State Environmental Health Group Honors Wayne LaMorte.

Wayne LaMorte, a professor of epidemiology at BUSPH, has won the 2014 Innovation Award from the Massachusetts Environmental Health Association.

LaMorte was honored for his role in helping design online instructional modules used by the state’s public health workers through the Local Public Health Institute (LPHI). The LPHI is a collaborative project administered at BUSPH that designs and implements a full slate of training for local public health professionals to help them prepare for and respond to health issues and emergencies.

Since BUSPH began oversight of the LPHI several years ago, “the training has been taken to another level,” wrote Jim White, director of the Natick Health Department and past president and a member of the nominations committee for the Massachusetts Environmental Health Association.

The online modules, White said, “are not only a tremendous tool but add a level of convenience to the training material being offered that we never envisioned.”

LaMorte credited the work of the LHPI team at BUSPH for the positive reception of the online modules, including Kathleen Macvarish, a clinical assistant professor of environmental health; Jennifer Tsoi, a senior program manager in the SPH Practice Office; Rob Schadt and Liam Hunt of the SPH Office of Teaching, Learning and Technology; and Sharon Ravid of the SPH Program Office.

The Innovation Award was established in 2008 to honor George Smith, a long time member and supporter of environmental health in Massachusetts who served as Sanitarian and Health Officer/Director in various communities within the state. Smith was the first to implement several policies that are now common practices in Massachusetts, such as household hazardous material collection, asbestos removal permitting, and tobacco control by-laws.

Wendy Heiger-Bernays, an associate professor of environmental health at BUSPH, won the Innovation Award in 2012.

In 2013, online LPHI training modules were honored for excellence in public health by the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO).