Occupational and Environmental Medicine
Faculty and Staff
Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
Get in Touch
Grace Dickey, MPH
Program Coordinator
[email protected]
903-877-1418
Dalia Nessim, MD, MPH, FACOEM
Interim Department Chair
Occupational and Environmental Medicine
Amber Baker, BSN, RN, COHN-S
Nurse Manager, Occupational Health Clinic
Occupational Health Clinic
Cynthia Ball, DO,MS, FACOEM
Associate Professor
Occupational and Environmental Medicine
Cynthia Ball, DO, MS, FACOEM is a board-certified occupational medicine physician, who is an Associate Professor of Medicine and Chair of the Department of Occupational and Environmental Health Sciences at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler. Her focus has been on occupational injury management with attention paid to identifying and addressing barriers to worker recovery and return to work. She is interested in occupational health and safety, lifestyle change, musculoskeletal issues and occupational injury case management.
Prior to pursuing medicine, Dr. Ball worked as a Materials Engineer for Bell Helicopter and then spent five years in rural Japan as an ESL teacher and then as a strength coach and did a tour of duty with the Navy as a general medical officer.
Education and Training:
University of Kansas
BS, Biochemistry, 1985
Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine in Fort Worth
DO, 1998
Stephen F. Austin State University
MS, Environmental Science, 2003
Vanessa Casanova, PhD
Professor of Occ Health Sciences
Occupational and Environmental Medicine
Dr. Casanova earned a BA in International Studies from the University of Alabama, MS in Rural Sociology and PhD in Forestry from Auburn University with postgraduate training in the fields of labor studies and public health. She joined the faculty of the University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler in 2013 and devotes her time to teaching, research, and service for the School of Community and Rural Health (Department of Occupational and Environmental Health Sciences).
Dr. Casanova is the director of the NIOSH-funded Southwest Center for Agricultural Health, Injury Prevention and Education. She previously served as the Applied Research Manager. Her research focuses on health and safety outcomes in forestry/logging workers. The SW Ag Center has an established record of conducting comprehensive research that addresses the needs of workers in agriculture, commercial fishing, and forestry across Public Health Region 6.
She also serves as research mentor to junior faculty, residents, and students new to the field of agricultural occupational safety and health.
Grace Dickey, MPH
Program Coordinator
Occupational and Environmental Medicine
Gregory LaMay
Program Coordinator
Occupational and Environmental Medicine
Shaadi Khademi, MD, MS, FACOEM
Associate Professor
Occupational and Environmental Medicine
Dr. Shaadi Khademi specializes in occupational and environmental medicine. She joined the faculty at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler in July 2017 as an assistant professor after completing her training in the Occupational Medicine Residency Program where she served as the chief resident. Dr. Khademi has a background in internal medicine and clinical research in dermatology.
Her interests include occupational skin diseases, preventive medicine, and patient education. She is fluent in Spanish and Persian. Dr. Khademi enjoys resident teaching and is committed to protecting the health of employees and their work environments.
Education & Training
Stephen F. Austin State University,
MS, Environmental Science, 2017
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio,
MD, 2012
The University of Texas-Pan American,
BS, Biology, 2008
Shelbie Lambert, MPH
Outreach Education Coordinator
Occupational and Environmental Medicine
Shelbie Lambert is the Content Strategist for the NIOSH-funded Southwest Center for Agricultural Health, Injury Prevention and Education based at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler. She began with SW Ag Center as a Graduate Assistant before moving into a full-time role as the Outreach and Education Coordinator in 2020. She was promoted to Content Strategist in 2022.
In her content strategy role, she delivers presentations and creates educational resources for agricultural, commercial fishing and forestry workers across Public Health Region 6. She is also engaged in creating and disseminating products and communications for the center including newsletters, safety articles, press-releases, social media, webpage design and updates. She is responsible for maintaining consistent content that promotes the mission and vision of the SW Ag Center.
Mrs. Lambert holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from The University of Texas at Tyler and a master’s degree in public health from The University of Texas at Tyler Health Science Center.
Sarah Lang, MHA
Residency & Education Program Manager - GME
Occupational and Environmental Medicine
Sarah Lang joined The University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler in December 2016. In her role as Residency and Education Program Manager, she manages all activities related to recruitment, accreditation and program requirements for the Occupational Medicine Residency and the General Preventive Medicine Residency within Graduate Medical Education. She is also responsible for recruitment, advising, and coordination of program needs for the Master of Public Health and Public Health Certificate in the School of Community and Rural Health.
Education:
Texas A&M University
Bachelor of Science, 2014
Texas A&M University
Master of Health Administration, 2016
Jeffrey Levin, MD, MSPH, DrPH, FACOEM, FACP
Director for Population Health and System Science
Occupational and Environmental Medicine
JEFFREY L. LEVIN, MD, MSPH, DrPH, FACOEM, FACP is Professor, Department of Occupational and Environmental Health Sciences at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler. He is a graduate of the UT Medical School at San Antonio. He completed his internal medicine training at the University of Missouri and postgraduate training in occupational medicine at the University of Kentucky. He is board certified in both internal medicine and occupational medicine.
He serves on the Board of Directors for the American Board of Preventive Medicine. He is past-President of the Texas Occupational Medical Association. He holds the Jesse H. Jones Distinguished Professorship of Occupational Health Sciences and the Houston Endowment Inc. Professorship in Environmental Science. He has been Center Director for the NIOSH Southwest Center for Agricultural Health, Injury Prevention, and Education since 2002. He is the 2013 and 2018 recipient of the Marcus Key Award from the Texas College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.
