Newswise — MTSU can help keep citizens safer from lead poisoning and train more law-enforcement personnel thanks to new federal grants totaling $850,000 to expand lead-hazard outreach and forensic science training.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Department of Justice recently allocated the funds, said Congressman Bart Gordon.
MTSU’s Forensic Institute for Research and Education received $550,000 from the Justice Department to develop six forensic science courses at MTSU and provide 12 in-service training workshops for Tennessee sheriff’s and police departments, in addition to funding the development of online training workshops.
“The Justice Department grant will serve to broaden the impact of forensic science on both the MTSU campus and within Tennessee’s forensic community,” explained Dr. Hugh Berryman, director of FIRE and a forensic anthropologist and research professor of anthropology at MTSU.
“We will develop undergraduate and graduate programs in forensic science and provide traditional in-service training for Tennessee law enforcement, while exploring distance learning as a more economic and logistically advantageous alternative.”
“At a time when many sheriff’s and police departments can’t afford to offer specialized training to officers, this grant will provide quality training to Tennessee law enforcement and educate more students to become forensic scientists and technicians,” Gordon added.
The $300,000 grant from HUD’s Lead Outreach Program will raise public awareness and knowledge about lead poisoning by helping to develop a coalition of partnerships across Tennessee that will provide lead-hazard control training, outreach and education to families.
“Lead poisoning can cause a whole range of health problems, from behavioral issues and learning disabilities to seizures and even death,” Gordon said. “This grant will allow MTSU to help Tennessee families understand the risks associated with lead and identify if this material is a hazard in their homes.”
The grant will be used specifically to provide 2,034 individuals with lead outreach through home visits, reach an additional 1.7 million people through public media and participate in more than 70 health fairs and community events throughout Tennessee.
“Exposure to lead is especially harmful to children—it actually inhibits development of the brain,” said Dr. Kathy Mathis, MTSU director of the Tennessee Lead Elimination Action Program, or TN LEAP, and an associate professor in the Department of Engineering Technology.
“This is the fourth grant we’ve received from the U.S. Housing Department,” Mathis said. “We’ll use these funds to focus on getting essential information out to the people of Tennessee about the hazards posed by lead. We appreciate Congressman Gordon’s continued support and the confidence that the U.S. Housing Department has placed in MTSU.”
MTSU established the Forensic Institute for Research and Education in the summer of 2006. FIRE brings together faculty and students in several scientific specialties to provide educational and training opportunities for law enforcement, medical examiners, coroners, attorneys, social workers and other groups in forensic science and Homeland Security.
TN LEAP provides grants to private sector, nonprofit and for-profit organizations that identify and control lead hazards in privately owned housing units to eliminate lead poisoning as a health threat to children.
“We are grateful to Congressman Gordon and the rest of the Tennessee delegation for their tremendous support of our many activities and programs on campus,” said Joe Bales, MTSU vice president for development and university relations. “These dollars allow us to continue to pursue excellence in every discipline and to provide a higher level of academic quality to our students and greater public service to the people of Tennessee and the region.”
RSS