The 2014 NORA Symposium was held Thursday, May 1, 2014 at Cowles Auditorium, Humphrey School of Public Affairs, at the University of Minnesota. The featured speakers were Marc Schenker, MD, MPH and Xóchitl Castañeda.

The topic of the symposium was “Occupational Health of Immigrant Workers: Reducing the Disparities”. The presentation focused on demographics and causes of global migration, the relationship of migration to work, the lack of immigrant health visibility and research and the causes and evidence for disparities in occupational health outcomes for immigrant workers, including increased workplace injury and illness compared to native workers. In addition , the cultural and personal impacts of these disparities was addressed, as well as suggestions on how and why to reduce the disparities in occupational health outcomes.

Dr. Marc Schenker is Distinguished Professor of Public Health Sciences and Medicine, and Associate Vice Provost for Outreach and Engagement at the University of California, Davis. He is Director of the Davis Center for Occupational and Environmental Health, the Western Center for Agricultural Health and Safety and the Migration and Health Research Center. Dr. Schenker’s research has addressed health hazards in the agricultural environment, semiconductor industry and other workplaces.

Xóchitl Castañeda has been the Director of Health Initiative of the Americas, at the School of Public Health, University of California Berkeley, since 2001. A medical anthropologist by training, Xóchitl was educated in Guatemala and Mexico. She was a Professor of Public Health Sciences and a P.I. Researcher at Mexico’s National Institute of Public Health. In 2010, the California Latino Legislative Caucus awarded her with the National Spirit Award for her leadership in initiatives to improve the quality of life of Latino immigrants in the U.S.

The event also included a pre-symposium poster viewing, as well as introductions and brief presentations made by:

Sue Gerberich, Ph.D.
Professor, Division of Environmental Health Sciences and Director, Midwest Center for Occupational Health and Safety.

Bruce Alexander, Ph.D.
Professor and Interim Division Head, Division of Environmental Health Sciences

Beth Virnig, Ph.D.
Senior Associate Dean, Academic Affairs & Research, School of Public Health