WHPP Project Staff
Some of the individuals on the Worker Health Protection Program team include:

Steven Markowitz, MD, DrPH

Steven Markowitz MD DrPH, an occupational medicine physician, internist, and epidemiologist, directs the Barry Commoner Center for Health and the Environment at the City University of New York (CUNY). He was educated at Yale University and Columbia University. He assisted DOE in establishing the Former Worker Program in 1996 and has directed the Worker Health Protection Program (WHPP) since 1997. Dr. Markowitz has published research on medical screening, asbestos-related disorders, and occupational cancer. Since 2016, he has served as Chair of the DOL Advisory Board on Toxic Substances and Worker Health.

Khaula Khatlani, MD, MSc

Khaula Khatlani MD MSc, has dual board certification in Occupational Medicine, and Public Health and General Preventive Medicine, and became the Worker Health Protection Program (WHPP) Medical Director in 2022. Dr. Khatlani graduated from DOW Medical College, Karachi, Pakistan and completed both her residency and a clinical fellowship in Occupational and Environmental Medicine at Yale. Previously, Dr. Khatlani was the recipient of the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Fogarty Fellowship in Trauma and Injury Prevention and completed epidemiological training at the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Prior to joining WHPP, Dr. Khatlani was the Medical Director of the Occupational Health Clinic at Bristol Health System and has published research on injury prevention, workplace and intimate partner violence.

Amy Manowitz, MPH

Amy Manowitz has worked for the Worker Health Protection Program (WHPP) since 2000.  Ms. Manowitz helped start up the WHPP Early Lung Cancer Detection (ELCD) Program and has overseen the day-to-day operation of the lung cancer screening program for over 20 years.  Currently, along with the WHPP leadership team, she also directs the administration of the general WHPP medical screening program.  Ms. Manowitz has a master’s degree in public health from Columbia University with a concentration in occupational health.

Jonathan Corbin, PhD

Jonathan Corbin has worked for the Worker Health Protection Program since 2009. As part of the WHPP leadership team, he currently oversees screening operations, program outreach, communications, quality assurance and other administrative activities. Mr. Corbin holds a PhD in public health, with a focus on environmental and occupational health sciences, from the CUNY School of Public Health.

Ashlee Fitch, CSP, OHST

Ashlee Fitch, works as the Program Director and PI for the United Steelworkers’ (USW) Tony Mazzocchi Center for Health, Safety, and Environment  al Education. In 2019, she stepped down as the PI for the USW for the Worker Health Protection Program, but remains a solid voice for workers in the FWP. Ms. Fitch also serves as Board Member-at-Large for the Beryllium Health and Safety Committee, a non-profit collective of medical, academic, government and union experts, which focuses on education on occupational exposure to beryllium and the prevention of beryllium-induced conditions and illnesses across USW represented workplaces.

Raymond Meister, MD, MPH

Dr. Meister has been involved with former worker medical screenings since the Nevada Test Site Screening began in 1998. He earned an MPH from University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health, and an MD from University of Southern California School of Medicine. In addition to his work with WHPP, Dr. Meister has been a faculty member at the University of California, San Francisco since 1998, and serves as the Executive Medical Director for the California Department of Industrial Relation’s Division of Workers’ Compensation. He previously worked for 14 years at the Occupational Health Branch of the California Department of Public Health.

Local Union “Ground Teams”

The Worker Health Protection Program is unique compared to other similar programs being conducted nationwide due to the establishment of local “Ground Teams” at each screening site. The “Ground Teams” coordinators include OSHECs (Occupational Safety and Health Education Coordinators), current workers and retirees. They are often the first point of contact with program participants and serve as a key contact for follow-up questions after the screening exam is complete. They are also highly involved in the planning and organization of outreach activities, which have been very successful in spreading awareness and attracting more people to the program. At every site, the Coordinators answer questions about the medical screening program, provide assistance with completion of screening questionnaires, and follow up to ensure that participants are satisfied with their physical exams and help with workers’ compensation and benefits.