History

The Division was founded in 1980 as part of the establishment of the multi-campus Northern California Center for Occupational and Environmental Health (UC Berkeley-UC Davis-UCSF), a unit that was mandated by the state legislature to provide training, research, and clinical service.

In 1992, Dr. Paul D. Blanc and Dr. John R. Balmes assumed the positions of Division Chiefs at Parnassus-Mt Zion and SFGH, respectively. In 2002, Dr. Balmes was additionally appointed to the faculty in the School of Public Health at UC Berkeley School of Public Health in its Division of Environmental Health Sciences and as Director of the multi-UC Campus Center for Occupational and Environmental Health (COEH). In January 2015, Dr. Blanc became Chief of an integrated three-campus Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine that includes a new academic Division at the UCSF-affiliated San Francisco Veterans Affairs Health Care System (VAHCS) as well as the existing Parnassus-Mt Zion and SFGH units. Dr. Balmes assumed directorship of the joint UCSF-Berkeley Joint Medical Program (JMP) in addition to his roles at SFGH, UC Berkeley, and COEH. In late 2020, Dr. Balmes stepped down from the JMP and formally transitioned to Emeritus status, remaining Director of COEH. In 2019, Dr. Carisa Harris-Adamson, Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of OEM, assumed the role of Deputy Director of COEH.

In addition to internationally recognized research programs in occupational and environmental lung diseases at both the Parnassus-Mt. Zion and SFGH campuses under the leadership of Drs. Blanc and Balmes, an internationally recognized program in ergonomics research that was established by Dr. David Rempel and subsequently led by Dr. Harris-Adamson is based at the Richmond Field Station campus of UC Berkeley. The Division has long been the site of a Health Research Services Administration and CDC/National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)- funded training program, the UCSF OEM Residency. These training grants were successfully renewed in 2018 and 2020, respectively. This ACGME-accredited residency, governed by the American Board of Preventive Medicine, is one of the largest in the United States. Division physicians provide clinical care at the UCSF Medical Center, SFGH, and the VAMC campuses, as well as medical direction for Occupational Health Services for employees at all three sites. The Division has been central in UCSF’s employee health response to COVID-19.  Members of the Division faculty are prominent in a variety of scholarly endeavors. In 2020, long-time faculty member Dr. Robert Harrison co-edited the latest (6th) edition of Occupational & Environmental Medicine (Current Diagnosis and Treatment), a textbook originally edited by the Division’s Emeritus Professor, Dr. Joseph LaDou. OECM faculty members also play leading roles in various public health policy activities at the state, national, and international levels.

Selected Dates in Occupational, Environmental, and Climate Medicine History