W. Kent Anger, Ph.D.

  • Professor, Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences
  • Professor, OHSU-PSU School of Public Health
  • Associate Director for Applied Research, Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences

Biography

Dr. Anger is an experimental psychologist with a focus in physiological or biopsychology, now more commonly known as behavioral neuroscience. He began his professional career at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) where, as a commissioned officer in the Public Health Service, he became a Scientist Director, and Chief of the Behavioral Toxicology Section.

After a 20-year career at NIOSH he joined OHSU as the Associate Director (of then CROET), now Associate Director for Applied Research, at the Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences. He has conducted animal and human research on neurotoxic exposures, co-led, with colleague Dr. Pam Lein (UC Davis), research to examine the impact of the organophosphorus pesticide chlorpyrifos on pesticide workers, demonstrating a different mechanism than that produced by high-dose acute exposures through both human and animal research. Both at NIOSH and more extensively at OHSU, Dr. Anger led or collaborated on a series of intervention research projects that consistently demonstrated changes in knowledge (learning), behavior and results with small to large effect sizes. The primary focus of his research has been on working populations with limited education, often immigrants, working in hazardous jobs categories, to develop scalable methods for testing and training with disadvantaged populations often ignored by mainstream business and research.  He is the founding Director of the Oregon Healthy Workforce Center, leading it through two cycles, transitioning it to new Directors Drs. Leslie Hammer and Ryan Olson in 2020 near the end of the second cycle.

Retiring in 2019 and rehired to complete grant projects and continue as Associate Director for Applied Research in the Institute, he oversees the outreach program, mentors new faculty (currently a member of Dr Huang’s lab and funded on Dr. Olson’s SHIFT Onboarding grant), continues to publish research, and develops literature reviews and new interventions.

Research Interests

Dr. Anger focuses on developing prevention programs for people who work in high-hazard industries and testing the effectiveness of those programs.  He also identifies and characterizes exposures that damage the nervous system with behavioral tests.  These are programs and tests that can be applied in broad situations.  That is, they scale.

The prevention programs generally are delivered through technology, such as computer-based training based on behavioral education principles and reinforced by practice through apps.  In addition, scripted training delivered in small teams, self-monitoring and various forms of practice on paper-based forms.

 The training and testing is designed to be effective with adults of all levels of education, including none.  Dr. Anger has published research in several industry sectors, including agriculture, construction, and transportation; populations of interest include those from minority-culture, veterans and members of the military.

Education and training

  • Degrees

    • B.A., 1964, Stephen F. Austin State University
    • M.A., 1965, University of Wyoming
    • Ph.D., 1974, University of Maine

Memberships and associations:

  • Association for Behavior Analysis, 1976
  • Behavioral Toxicology Society, 1982 (President, 1986-88**; Trustee, 1988-93) (**elected office)
  • American Psychological Association, 1985
  • International Commission on Occupational Health, 1986 (Member, Neurotox. Cte, 1991
  • International Neurotoxicology Association, 1986 ; Cte. Chair, 2012-15**) (**elected office)

Areas of interest

  • Total Worker Health
  • Violence Prevention
  • Workforce Retention
  • Pesticide Exposures

Additional information

Honors and awards

  • Apple Distinguished Educator (~43 in higher education selected by Apple Computer) (2000)
  • Safety and Health at Work (best article in issue; December, 2010)
  • OHSU VP for Research Special Category Award [1 of 3 people for admin of CROET] (2012)
  • OHSU Senate Affiliated Units Collaboration Award (2014)
  • Oregon Public Health Institute Genius Nominee (2014)
  • Oregon Governor’s Occupational Safety and Health (GOSH) Conference Safety and Health Advocate Team Award (for the Oregon Healthy Workforce Center) (2017)

Publications

Publications

  • Addressing Health Care Workers’ Mental Health

    American journal of public health
    1. W. Kent Anger
    2. Jennifer K. Dimoff
    3. Lindsey Alley

  • Primary Prevention of Weight Gain Among New Bus Operators

    Journal of occupational and environmental medicine
    1. Ryan Olson
    2. Sean P.M. Rice
    3. Talya N. Bauer
    4. Brad Wipfli
    5. W. Kent Anger
    6. Todd Bodner
    7. Peter Graven
    8. Leah S. Greenspan

  • Bus operators' body weight changes during their first 2 years of work

    Journal of occupational and environmental medicine
    1. Ryan Olson
    2. Sean P.M. Rice
    3. Layla R. Mansfield
    4. Brad Wipfli
    5. Todd Bodner
    6. W. Kent Anger
    7. Talya N. Bauer

  • Magnitude of behavioral deficits varies with job-related chlorpyrifos exposure levels among Egyptian pesticide workers

