Committees

• Awards Committee
• Economic Affairs Committee
• Education Committee
• Ethics Committee
• Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee (JEDI)
• Legislative Affairs Committee
• Membership Committee
• Newsletter Committee
• Nominating Committee
• Resident Scholarship Program Committee
• Website Committee
• WOHC Planning Committee

WOEMA Members - if you are interested in joining a Committee, please click here.

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Awards Committee

The Awards Committee is responsible for selecting the recipient from the WOEMA membership for the annual Jean Spencer Felton Award for Excellence in Scientific Writing. The Chair of the Awards Committee presents the award, a plaque, to the recipient at the annual Western Occupational Health Conference (WOHC). The Committee is also responsible for selecting the recipient from the WOEMA membership for the annual Rutherford T. Johnstone Memorial Lecture Award for outstanding service in occupational medicine. The Chair of the Awards Committee shall present the award, a plaque and an honorarium, to the recipient at the annual Western Occupational Health Conference (WOHC).

Awards Committee Chair
Dr. Bernyce Peplowski, DO, MS, FACOEM
Honolulu, HI

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Economic Affairs Committee

The Economic Affairs Committee is responsible for assessing the financial requirements and resources of WOEMA annually, making recommendations to the Western Occupational Health Conference chairperson as to the content of the annual conference program, making recommendations to the President and Board of Directors as to the additional educational needs of the membership, including recommendations with regard to conducting seminars other than the Western Occupational Health Conference to secure the financial viability of the organization and respond to changing economic situations regarding the practice of occupational medicine. The Committee Chair is responsible for conducting an annual financial audit at the WOEMA headquarters.

Economic Affairs Committee Chair
Sonya Meyers, MD, MPH
Kaiser San Jose Medical Center - San Jose, CA

Dr. Meyers graduated medical school and completed residency training in Occupational and Environmental Medicine at the University of Illinois Chicago College of Medicine.  In 2015, she joined The Permanente Medical Group where she practices clinical occupational medicine.   Dr. Meyers is Board Certified in Occupational Medicine through the American Board of Preventive Medicine.

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Education Committee

The Education Committee shall provide guidance and information to the President and Board of Directors with reference to the education of the members, the medical profession, and the public on all aspects of occupational health and medicine; shall make recommendations to the Western Occupational Health Conference chairperson as to the content of the annual conference program; and shall make recommendations to the President and Board of Directors as to the educational needs of the membership, including recommendations with regard to conducting educational activities other than the Western Occupational Health Conference. The Committee is charged with offering educational activities, primarily face-to-face meetings (conferences), consisting of a mix of educational methods chosen as most effective based on a review of the science behind health-care improvement. To maintain a continuing assessment of WOEMA’s efforts to address its educational mission, the Education Committee is charged with evaluating all WOEMA’s educational offerings to judge whether a Continuing Medical Education (CME) program has met its objectives of improving physician competence, performance or treatment outcomes. The methods may include, but are not limited to, gathering and reviewing the assessments of the members of the planning group, the members of the Education Committee and members of the conference faculty — all of whom are considered to be informed observers and evaluators — and analyzing the feedback provided by the registrants on the WOEMA evaluation forms and post conference surveys. Since WOEMA recognizes evaluation as an integral part of the planning process and the quality assurance function, the charge to the Committee calls for evaluation activities to occupy a portion of each meeting of a planning group and of the Education Committee.

Education Committee Chair
Aisha Chaudhry, MD, MPH, FACOEM

Dr. Aisha Chaudhry graduated medical school and completed residency training in Occupational and Environmental Medicine and Master's in Public Health at the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and Rutgers University, New Jersey. In 2017, she joined The Permanente Medical Group where she practices clinical Occupational Medicine. Dr. Chaudhry is Board certified in Occupational Medicine through the American Board of Preventive Medicine.

Education Committee Co-Chair
Cody Jackson, MD, MOH, MBA

Currently, I am a physician editor for the ODGbyMCG product lines. Before MCG, I was the medical director for a 100% Occupational Medicine clinic in San Diego, where I currently live. My Occupational and Environmental Medicine residency at the University of Utah provided the strong specialty foundation needed to achieve board certification. Prior to residency, I was a flight surgeon in the Navy, traveling all over the world for deployments and duty stations. Hawaii holds a special place in my heart because I got married there and it was my absolute favorite duty station. Personally, I love traveling to experience and appreciate new and different cultures and all the ways each of us lives.

