Dr. Laura Punnett

Dr Laura Punnett is an occupational ergonomist and epidemiologist, Professor Emerita of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Lowell (UML), U.S.A., and associate director of the Center for the Promotion of Health in the New England Workplace (CPH-NEW), one of the first two NIOSH Centers of Excellence in Total Worker Health® (TWH). She co-founded the UML Department of Work Environment (1987-2018) and has held visiting positions at the Harvard-Chan School of Public Health, University of Gävle, Deakin University, and Southern Denmark University.

Punnett has research expertise in the epidemiology of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) and related employment outcomes, assessment of physical and psychosocial stressors in the work environment; the contribution of working conditions to socioeconomic disparities and gender differences in health; and the effectiveness of workplace safety and health programs.

Within CPH-NEW, Punnett’s team developed a definition and scientific justification of TWH that emphasizes the design, implementation and evaluation of participatory workplace interventions and examined the interaction of work organization with non-occupational risk factors for physical and mental health, especially in the healthcare workforce.