Mieke Koehoorn, a Professor in the School of Population and Public Health, was the speaker for the Institute for Work & Health’s annual Alf Nachemson Memorial Lecture. The lectureship is awarded to those who have made a substantial contribution to the field of occupational health related to the causes or management of musculoskeletal pain, the prevention of work-related injury, emerging challenges in the interface between work and health, and the role of evidence in policy-making. The lecture took place in Toronto, Ontario, on November 21, 2013.
Dr. Koehoorn discussed the impact of research on regulatory and compensation policy for worker health in British Columbia.
“I am honoured to deliver the Alf Nachemson Memorial Lecture this year at the request of the Institute for Work & Health. Dr. Nachemson made significant contributions to the use of research evidence in decision making, and this lecture provides an extraordinary opportunity to communicate the work of our SPPH research team to a large audience of stakeholders and decision-makers in the field of work and health,” said Koehoorn, co-lead for UBC’s for Partnership for Work, Health & Safety.
To view highlights from Dr. Koehoorn’s Alf Nachemson Lecture, visit the Centre for Health Evaluation & Outcome Sciences’ Storify channel.
Dr. Koehoorn specializes in current and emerging issues in occupational health, with a special interest in the surveillance of occupational injury and disease, the epidemiology of injury, and the evaluation of workers’ compensation policies. In February 2013, Dr. Koehoorn was named CIHR Chair in Gender, Work and Health. Her work focuses on gender and sex differences in workers’ compensation, work injury and illness rates, and work disability outcomes. She is also an adjunct scientist with Institute for Work & Health.
The Alf Nachemson Lecture was created by the Institute for Work & Health in 2002 to commemorate Dr. Nachemson’s extensive contributions to the use of research evidence in clinical decision-making. After his passing in 2006, it was renamed to the Alf Nachemson Memorial Lecture. Dr. Nachemson was a renowned orthopaedic surgeon, researcher, and founding member of the Institute for Work & Health’s Scientific Advisory Committee.