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Ethics Committee

The Ethics Committee is responsible for monitoring WOEMA activities to ensure all members act in support of the principle of transparency, in support of the broad interests of WOEMA and avoid any conflict – financial or otherwise – between their respective individual interests and the interests of WOEMA in any and all activities undertaken by them on behalf of WOEMA. The Committee is responsible for reviewing any potential conflict of interest that is raised and to make a report/recommendation to the President and to the Board of Directors. The Ethics Committee is also responsible for ensuring that Board members are familiar with and adhere to the WOEMA Code of Ethics.

Ethics Committee Chair
Craig F. Conlon, MD, PhD
The Permanente Medical Group, Northern California - Oakland, CA

Dr. Conlon is the Medical Director of Employee Health Services of the Northern California Permanent Medical Group in the Department of Occupational Medicine. He is Board Certified in Occupational and Environmental Medicine through the American Board of Preventive Medicine. His research interests include worker injury prevention and ergonomics. His research on computer-associated musculoskeletal disorders with UCLA and UC Berkeley led to a Ph.D. in Environmental Health Sciences at UCLA in 2008. He is a medical school graduate of Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, and completed his residency at Western Medical Center, Santa Ana, CA.

Ethics Committee Co-Chair
Erik J. Won, DO, MPH, MBA, FACOEM, WOEMA Chairman of the Board
Newport Brain Research Laboratory - Newport Beach, CA

Dr. Won is President and CEO of Newport Brain Research Laboratory. He is Board Certified in Occupational and Environmental Medicine, and completed his residency at the Harvard Occupational and Environmental Medicine residency program. He received his MPH from the Harvard School of Public Health and MBA from the University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business. He previously served as a US Navy Flight Surgeon, and as Chief Regional Physician and Chief Technology Officer (Health Services) for the Boeing Company. Dr. Won has served as WOEMA Education Committee Chair, has been a member of WOHC Planning Committees and currently serves as a WOEMA Director.

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Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee (JEDI)

The Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee (JEDI) - The Western Occupational and Environmental Medical Association is fully committed to the goal of reaching Justice (J) Equity (E) Diversity (D) and Inclusion(I) within the organization and all of its activities as well as promoting JEDI to our members for their education and development in their many different roles as physicians.

Click here for resources and additional information on the JEDI Committee.

JEDI Committee Chair
Rupali Das, MD, MPH, FACOEM
The Zenith Insurance Company - Pleasanton, CA

Dr. Rupali Das is 2022 President of WOEMA and Co-Chair of the JEDI Committee. She is also Senior Vice President and Medical Director at Zenith Insurance Company and Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. Dr. Das was in clinical practice in Occupational Medicine at the Palo Alto Medical Clinic. She has held various leadership roles in occupational and environmental health at the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and the California Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). At CDPH she led “Biomonitoring California,” which measures levels of chemicals in peoples’ bodies, directed programs to track and reduce pesticide illness and infectious diseases in underserved populations such as farm workers, as well as other workers, and guided emergency preparedness. She received her MD degree from the University of Illinois, completed a residency in Internal Medicine at Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago, and a fellowship in Occupational and Environmental Medicine at UCSF. During her fellowship, she earned a Master’s degree in Public Health from the University of California, Berkeley. She is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Preventive Medicine/Occupational Medicine and is a Fellow of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. She is a member of the ACOEM Racism Workgroup, a Trustee for Cal Performances, and mentors students from underserved communities as part of the Thrive Scholars Program. She has served as chair of the legislative and educational committees as well as WOHC 2012 Chair.

JEDI Committee Co-Chair
Alya Khan, MD, MS, FACOEM
UC Irvine
Irvine, CA

Dr. Alya Khan is the Occupational Medicine Residency Director and Assistant Clinical Professor at the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine. She completed her residency in Internal Medicine from Hackensack UMC Mountainside and Occupational Medicine from University of California, Irvine, and holds dual board certifications from the American Board of Internal Medicine and the American Board of Preventive Medicine. She also received a Master's degree in Environmental Toxicology from the University of California, Irvine. Dr. Khan's clinical work is at the Center for Occupational and Environmental Health that provides clinical and preventive services to local and regional employers, conducts worksite surveillance programs, as well as provides toxicology consultations. She is the chair of the UCI-COEH annual symposium and a member of M-POWER committee (Medical Professionalism and Optimal Wellness Education and Resource) at UC Irvine. Dr. Khan was a prior co-chair for the education committee and is currently the lead for the podcast subcommittee and a member of the DEI committee at WOEMA. Her passion includes providing up to date, valuable educational offerings for the OEM community.

