Study Personnel

The IAAAP Munitions Workers Study is being led by Laurence J. Fuortes, M.D., professor of occupational and environmental health, and co-principal investigator R. William Field, Ph.D., professor of occupational and environmental health and epidemiology.

Principal Investigators

Laurence J. Fuortes, M.D., professor of occupational and environmental health. He is an occupational medicine physician with more than 15 years of experience in designing and conducting occupational epidemiologic studies and surveillance programs. He has served as a coordinator of state and federal government surveillance and medical screening programs.

R. William Field, Ph.D., professor of occupational and environmental health and epidemiology. He has 15 years experience performing and leading complex, large-scale environmental epidemiologic studies. A major focus of his research has been developing novel methods to improve retrospective exposure assessment. He also directs the Occupational Epidemiology Training Program sponsored by the UI's Heartland Center for Occupational Health and Safety.

Co-Investigator Wayne Sanderson, Ph.D., CIH, associate professor of occupational and environmental health and epidemiology.  Dr. Sanderson will serve as the lead industrial hygienist on the project. In this study, he will help to construct the cohort for mortality follow-up, assist with analysis of mortality risks, and create the matrix of historical exposures that workers may have encountered at this plant.

Other study personnel

Wugen Dai, M.S., holds a degree in computer science and serves as a programmer/biostatistician.  Mr. Dai has broad experience in computer science/management information systems and applications development.  His experience includes programming with VB.6 and VB.NET, as well as designing data processing systems and databases, and database administration.  As part of the IAAAP Munitions Workers Study, Mr. Dai creates, reviews, analyzes, and modifies programming systems needed to support the project.

Stephanie Leonard, M.S., has 20 years of experience in conducting industrial hygiene evaluations and providing industrial hygiene support in research studies of occupational exposures. She works with Dr. Sanderson and supervises research assistants in order to compile work history and exposure data, convene focus groups regarding prior exposures, and compile the manual used to create an historical job exposure matrix. She coordinates and serves on the assessor panel that will rank IAAAP employee’s historical exposures for target contaminants. She also assists in risk communication activities.

Dan McMillan, B.A., provides leadership and coordination of risk communication activities, serves as the study’s primary point of contact for news media, and advises the study on the effective use of communications to further the aims and objectives of the study.

Marek Mikulski, MD, MPH, is an occupational physician with over seven years experience in working on occupational health and safety research projects. His duties include obtaining patient medical records and performing records reviews, assisting in the recruitment for BeLPT testing, consenting, blood drawing, communication and discussion of beryllium test results with participants. Dr. Mikulski will also assist in coordinating the medical screenings of positive BeLPTs and assist with reviewing IAAAP archived worker chest x-rays. He will oversee the design, implementation, security management, and reporting activities of the project medical databases. He will assist in performing reviews of relevant literature to help provide informational materials about the health-related effects of occupational exposure of interest. Dr. Mikulski will also assist in risk communication activities and participate in the preparation of final reports and manuscripts.

Phyllis Scheeler, LPN, has extensive experience in the practical nursing field as well as educational and administrative experience. In both clinical and occupational settings, she has managed the daily health care of occupational work forces, conducted administration and reporting of OSHA requirements, and approved new work procedures as they related to worker safety. As part of the IAAAP Munitions Workers Study, Ms. Scheeler is responsible for coordinating the beryllium testing, including procurement of facilities, scheduling, consenting participants, packaging and shipping of the samples, liaison with the labs, and tracking the results. She will also assist Mr. Mikulski with communication of results and medical data management.

Suzanne Sinift, MA, Project Coordinator, is responsible for coordinating all aspects of the project on a day-to-day basis, including maintaining regular contact with the Principal Investigators, Consultants, Industrial Hygienists, and coordinating computer and office staff.  Ms. Sinift is responsible for recruiting, scheduling, and coordinating the beryllium sensitization screening for current and former workers.  She is also responsible for assisting in contractual arrangements between the University and the various subcontractors and government data sources as well as maintaining approval for all Institutional Review Board (IRB)-related activities.    Ms. Sinift has many years of experience coordinating clinical studies.