Dr. Christine Branche joins the Job-Site Safety Institute Board of Directors
Jodi Vedelli
jvedelli@bmico.com
(919) 227-0295
RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA-The Job-Site Safety Institute (JSI) is excited to announce the addition of Christine M. Branche, Ph.D. to our Board of Directors. As the most recent addition to the Job-Site Safety Institute she brings her years of experience with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to provide a new perspective to the Job-Site Safety Institute.
Dr. Branche has conducted extensive research and program development in injury prevention including drowning, water recreation, fire-related injury prevention, falls among both construction workers and older adults, motor vehicle-related injury prevention, spinal cord injuries, and sports and recreation. Her years of experience with research regarding safety programs will be important to furthering the mission of JSI.
Dr. Branche’s passion for Epidemiology started when she earned her B.A. in biology from the University of Rochester in New York. She later received her M.S.P.H. and Ph.D. in Epidemiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Her career at the CDC began as an Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) Officer in the Division of Injury Epidemiology and Control. From 1996 to July 2007, she was the Director of the Division of Unintentional Injury Prevention (DUIP) in the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, and was responsible for managing mission of DUIP.
After joining NIOSH in 2007, Dr. Branche first served as the delegated federal official for the White House-appointed Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health. From July 2008 through August 2009, she was the Acting Director of NIOSH. She was the Director of NIOSH’s Office of Construction Safety and Health from its inception in December 2009 through her retirement earlier this year in 2020.
J. Gary Hill, Executive Director of the Job-Site Safety Institute is excited to welcome Dr. Branche to the team, he says, “Dr. Branche’s years of expertise will bring new insights to the ever evolving world of safety research. We are grateful to have a new perspective join the team.”
President and a founding member of JSI, Mike Gerber said, “Not only will Dr. Branche bring her years of work in safety to our team, but she will be instrumental in fostering ideas to encourage more research and further our work to reach a broader audience. We are excited to learn from her.”
Dr. Branche’s lifetime work has been dedicated to helping others and finding ways to lower injuries in every field of work. Her effort within the construction industry and her vast knowledge of injury prevention will be imperative to help reduce the number of job-site injuries and fatalities. We are thrilled to have her join the Job-Site Safety Institute Board of Directors.
Founded by Builders Mutual, the Job-Site Safety Institute (JSI) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. This research and educational organization is dedicated to eliminating all job-site related injuries and deaths in the construction industry. Research by JSI will play a critical role in improving on-the-job safety and saving lives. www.jssafety.org