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Legislative Affairs Committee

The Legislative Affairs Committee is responsible for keeping itself informed from all available sources regarding all legislation at the state level that affects the field of occupational health regarding proposed legislation and regulations in all member states of WOEMA. The Committee is expected to communicate information regarding such legislation and regulatory activities to the President and Board of Directors. Members shall be assigned by the President to represent WOEMA in submission of testimony when governmental agencies or a state legislature request information or testimony from the profession of Occupational Medicine. Members also shall be assigned to testify before governmental agencies or a state legislature whenever regulation or legislation affecting any aspect of the practice of occupational medicine being proposed for adoption or passage. WOEMA may at times employ a lobbyist to support the efforts of this Committee.

Legislative Affairs Committee Chair
Chang Na, MD, MPH, FACOEM
Kaiser Permanente - Bakersfield, CA

Dr. Na is the Chief of Service for the Occupational Medicine Department at Kern County Kaiser Permanente. She is board certified in Internal Medicine and Occupational Medicine. Dr. Na completed her residency training in Internal medicine and fellowship in Occupational and Environmental Medicine at Yale New Haven Hospital. She also received her Masters in Public Health from Yale School of Public Health.

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Membership Committee

The Membership Committee is responsible for recruiting and retaining WOEMA members in coordination with WOEMA activities/programs. The Committee Chair will coordinate an annual campaign in conjunction with ACOEM to contact non-renewed members and encourage them to continue membership. In addition, the Committee is responsible for reaching out to new members to welcome them to the organization and to gain their involvement in the organization. The Membership Committee will provide guidance and information to the President and Board of Directors with reference to increasing the value of membership to ensure retention and on methods for recruiting new members to ensure the future viability of the organization.

Membership Committee Chair
Amanpreet Dhillon, MD, MS, FACOEM
Kaiser Permanente - Ripon, CA

Dr. Dhillon completed his training in Occupational and Environmental Medicine at The University of Texas Health Sciences Center at Tyler, Texas, and his Masters in Environmental Sciences from Stephen F. Austin State University in Texas. Prior to that, he completed Family Medicine training at Carilion Health System in Roanoke, Virginia. He is board-certified in Family Medicine and Occupational and Environmental Medicine. He joined The Permanente Medical Group in 2010 and practices clinical occupational medicine full time. Before that, Dr. Dhillon served on the faculty as an Assistant Professor in Occupational Medicine Residency Program at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler. He is still involved in precepting Family Medicine residents from local residency programs in Occupational Medicine and is active in local medical societies.

Membership Committee Co-Chair
Myra Cruz, MD

Dr. Myra T. Cruz is an occupational medicine specialist in Antioch, California and is affiliated with Kaiser Permanente Antioch Medical Center. She received her medical degree from Indiana University School of Medicine and has been in practice between 11-20 years.

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Newsletter Committee

The Newsletter Committee is responsible for ensuring the periodic publication of the WOEMA newsletter. Working with an Associate Editor, the Newsletter Editor shall be responsible for the collection of newsletter submissions and editorial review. The Associate Editor shall be considered to be a candidate to assume the role of Secretary/Newsletter Editor at the completion of the Editor’s term.

Newsletter Committee Chair

Rajiv Das, MD, MPH, MS, MRO, FACOEM

Dr. Das has practiced in California for over 20 years. He is certified by the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) in Occupational and Environmental Medicine and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation as well as subspecialty certified in Pain Medicine. He serves as Medical Director for various entities including Albertsons Stores Risk Management, UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland Employee Health Services (EHS) and WorkHealth Solutions. He is a member of the State of California’s Department of Industrial Relations Medical Evidence Evaluation Advisory Committee (MEEAC) and served on its Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee (P&T). He has also contributed to the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) panels on work-relatedness and disability management as well as utilization review (UR).

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Nominating Committee

The Nominating Committee is responsible for presenting the annual slate of officers and directors to the WOEMA membership for the election that is held at the Annual Business Meeting during the Western Occupational Health Conference (WOHC) typically in September.

