Sarah Felknor
Professor and Director, Southwest Center for Occupational and Environmental Health
Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences
713/500-9000
Reuel Stallones Building
1200 Pressler Street, Houston, TX 77030
About
Dr. Felknor returned to the UTHealth Houston School of Public Health in January 2024, as Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences (EOHS) and Director of the Southwest Center for Occupational and Environmental Health (SWCOEH). She has over 35 years of national and international experience in occupational safety and health (OSH) research, training, and service. Her international work earned her the NIH Director’s Award for excellence in global environmental and occupational research training. Prior to her return to the School of Public Health, she served for 12 years as a senior executive in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) where she directed the strategic alignment and integration of research portfolios across disciplines to reduce work-related hazards and risks and promote worker well-being through research to practice. Her recent work focuses on developing strategies and tools to anticipate the occupational health challenges in the future of work and explore an expanded focus for OSH through a futures-oriented approach to planning and action. Prior her work at CDC/NIOSH, Dr. Felknor served on the faculty of the UTHealth Houston School of Public Health for 24 years in EOHS and the SWCOEH where she was an active investigator on national and international OSH research and training, with a particular focus on developing and evaluating injury prevention programs in the healthcare and petrochemical industries in the US and Latin America.
Center Affiliation
Southwest Center for Occupational & Environmental Health
Research Interests
- Environmental and Occupational Health
- Health Equity
- Management and Health Policy
- Program Evaluation
- Social Determinants of Health