Southwest Center for Occupational and Environmental Health

Brett Perkison, MD, MPH

Brett Perkison, MD, MPH, obtained a B.S. in biology at Texas A&M University. He then obtained a medical degree at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. He completed residencies in Family Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine followed by a residency in Occupational and Environmental Medicine at the UTHealth School of Public Health in Houston. Dr. Perkison is board certified in both specialties and a Fellow in the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

Dr. Perkison’s current area of research interest is measuring the effectiveness of worksite health care innovations for employees in the areas of chronic disease management, disease education programs, targeted case management, and home intervention programs. Measured outcomes will include rates of absenteeism, presentism rates, safety incidences and occupational injuries\occupational illnesses. Safety and occupational injuries are more typically measured in order to assess the degrees of workplace safety for an organization. However research suggests that improving the general health of the workplace population will also greatly reduce injury rates. He also maintains a joint appointment at the University of Texas Houston Health Science Center in the Family Medicine department where he provides primary and occupational care. Dr. Perkison's research publications are available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/1pa0ucD38iwAs/bibliography/public/.

Faiyaz Bhojani, MD, DrPH, FACP, FACOEM

Dr. Faiyaz Bhojani, MD, DrPH, FACP, FACOEM, is a Professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health and holds an affiliation with the Southwest Center for Occupational and Environmental Health (SWCOEH) at the UTHealth Houston School of Public Health. Dr. Bhojani earned his Doctor of Public Health, Master of Public Health (MPH) and completed the Occupational & Environmental Health Residency at UTHealth Houston School of Public Health. Dr. Bhojani is an accomplished health executive and board member with expertise in leading transformative change and delivering results across global employee populations in the Energy, Chemicals, and Manufacturing sectors.

Arch "Chip" Carson, MD, PhD

Arch “Chip” Carson, MD, PhD is an adjunct professor in Occupational and Environmental Medicine at the Southwest Center for Occupational and Environmental Health at the UTHealth School of Public Health. He is a physician (The Ohio State University), board certified in Occupational Medicine (American Board of Preventive Medicine), who holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Toxicology (University of Cincinnati, Kettering Laboratory). He has served on the faculty of the University of Cincinnati and the New York University Medical Center and joined the faculty of the University of Texas School of Public Health in 1992 in its Environmental Sciences Discipline and Occupational and Environmental Health and Aerospace Medicine Module. Prior to his current role as Principal of Environmental Medicine Consultants, he was Associate Professor of Occupational Health, directed the Occupational and Environmental Medicine Residency Program and was a member of the research team of the Southwest Center for Occupational and Environmental Health, a NIOSH Education and Research Center, and WHO Collaborating Centre in Occupational Health at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. In his role as Medical Director for the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, he was responsible for the health monitoring and care of more than 15,000 employees. He maintains a clinical practice of occupational medicine and medical toxicology and is a frequent consultant to governments, corporations and the legal community on matters related to industrial chemical exposure, toxicology and environmental justice.

George Delclos, MD, MPH, PhD

George Delclos, MD, MPH, PhD, is Professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences at the UTHealth School of Public Health in Houston, Texas and Senior Researcher in the Center for Occupational Health Research at the Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, Spain. He obtained his medical degree from the University of Barcelona in 1981 and completed residency training in internal medicine and pulmonary diseases at the Baylor College of Medicine. He has an M.P.H. degree from the University of Texas School of Public Health, a Ph.D. in Health and Life Sciences from Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, and is board-certified in internal medicine, pulmonary diseases and occupational medicine. At UTSPH, he is past Principal Investigator of the Southwest Center of Occupational and Environmental Health (1997-2006), Director of the Division of Environmental and Occupational Health Science (2004-2008) and Director of the Occupational Medicine Residency Program (1993-1998, 2008-2020).

Dr. Delclos remains active in clinical practice, which he combines with teaching and research. In 2015 he received the University of Texas Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award and was inducted in 2016 into The University of Texas Kenneth I. Shine, MD Academy of Health Science Education. With over 200 peer-reviewed publications, his research presently focuses on 3 areas: a) occupational and environmental asthma, b) national surveys of working conditions and health, mainly conducted in emerging countries and c) determinants of sickness absence and disability at an international level. Dr. Delclos’ research is conducted mainly in Texas, Spain and Latin America (Colombia and Central America). Dr. Delclos' research publications are available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/1FWc9gTMiMm5l/bibliography/public/?sortby=pubDate&sdirection=ascending

Ben Hoffman, MD, MPH

Dr. Ben Hoffman MD, MPH is an adjunct professor in Occupational and Environmental Medicine at the Southwest Center for Occupational and Environmental Health at the UTHealth School of Public Health. Dr. Hoffman also is the Chief Medical Officer at WorkSTEPS. He is a highly-seasoned physician executive with an extensive background in occupational and environmental health, clinical medicine, and transportation safety. He has been employed by government agencies, non-profits and multinational corporations including GE, Baker Hughes, Waste Management, Anheuser-Busch and DuPont. Dr. Hoffman trained at Yale, Brown and Mt. Sinai School of Medicine and is board certified in internal medicine, preventive medicine and environmental/occupational health. He has published widely and holds Professorships (Adjunct) at the University of Texas School of Public Health and Tufts University Friedman School of Nutrition. He is active on numerous committees and boards including Global Health at the National Academy of Sciences/IOM, IPIECA/OGP and former Chair, US DOT/FMCSA Medical Review Board.

Blythe Mansfield, MD, MPH, MS, FACOEM

Blythe Mansfield, MD, MPH, MS, FACOEM, is an adjunct professor in Occupational and Environmental Medicine at the Southwest Center for Occupational and Environmental Health at the UTHealth School of Public Health. Dr. Mansfield is the Head of Health and Wellbeing at Unilever North America, providing clinical and public health expertise while strengthening the long-term vision and strategy for health and wellbeing. Dr. Mansfield’s experience includes Kelsey-Seybold (Medical Director, Occupational Medicine), Harris County Public Health, Memorial Hermann Employee Health and Dow Chemical Company. She obtained her medical degree from University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver and completed her residency in Occupational Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Mansfield is board certified in General Preventive Medicine & Public Health and Occupational Medicine. She has held positions as Medical Director in the Chemical/petrochemical industry and brings expertise in complex return to work issues, disability case management, and chemical exposures. Her interests include corporate medicine, environmental issues, and teaching in the field of Occupational Medicine.

Mirna Puesan, MD, MPH

Mirna Puesan, MD, MPH is an adjunct professor in Occupational and Environmental Medicine at the Southwest Center for Occupational and Environmental Health at the UTHealth School of Public Health. Dr. Puesan is the Head of Lifestyle Medicine Clinic, a multi-disciplinary practice specializing in internal medicine, occupational medicine and lifestyle medicine. She obtained her medical degree from the Universidad Tecnologica de Santiago (Dominican Republic) and completed residency training in internal medicine at Abington Memorial Hospital (Abbington, Penn.) and in occupational and environmental medicine at the University of Texas. Dr. Puesan has extensive experience in the chemical and petrochemical industry with expertise in chemical exposures, occupational hearing loss, offshore work and travel medicine. Board-certified in lifestyle medicine and a provider of the National Diabetes Prevention Program since 2016, she aims to advance evidence-based lifestyle intervention as the foundation of all health and health care. She enthusiastically extends this focus in disease prevention and health promotion beyond her practice to employers, corporations, health care, faith-based organizations and her community.