The Interdisciplinary Training, Education and Research Activities for Assessing and Controlling Contaminants from Emerging Technologies (InTERACCT) Program

PROJECT SUMMARY
To ensure that emerging technologies grow without causing illness or injury to workers and the
public, a professional workforce must be prepared with the ability to anticipate, recognize, evaluate,
and control exposures to hazardous materials in emerging technology workplaces. Therefore, the
University of Minnesota, the University of Iowa, and University of Utah have formed the
Interdisciplinary Training, Education and Research Activities for Assessing And Controlling
Contaminants From Emerging Technologies (INTERACCT) Program. The objectives of the
INTERACCT Program for this funding period are (i) to develop a comprehensive web-based
curriculum on occupational hygiene, with emphasis on applications to worker health and safety in
emerging technologies. To accomplish this objective, we will develop three online core courses for
education and training in chemical hazard recognition, exposure assessment, and risk assessment.
In the cores, we will demonstrate concepts with examples and illustrations drawn from the following
emerging technologies: nanotechnology, additive manufacturing and novel drug delivery. Each
core in the curriculum will be comprised of 10-15 web-based modules; each module, in turn, will
include a carefully-constructed set of short narrated screencasts, animations, exercises, and
activities. (ii) to build research in industrial hygiene skills. To accomplish this objective, we will
provide interdisciplinary research experience opportunities to graduate students. (iii) To produce
graduates with high levels of technical, scientific and proessional competency. To accomplish this
objective, Instructors will use the curriculum to create academic and continuing education courses
that develop the skills of industrial hygiene students; students in other health, science, engineering,
and technology disciplines; and professionals who require continuing education on the health and
safety of emerging technologies. The program is innovative because it provides flexible, online
education materials that instructors can first use to train themselves, and then to train others, on
topics that fit the needs of their organizations. All materials will be freely available on the web,
ensuring that the INTERACCT Program has a regional, national, and global reach.

Grant Number: 5R25ES033035-05
NIH Institute/Center: NIH
Principal Investigator: Susan Arnold