Nominating Committee Chair
Erik J. Won, DO, MPH, MBA, FACOEM, WOEMA Chairman of the Board
Newport Brain Research Laboratory - Newport Beach, CA

Dr. Won is President and CEO of Newport Brain Research Laboratory. He is Board Certified in Occupational and Environmental Medicine, and completed his residency at the Harvard Occupational and Environmental Medicine residency program. He received his MPH from the Harvard School of Public Health and MBA from the University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business. He previously served as a US Navy Flight Surgeon, and as Chief Regional Physician and Chief Technology Officer (Health Services) for the Boeing Company. Dr. Won has served as WOEMA Education Committee Chair, has been a member of WOHC Planning Committees and currently serves as a WOEMA Director.

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Resident Scholarship Program Committee

The Resident Scholarship Program Committee is responsible for promoting scholarships for residents to attend the Western Occupational Health Conference (WOHC). Each year, WOEMA offers a limited number of scholarships for residents to participate at WOHC, and this committee is responsible for selecting the recipients and coordinating efforts to welcome and involve the residents in the organization. Additionally, the Committee coordinates a poster session at WOHC and is responsible for choosing the best submissions to receive monetary awards as determined by the Board of Directors.

Resident Scholarship Program Committee Chair
Sheri Belafsky, MD, MS, FACOEM
University of California, Davis

Dr. Belafsky is board-certified in occupational and environmental medicine and a fellow in the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. She is the medical director of the UC Davis Medical Surveillance Program, where she has worked since 2008.  Dr. Belafsky completed residency training in Occupational and Environmental Medicine and a Master of Science degree in Public Health Science and Policy at UC Irvine and received her M.D. from Tulane University School of Medicine.  In her work as director of the UC Davis Medical Surveillance Program, she collaborates with employers to identify potential workplace health hazards and designs medical surveillance programs for their employees.  She currently serves as a director on the board for the Western Occupational and Environmental Medical Association (WOEMA) and is active in planning continuing medical educational content for both WOEMA and the UC Davis Center for Occupational & Environmental Health.

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Website Committee

The Website Committee is responsible for maintaining and updating the content and functionality of the WOEMA website to ensure that it remains a useful resource for the membership and properly communicates the value of membership in the organization.

Website Committee Chair
Oluseyi Awodele, MD

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WOHC Planning Committee

The WOHC Planning Committee is responsible for developing and conducting all aspects of the Western Occupational Health Conference (WOHC), an Annual Meeting that attracts physicians and other health professionals from across the U.S. and Canada.

WOHC Planning Committee Chair
David Caretto, MD, MPH, MRO, FACOEM
Sutter Health

Dr. Caretto is a Medical Director of Employer Health Services for Sutter Health. In this role, he provide clinical oversight and Occupational Medicine expertise for 9 hospitals in the Sacramento Valley, covering 24000 employees. He received his medical degree from UCSF School of Medicine. He completed his Master of Public Health at University of North Carolina, and his occupational medicine fellowship training at Duke University. In his current position, he provides subject matter expertise and oversight for injury care and employee health services to sites across the Sacramento Valley Region.

As a clinician, he has been acknowledged as a Top Performer by Coventry Workers’ Compensation Insurance for achieving quality patient outcomes, lower overall claims costs, and improved return-to-work outcomes. He has been selected by his peers for inclusion in Sacramento Magazine’s “Top Doctors” December 2018-2021 editions.

Dr. Caretto is an active member in the Western Occupational and Environmental Medicine Association (WOEMA). He serves on the Board of Directors and previously served as the Co-Chair of the education committee. Dr. Caretto is active on WOEMA's Legislation committee with a focus on removing friction within the Worker's Compensation system and promoting clinical quality. In the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM), Dr. Caretto is the Chair of the Finances and Practice Management Section and the Vice Chair of the Component Relations Committee. He is a member of Medical Center Occupational Health, Work Fitness and Disability, and Telemedicine ACOEM interest sections.

Lastly, Dr. Caretto's best role is as a dad to three adorable daughters. Along with his spouse, they all enjoy the great outdoors, building couch forts, and working together on school art projects which inevitably end with the dining room table awash in glitter and construction paper.

WOHC Planning Committee Co-Chair
Sonya Meyers, MD, MPH
Kaiser San Jose Medical Center - San Jose, CA

Dr. Meyers graduated medical school and completed residency training in Occupational and Environmental Medicine at the University of Illinois Chicago College of Medicine.  In 2015, she joined The Permanente Medical Group where she practices clinical occupational medicine.   Dr. Meyers is Board Certified in Occupational Medicine through the American Board of Preventive Medicine.