The private funding of public research. New directions in the administration of occupational and environmental health research.

Abstract

Dr. Cullen: The experience with the new research models, starting with the prototypic experience of the rubber industry studies of the 1970s and expanding to diverse sectors of American industry in the 1980s, has yielded some important lessons for the future. In closing this symposium I shall try to summarize these briefly. Certain strengths of the evolving process seem common to each of the models. Alone and collectively, the new research arrangements have quite apparently served to increase substantially the pool of funds available to the academic sector for the study of occupational health and safety problems. As a consequence, a larger pool of investigators has participated in the research process, greatly strengthening the future academic capability and experience of our fragilely supported teaching centers. Combined with the involvement of the academic centers in the review process, there has been an undeniable broadening and deepening of the nation's research output and long-term capability in occupational health. On the side of the private sector, the new relationships have led to marked progress in the knowledge base about health and safety problems, with a heavily directed focus on those of greatest relevance to the industries involved. The credibility of the knowledge acquired has been enhanced, an important achievement in a society in which perception of truth is often as important as the truth itself! Because of the requirements of the process for broad involvement by the organizations which undertake these activities, health and safety have achieved far greater visibility and attention by corporate and union leaders who may have previously had no involvement in issues of health and safety.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)