CREHM

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CREHM

About CREHM

Mission

CREHM’s mission is to reduce the risk of environmental health threats and improve the quality of life in minority and low-income communities in Chicago by educating community members and health care providers about the health effects of maternal exposure to environmental toxicants. We are also committed to conducting research in the area of reproductive environmental health.

CREHM’s primary goals are:

  1. To establish a clearinghouse of information and literature on environmental health issues and concerns in minority communities for families, professionals, legislators, and educators.
  2. To conduct environmental and biologic research aimed at identifying and quantifying environmental reproductive risk in minority communities of the Midwest.
  3. To create, support and amplify evidence-based public policy concerning the effects of environmental toxicants on minority communities using the data and findings of the Consortium members.
  4. To provide specialty consultation, specifically targeting health practitioners in minority communities.
  5. Provide training and other resources for medical students, physicians in training, family physicians, pediatricians, and obstetrician-gynecologists, and nursing and allied health professionals regarding environmental reproductive risks in minority populations.
History

There is growing concern about the effects of environmental toxicants on the health of women in the reproductive age groups and their offspring. Of particular concern are women and infants that live in predominantly minority communities where populations often have limited geographic and financial access to health services and other resources. To address these reproductive health concerns, in 2004, the Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, the Departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Pediatrics at Stroger Hospital of Cook County, in conjunction with Great Lakes Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit (PEHSU) at Cook County, The Great Lakes Center for Occupational and Environmental Safety and Health and The Maternal and Child Health Graduate Training Program at the University of Illinois School of Public Health (UIC) and the Hektoen Institute proposed the establishment of the “ Consortium for Reproductive Environmental Health in Minority Communities.” This organization will serve as the hub of regional perinatal and other reproductive environmental health programs for the Westside Medical Center of Chicago, Illinois and the entire Midwest region.

 

Staff Information

Director of CREHM:

  • Susan Buchanan, MD, MPH is Clinical Assistant Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences at UIC School of Public Health, and Associate Director of the Great Lakes Center for Children's Environmental Health. She is also a Departmental Affiliate of the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) Department of Family Medicine.

Co-Director of CREHM and Urban Medicine:

  • Gary Loy, MD, MPH is Professor of Clinical Obstetrics and Gynecology, UIC Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine and Curriculum Consultant to the UIC Urban Medicine program

CREHM Staff:

  • Vanessa Assibey-Mensah, MPH
    Research Associate/Program Assistant
  • Jackee Wuellner, MPH, RN
    Urban Medicine Curriculum Coordinator

CREHM Advisory Members:

  • Daniel Hryhorczuk, MD, MPH
    Great Lakes Center for Occupational and Environmental Health
  • Myrtis Sullivan, MD, MPH
    State of Illinois Department of Human Services
  • Peter Orris, MD, MPH
    UIC Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
CREHM Stakeholders