Welcome to the COBE Website!

The Center for Occupational Biostatistics and Epidemiology (COBE) was formed in February 2008 by University of Pittsburgh, Graduate School of Public Health (GSPH) as a research center dedicated to occupational biostatistics and epidemiology. The mission of the COBE, based on an approach that is collaborative and multidisciplinary, is to build on the GSPH’s successful, long-standing history in developing and applying biostatistical methods to the study of workplace exposures and health outcomes.

Directed by Gary M. Marsh, Ph.D., Professor of Biostatistics at GSPH, research at the new Center for Occupational Biostatistics and Epidemiology (COBE) focuses on occupational studies to explore the long-term health effects of employment in occupations such as jet engine manufacturing and pharmaceutical production and to workplace exposures to agents including formaldehyde, tungsten carbide/cobalt, chloroprene and man-made mineral fibers. The COBE also investigates health outcomes in communities exposed to industrial pollutants or hazardous waste site materials.

The COBE resides within the Department of Biostatistics at the GSPH. Deputy Directors of the Center are Ada O. Youk, Ph.D. (biostatistics), and Jeanine M. Buchanich, Ph.D. (epidemiology), both faculty members in the Department of Biostatistics at GSPH. The COBE is supported by a diverse and talented support staff including two masters level biostatisticians (Mr. Michael Cunningham and Mr. Zb Bornemann), two masters level information/computer scientists (Mr. Michael Lann and Mr. Charles Alcorn), and six technical/clerical/administrative support staff including graduate student researchers and two professional interviewers.

More details about the background, goals, operational framework and the people associated with COBE can be found elsewhere on this site.

This COBE web site is very much in its beginning stages, so keep checking back for updates!