N.C. Agromedicine Institute receives $824,499 grant

The North Carolina Agromedicine Institute, headquartered at East Carolina University, received an $824,499 federal grant this month to continue is goal of promoting the health and safety of the region's agricultural, forestry and fisheries workers and their communities.

"The money is to be used to support research projects to ensure the health and safety of agricultural, forestry and fisheries workers, and to operate the center," John Sabella, associate director for the North Carolina Agromedicine Institute, said.

East Carolina University, North Carolina A&T State University and North Carolina State University teamed up in 1999 to create the North Carolina Agromedicine Institute. In the fall of 2001, the institute received a five-year, $3 million federal grant from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to establish one of 10 federal agromedicine centers, called the Southern Coastal Center for Agromedicine. The $824,499 award is part of the $3 million grant.

Noting that the NC Agromedicine Institute must renew their grant request each year, Sabella said he was pleased that the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health provided the center with another year of funding.

"Not only are we able to provide the center with the ability to support important research, it is an indicator of our success in being able to do that successfully as well," Sabella said.

The center provides funding for research projects that assess the health and safety conditions of agricultural, forestry and fisheries workers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida, along with Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

Research projects supported by this funding include: researching the causes and effects of heat stroke on migrant farm workers; introducing new ways to evaluate the risks pesticides pose to humans; discovering strategies to reduce skin cancers and diseases among fishermen; and training emergency crews to respond to logging accidents in heavily forested areas.

Editor's note: Local angle - Researchers funded by the agromedicine grant are now conducting interviews with migrant farm workers in Pitt County through September. Please contact John Sabella at 252-744-1005 for more information.

###

---

East Carolina University News Bureau 1001 East Fifth Street Greenville, North Carolina 27858 252.328.6481 | 252.328.6300 fax

Contact Us