Dr. Karen B. Mulloy is an Associate Professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health and the Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. Dr. Mulloy completed her medical education at the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine and a combined residency program in family practice with a Master’s of Science in Community Health—emphasis in occupational and environmental health—at Marshall University School of Medicine and a residency in occupational and environmental medicine at the University of Kentucky School of Medicine.
Dr. Mulloy teaches occupational and environmental health to first-year medical students, Family Medicine residents and Master’s in Public Health (MPH) students. As part of the CWRU Scholars Collaboration in Teaching and Learning program she worked with a medical student, Anisha Garg, to integrate environmental health science topics in the pre-clinical medical school curriculum. Dr. Mulloy received a Scholarship in Teaching Award in 2017 for the project’s work.
Among Dr. Mulloy’s research interests are health effects in atomic weapons workers and the establishment of occupational illness, toxic exposure and injury surveillance programs. Dr. Mulloy was the Co-Investigator with the New Mexico Department of Health on a NIOSH funded grant (OH-02-007) “Development of Worker Health and Safety Surveillance for New Mexico” from 2002-2005. Dr. Mulloy provided leadership in the establishment of an occupational illness, toxic exposure and injury surveillance programs in the Western States and published reports for Colorado, Wyoming and North and South Dakota. She continues the work with the Midwestern states since her move to Ohio.
Dr. Mulloy is a co-investigator on a grant from the Ohio Bureau of Worker’s Compensation. The grant is developing a program to improve health and reduce workplace injuries in low-wage/job-insecure employees. Low-wage workers experience unique challenges in workplace environments, often resulting in poorer overall health and increased work-related injuries. These unique circumstances and complications of low-wage workers stem from the deprivation that results from the concrete experience of living in poverty, as well as from the social determinants of health. The model of intervention is designed to help people investigate the relationship between poverty, workplace safety, and health promotion at the community.