Department of Community and Preventive Medicine
Mount Sinai - Irving J. Selikoff Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine (COEM)A leader in its field, the COEM is internationally known as a Center of Excellence in the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of work-related illness and disease, as well as for its related occupational health research initiatives and patient care advocacy. Dedicated principally to the provision of state-of-the-art, multi-disciplinary occupational medicine services, both clinical and preventive, the COEM offers a wide range of specialty programs, including those focused on occupational lung disease, musculoskeletal disorders, construction industry hazards, chemical and other potentially toxic workplace exposures. Additional services and initiatives include education and outreach, industrial hygiene, ergonomics and social work, which are offered at several clinical locations in the New York-metropolitan area. The COEM's success is attributable in great part to a close working relationship with labor unions and health and safety leaders, employers, government and community agencies, maintained since its inception in the late 1980s. The COEM receives its core financial support through multi-year funding grants channeled through the New York State Department of Health. Manhattan Clinical Center Hudson Valley Clinical Center Queens Clinical Center The Center's three clinical facilities in the New York metropolitan area remain open to all individuals with known or potential work-related disease or hazardous exposure. No one is denied services because of inability to pay. In keeping with its public health service orientation, the Center's prevention-oriented occupational health services include confidential medical examinations for workers and retirees with actual or potential health consequences that may be related to their work; treatment for work-related diseases; social work services to help with the psychological and financial consequences of developing occupational illness; as well as ergonomic and industrial hygiene programs to help identify problems in the work environment and develop solutions to reduce exposures and risks for patients and their co-workers. Diseases frequently seen in the Center include occupational asthma, lead poisoning, asbestosis, carpal tunnel syndrome and other work-related musculoskeletal diseases, with patients hailing from across New York City, nearby New Jersey and Connecticut and the Hudson Valley Region. Center staff actively advocate for patients with occupational illness, including providing testimony in support of Workers' Compensation claims. In cooperation with unions, employers and benefit funds, the Center also offers screening and medical surveillance examinations for groups of workers with exposures to asbestos, lead, hazardous materials and other workplace hazards. Specialized clinical and preventive programs include: Clinical ServicesProgram to Treat and Prevent Ergonomic Musculoskeletal DisordersIndustrial HygieneThe COEM also conducts key research in the area of occupational and environmental health. Recent studies have focused on the effects of extended work schedules and other stress factors on the health of workers, the utility of serum biomarkers for the early detection of mesothelioma (an asbestos-caused cancer), the health effects of chronic exposure to lead and the effects of acupuncture treatment on the clinical course of carpal tunnel syndrome. Personnel
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