Dr. Levin is Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost. He has been Dean of the School of Community Health and Health Professions as well as Center Director for the UT Health Northeast Center for Rural Community Health. He is Medical Director of the Texas Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (TIOSH®). He is past-Chair of the Texas Medical Association Council on Science and Public Health, Responsible Official for the Public Health Laboratory of East Texas, and Local Health Authority for Smith County. As a native Texan having spent many formative years along the U.S.-Mexico border and in Central Mexico, he is fluent in Spanish.
Education & Training
Texas A&M University DrPH, Public Health, Epidemiology and Environmental Health, 2018
University of Kentucky, Residency, Occupational Medicine, 1988
University of Kentucky MSPH, Public Health, 1988
University of Missouri Residency, Internal Medicine, 1986
University of Texas Medical School at San Antonio MD, Medicine, 1983
Austin College BA, Biology, 1979
Courses Taught
Occupational and Environmental Health Sciences in MPH Program Occupational Medicine Residency
Research Interests
Occupational respiratory diseases Occupational health in agriculture and commercial fishing, with particular attention to vulnerable populations
Publication Highlights
Levin J, Rouk A, Shepherd S, Hurst G, McLarty, J. Tyler asbestos workers: A mortality update in a cohort exposed to amosite. Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part B Critical Reviews. 19(5-6): 190-200. Published online: October 5, 2016. PubMed PMID: 27705550.
Levin J, Rountree P: Core curriculum for practicing physicians related to asbestos in Dodson R, Hammar S, (eds): Asbestos: Risk Assessment, Epidemiology, and Health Effects, 2nd ed. Boca Raton, Florida: Taylor & Francis Group, 2011, pp. 593-616.
Levin J, Gilmore K, Wickman A, Shepherd S, Shipp E, Nonnenmann M, Carruth A. Workplace safety interventions for commercial fishermen of the Gulf. Journal of Agromedicine. 22(2): 178-189, 2016. PubMed PMID: 26788841.
Levin J, Bowling J, Wickman A, Harris M. A brief report describing the union of medical training and agricultural health. Journal of Agromedicine. 21(1): 123-126, 2016. PubMed PMID: 26479683.
Levin J, Curry W, Shepherd S, Nalbone J, Nonnenmann M. Hearing loss and noise exposure among commercial fishermen in the gulf coast. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. 58(3): 306-313, 2016. PubMed PMID: 26949882.
Levin JL, Philips BU. 2018. Improving health in hard-to-reach communities. Texas Medicine. See https://www.texmed.org/Template.aspx?id=46490
Larry Lowry, PhD
Professor Emeritus
Occupational and Environmental Medicine
Dr. Lowry earned a BS in Chemistry at San Jose State University and a PhD in Comparative Biochemistry from the University of California at Davis. Following a 3-year tour in the US Army doing nutrition research, Larry did applied research in human exposure assessment as a commissioned officer in The US Public Health Service (USPHS) at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in Cincinnati. Larry was a founding member of the Biological Exposure Indices Committee (BEI) of the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) and is now the chair of this international committee of experts. Following retirement from the UPSHS he did contract research for EPA and ATSDR at Midwest Research Institute, Kansas City, MO. In 1996, Larry came to The University of Texas Health Science Center to lead a collaborative environmental science master’s degree program with Stephen F. Austin State University. Larry retired from this institution in 2008 but continues to teach part time in the new School of Community and Rural Health. In 2017, Larry received the Regents Outstanding Teaching Award from the University of Texas System and the William D. Wagner Award from ACGIH for “National and international commitment and dedication to the creation and dissemination of occupational exposure values
Education & Training
Ohio State University
Postgraduate, Clinical Chemistry, 1974
University of California at Davis
PhD, Comparative Biochemistry, 1968
San Jose State University
BS Chemistry, 1961
Courses Taught
OEHS 5300 - Survey of Environmental Toxicology
OEHS 6340 - Advanced Advanced Occupational and Environmental Health
OEHS 6324 - Toxicology and Global Health
Research Interest
Environmental and occupational exposure assessment
Pediatric environmental health
Current environmental health events
Publication Highlights
Lowry, L. K. and A. L. Frank. "Exporting DBCP and other Banned Pesticides: Consideration of Ethical Issues." International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, 5, 135-141 (1999).
Lowry, L. K., P. R. Rountree, J. L. Levin, S. Collins, and W. K. Anger. "The Texarkana Mercury Incident," Texas Medicine, 95 (October), 65-70 (1999).
Cherry, D., L. Lowry, L. Velez, C. Cotrell, D. C. Keyes. "Elemental Mercury Poisoning in a Family of Seven" Family and Community Health, 24(4):1-8, 2002.
Lowry, L. K., D. C. Cherry, C. F. “Tim” Brady, B Huggins, A. D’sa. “An Unexplained Case of Elevated Blood Lead in a Hispanic Child. Environmental Health Perspectives, 112 (2): 222-225, 2004
Dhillon, AS, Tarbutton, GL, Levin, JL, Plotkin, GM, Lowry, LK, Nalbone, JT, Shepherd, S. “Pesticide/environmental Exposures and Parkinson’s Disease in East Texas. J. Agromedicine 13 (1): 37-48, 2008
Lowry, L.K. “How to Promote the Use of Biological Monitoring” Toxicology Letters 231:289-290, 2014.
Nickie Warren
Program Manager
Occupational and Environmental Medicine