Michael J. Hodgson, M.D., M.P.H.
Michael J. Hodgson joined VHA as Director of the newly constituted Occupational Health Program (OHP) in November 1999. He attended medical school at the Universities of Wuerzburg, Heidelberg, and Frankfurt, where he obtained his MD degree in 1975. He obtained an MPH in epidemiology from the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health in 1985. Dr. Hodgson is board-certified in internal medicine (residency at DC General Hospital and the Washington DC VAMC) and in occupational medicine. He served as a commissioned officer (Public Health Service) in the Epidemic Intelligence Service, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (NIOSH/CDC), from 1981-1983. He directed the Occupational and Environmental Medicine Program in the Department of Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine (1986-1991); and established and directed a residency program in occupational medicine at the University of Connecticut (1991-1998). In 1998 and 1999, he served as a Senior Scientist in the Office of the Director, NIOSH/CDC.
Dr. Hodgson’s formal research interests have included metabolic bone disease in uremia and calcium homeostasis; the effects of organic solvents on the liver and brain; dose-response relationships in indoor environments; and the role of a broad range of low-level environmental exposures on chronic diseases of adults. He has been active in the engineering community on a variety of standard setting committees (ventilation, thermal comfort) and in policy development. This interest led to the most recent research topic of uncontrolled moisture, primarily in the built environment, on the development of a broad range of lung disorders. He has authored or co-authored more than 80 peer-reviewed publications, 40 abstracts, and 3 books.
He was Associate Director, Employee Health Services at the Universities of Pittsburgh and Connecticut. At the latter, he reorganized the unit, developed an Employee Assistance Program, and implemented a broad range of clinical and surveillance activities that led to the University of Connecticut's participation in the early CDC National Surveillance for Healthcare Workers project. He also served as Medical Consultant to the American Legion as that organization struggled with what has come to be called "Gulf War Veterans' illnesses" in the mid 1990s.
His work at VHA has focused broadly on improving the occupational health services and workers' compensation programs. Major national initiatives on violence prevention, bloodborne pathogens, patient transfer ergonomics, and health promotion/disease prevention in the work place have evolved under his guidance, and VHA now is viewed as a national leader in those areas. In recognition of that, the OHP was changed to the Occupational Health Strategic Health Care Group in 2007.
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