Goldstein named interim director of Center of Healthy Environments & Communities

Pitt has named a former dean of the Graduate School of Public Health to head one of the… Pitt has named a former dean of the Graduate School of Public Health to head one of the University’s research centers, more than two weeks after the former director resigned.

Dr. Bernard Goldstein, professor of environmental and occupational health at Pitt’s Graduate School of Public Health, will begin immediately as the interim director of the University’s Center for Healthy Environments & Communities, according to a press release issued today.

“I’m very grateful for the opportunity to promote the goals of healthy community and living,” Goldstein said.

Goldstein, the former dean of GSPH, is an environmental toxicologist whose research interests have focused largely on the concept of biological markers in the field of risk assessment.

The 72-year-old Goldstein is replacing former director Conrad “Dan” Volz Jr., who said two and half weeks ago that he would resign from his position. The decision resulted from conflicts between Volz and the University regarding Pitt’s proper role in environmental advocacy and public health. Volz is an open critic of Marcellus Shale drilling.

Goldstein said that since Marcellus Shale drilling is an emerging environmental issue, the center would work to provide the most scientific information possible. He also wants emphasis to be placed on researching air and water pollution.

Goldstein has served as assistant administrator for research and development at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and was the founding director of Rutgers’ Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, a state university program that responded to environmental issues in New Jersey. He is an elected member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies.

The announcement came today in a statement from the Schools of Health Sciences, of which the Graduate School of Public Health is a part. GSPH Dean, Dr. Donald Burke, praised Goldstein’s achievements in the statement, and said that Goldstein would do great things with the center.

“As author of more than 150 peer-reviewed publications related to environmental medicine, Dr. Goldstein would ensure the Center for Healthy Environments and Communities will continue its mission of improving the health of Western Pennsylvania through community-based research,” Burke said in the statement.

Goldstein received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin and a medical degree from the New York University School of Medicine.

The search for a permanent director is still ongoing. Goldstein said that he anticipates holding the position for about six months to a year, and that a committee has not yet been formed to find the permanent director.