four graduate academic programs (Industrial Hygiene, Occupational and Environmental Health Nursing, Occupational Medicine, Occupational Epidemiology), two research training programs (Pilot Project Research Training and Targeted Research Training), a Continuing Education Program, Outreach Program, and Planning and Evaluation Core.

The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) provides master’s (MPH, MS, MSN) and doctoral training (PhD) in Industrial Hygiene and Occupational and Environmental Health Nursing, doctoral (PhD) training in Occupational Epidemiology, doctoral (PhD) and post-doctoral training through the Targeted Research Training Program. The University of California, Irvine (UCI) provides residency training in Occupational Medicine, doctoral (PhD) training in Occupational Epidemiology, doctoral (PhD) and post-doctoral training through the Targeted Research Training Program.

The Continuing Education Program provides education for occupational safety and health and allied professionals to addresses current needs and emerging issues. Continuing education courses are approved for accreditation appropriate to each discipline. The Outreach Program focuses on building pipelines into occupational safety and health professions, translating and disseminating research findings to professionals, workers and communities.

The Pilot Project Program provides support to graduate students, junior faculty, and new faculty investigators to engage in research to practice projects related to occupational safety and health. The Planning and Evaluation core ensures that the SCERC’s multicampus and interdisciplinary activities are guided by values of diversity, equity, and inclusion; collaboration and partnership; and scientific rigor. By centering these values, the Center is able to train the next generation of occupational safety and health professionals and researchers to engage in professional practice and scholarship that makes a difference for workers and communities.

The SCERC operates in concert with the UCLA and UC Irvine Centers for Occupational and Environmental Health (COEH), state-supported centers that provide for faculty positions, student support and outreach related to occupational and environmental health.