CONTRIBUTOR:
Thomas A. Arcury
AFFILIATION:
TITLE:
Professor and Vice Chair for Research
DEPARTMENT:
Department of Family and Community Medicine
INSTITUTION:
Wake Forest School of Medicine
BIOGRAPHY:
Thomas A. Arcury, PhD, is Professor and Vice Chair for Research, Department of Family and Community Medicine, and Director, Center for Worker Health at Wake Forest School of Medicine. He received his doctoral degree in anthropology from the University of Kentucky in 1983, and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill in 1996. Beginning with his dissertation research in 1980, Arcury has conducted research on issues surrounding rural and agricultural health. This research has included a study of the occupational health risk perceptions of African-American farmers. Since 1996, his research has focused on the occupational and environmental health of migrant and seasonal farmworkers. This research has examined pesticide exposure, green tobacco sickness, skin disease, housing conditions, child labor, mental health, reproductive health, and food security. He has also conducted research on the occupational health of poultry processing workers. He has developed health and safety educational programs for agricultural workers and health care providers, and worked to use the results of his research to develop occupational and environmental health policy.