About the Principal Investigator
Edna L. Negrón Martínez’s teaching, mentorship, and research experience for more than three decades in the Graduate School of Public Health of the University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus, consists of courses on the environmental health field, applied microbiology, and core courses of public health. She led the creation and revision of the course syllabus as part of her active participation in the institutional internal and external curriculum program assessment.
Professor Negrón Martínez’s principal interest is to encourage people’s awareness and understanding of environmental public health trends and issues. It aims to foster the promotion of healthy environments in healthy communities.
Her awards of training grants involve hands-on experiences of laboratory techniques for the study of microbial metabolic processes and genetic manipulation of prokaryotes. She also conducted evidenced-based research on the scholarship of teaching and learning in applied microbiology during a year-long residency program as a member of the Biology Scholars network of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM).
Dr. Negrón Martínez has contributed her expertise to advisory panels and workshops organized by various local governmental and national organizations, including the Puerto Rico Department of Health State Asthma Plan, the Center for Public Health Preparedness of the Medical Sciences Campus, the Council of Education for Public Health, and the National Board of Public Health Examiners. She also worked in the revision of Public and Environmental Health programs, as part of her consultative appointment at The Puerto Rico Council of Higher Education, Accreditation Division. Her academic leadership comprises services as Program Coordinator of Environmental Health Department, Academic Senator of the Graduate School of Public Health, and Chair of numerous institutional and scientific committees. During the years 2011-2015, was appointed board member of the Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education (JMBE) and from 2012 to 2015, served as Representative of Colleges and Universities of EPA Region 2, to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s National Environmental Education Advisory Council (US EPA-NEEAC). One of her roles was to contribute as a member of the Editing Team aimed at the writing, revision, and submittal of the 2015 EPA-NEEAC Report to EPA Administrator Office at the Headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Dr. Negrón Martínez has published in peer-reviewed journals and online academic networks, including environmental education, environmental health research findings, and public health topics. In December 2018, she published her first book, Public Health and the Environment: Uncovering Key Social, Ecological, and Economic Connections. The book presentation held in the Medical Sciences Campus, San Juan Puerto Rico, sponsored by the RCMI Program and collaborative of the Environmental Health Department. This book provides an overview of trends and significant changes in the environment and public health linked to the advancement of sustainable development. The author is actively making presentations and publications in different forums and online academic networks, mainly related to her book’s topics and content.
Dr. Negrón continues serving in the Institutional Review Board of the Medical Sciences Campus (IRB-MSC) after reappointment in August 2019. She also manages her project’s web page, Schools: An Asthma Friendly Environment (SAFE), sponsored by the RCMI-MSC Program.
Edna L. Negrón-Martínez earned her bachelor’s degree in Natural Sciences and Medical Technology and a master’s degree in Environmental Health Sciences, both from the University of Puerto Rico. She received her doctoral degree in Education from the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico, Metropolitan Campus, including credits earned in public health courses at Harvard School of Public Health.
Project's Outcomes
The project offered four (4) one-day long training workshops between 2009 and 2012. Almost 200 participants received six hours of continuing education credits after submitting their post education experiences at their schools or communities. Training included pre-and post-tests with the purpose of measuring knowledge gain. In addition, an evaluation questionnaire was distributed and collected at the end of the workshop to assess participants’ perception of the education various components.
The Puerto Rico (PR) Department of Education; The PR Department of Health- State Asthma Project in collaborative agreement with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); Environmental Protection Agency–Caribbean Division, and (PR) Merck Corporation have been partners in the project.
The Center for Information Technologies and Telecommunications (CentIT2), Research Center Minority Institutions (RCMI-MSC), provides support to SAFE’s website. The web-based network provides an effective outreach tool for the dissemination of the project training activities, as well as for providing links and contacts to individuals and agencies interested in improving indoor and outdoor environmental quality.
Selected publications and presentations:
Negrón-Martínez, Edna (2015, 27 de marzo). Amenazas ambientales. El Nuevo Dia, Por dentro, Pag. 4.
Dialogo UPR (2012, 16 de agosto). Proponen mayor educación sobre el asma. Available: http://dialogoupr.com/safe-expande-educacion-sobre-el-asma/
Negrón-Martínez EL (2010, December). Speaker (by invitation) in EPA 40th Anniversary Conference-Interamerican University San Juan, PR: SAFE Project in Puerto Rico. Concurrent Session IV: EPA working together with communities (2010).
Negrón-Martínez Edna (2009). Speaker (by invitation) in Reencuentro de Maestros de Salud Escolar, sponsored by Puerto Rico Department of Education (April, 2009). San Juan, P.R.
Project Asthma of the Puerto Rico Department of Health (2012-2014). Negrón-Martínez Edna - Representative of the Graduate School of Public Health.
Negrón-Martínez Edna (2012-2014). Member of the Committee for the Revision of Strategic Plan for Asthma Project of PR Department of Health (2012-2014).
Graduate School of Public Health, MSC-UPR (2004-2005). Negrón-Martínez Edna - Coordination of State-wide Need Assessment Survey of Puerto Rico Department of Education Teachers in collaboration with the Program of School Health of the Puerto Rico Department of Education, PRDOE.
Multimedia resources:
Negrón-Martínez EL (2012-present). PD/PI Creation of website content of SAFE Project- Schools: an Asthma Friendly Environment. Produced by The Center for Information Technologies and Telecommunications (CentIT2), Research Centers for Minority Institutions (RCMI), Medical Sciences Campus Program, UPR. Supported by RCMI grant number G12 MD007600, the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). URL: http://safepr.rcm.upr.edu
Negrón-Martínez EL (2010). PD/PI Calidad de Aire Interior en las Escuelas y su Relación con Asma - Schools: an asthma friendly environment (SAFE Project). CD-ROMs-Digital Instructional Resources. Produced by CATA-MSC. Sponsored By Puerto Rico Department of Health: Asthma Project in collaborative agreement with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), No. 1U59EH000521-01-CDC.
Negrón-Martínez EL (2011). Assessment of Project SAFE instructional resources and CD-Roms. State-wide online MonkeySurvey.
