Fifteen years of occupational and environmental health projects support in Brazil, Chile, and Mexico: A report from Mount Sinai School of Medicine ITREOH program, 1995-2010.

Background The Fogarty International Center of the National Institutes of Health created the International Training and Research Program in Occupational and Environmental Health (ITREOH program) in 1995 with the aim to train environmental and occupational health scientists in developing countries. Mount Sinai School of Medicine was a grantee of this program since its inception, partnering with research institutions in Brazil, Chile, and Mexico. This article evaluates Mount Sinai's program in order to determine whether it has contributed to the specific research capacity needs of the international partners. Methods Information was obtained from: (a) international and regional scientific literature databases; (b) databases from the three participating countries; and (c) MSSM ITREOH Program Database. Results Most of the research projects supported by the program were consistent with the themes found to be top priorities for the partner countries based on mortality/morbidity and research themes in the literature. Indirect effects of the training and the subsequent research projects completed by the trained fellows in the program included health policy changes and development of collaborative international projects. Conclusion International research training programs, such as the MSSM ITREOH, that strengthen scientific research capacity in occupational and environmental health in Latin America can make a significant impact on the most pressing health issues in the partner countries. Am. J. Ind. Med. 56:29-37, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]