    NeuroToxicology
    1. W. Kent Anger
    2. Fayssal M. Farahat
    3. Pamela J. Lein
    4. Michael R. Lasarev
    5. James R. Olson
    6. Taghreed M. Farahat
    7. Diane S. Rohlman

  • Process Evaluation of a Mobile Weight Loss Intervention for Truck Drivers

    Safety and Health at Work
    1. Brad Wipfli
    2. Ginger Hanson
    3. Kent Anger
    4. Diane L. Elliot
    5. Todd Bodner
    6. Victor Stevens
    7. Ryan Olson

  • Development and Validation of a Veteran-Supportive Supervisor Behavior Measure

    Military Behavioral Health
    1. Mackenna L. Perry
    2. Leslie B. Hammer
    3. Todd E. Bodner
    4. W. Kent Anger
    5. Krista J. Brockwood

  • Total worker health1 intervention for construction workers alters safety, health, well-being measures

    Journal of occupational and environmental medicine
    1. W. Kent Anger
    2. Jason Kyler-Yano
    3. Katie Vaughn
    4. Bradley Wipfli
    5. Ryan Olson
    6. Magali Blanco

  • Computer-based training (CBT) intervention reduces workplace violence and harassment for homecare workers

    American Journal of Industrial Medicine
    1. Nancy Glass
    2. Ginger C. Hanson
    3. W. Kent Anger
    4. Naima Laharnar
    5. Jacquelyn C. Campbell
    6. Marc Weinstein
    7. Nancy Perrin

  • Interactive training improves workplace climate, knowledge, and support towards domestic violence

    American Journal of Industrial Medicine
    1. Nancy Glass
    2. Ginger C. Hanson
    3. Naima Laharnar
    4. W. Kent Anger
    5. Nancy Perrin

  • Sleep, dietary, and exercise behavioral clusters among truck drivers with obesity

    Journal of occupational and environmental medicine
    1. Ryan Olson
    2. Sharon V. Thompson
    3. Brad Wipfli
    4. Ginger Hanson
    5. Diane L. Elliot
    6. W. Kent Anger
    7. Todd Bodner
    8. Leslie B. Hammer
    9. Elliot Hohn
    10. Nancy A. Perrin

  • Weight control intervention for truck drivers

    American journal of public health
    1. Ryan Olson
    2. Brad Wipfli
    3. Sharon V. Thompson
    4. Diane L. Elliot
    5. W. Kent Anger
    6. Todd Bodner
    7. Leslie B. Hammer
    8. Nancy A. Perrin

  • Effectiveness of total worker health interventions

    Journal of Occupational Health Psychology
    1. W. Kent Anger
    2. Diane L. Elliot
    3. Todd Bodner
    4. Ryan Olson
    5. Diane Rohlman
    6. Donald M. Truxillo
    7. Kerry S. Kuehl
    8. Leslie B. Hammer
    9. Dede Montgomery

  • Longitudinal assessment of occupational exposures to the organophosphorous insecticides chlorpyrifos and profenofos in Egyptian cotton field workers

    International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health
    1. Steven T. Singleton
    2. Pamela J. Lein
    3. Oswald A. Dadson
    4. Barbara P. McGarrigle
    5. Fayssal M. Farahat
    6. Taghreed Farahat
    7. Matthew R. Bonner
    8. Richard A. Fenske
    9. Kit Galvin
    10. Michael R. Lasarev
    11. W. Kent Anger
    12. Diane S. Rohlman
    13. James R. Olson

  • Workplace domestic violence leave laws

    International Journal of Workplace Health Management
    1. Naima Laharnar
    2. Nancy Perrin
    3. Ginger Hanson
    4. W. Kent Anger
    5. Nancy Glass

  • Reconsideration of the WHO NCTB strategy and test selection

    NeuroToxicology
    1. W. Kent Anger

  • A training intervention for supervisors to support a work-life policy implementation

    Safety and Health at Work
    1. Naima Laharnar
    2. Nancy Glass
    3. Nancy Perrin
    4. Ginger Hanson
    5. W. Kent Anger

  • Exploring workplace violence among home care workers in a consumer-driven Home Health Care Program

    Workplace Health and Safety
    1. Lindsay Nakaishi
    2. Helen Moss
    3. Marc Weinstein
    4. Nancy Perrin
    5. Linda Rose
    6. W. Kent Anger
    7. Ginger C. Hanson
    8. Mervyn Christian
    9. Nancy Glass

  • A brief history of INA and ICOH SCNP

    NeuroToxicology
    1. W. Kent Anger
    2. William K. Boyes

  • Experimental strategy for translational studies of organophosphorus pesticide neurotoxicity based on real-world occupational exposures to chlorpyrifos

    NeuroToxicology
    1. Pamela J. Lein
    2. Matthew R. Bonner
    3. Fayssal M. Farahat
    4. James R. Olson
    5. Diane S. Rohlman
    6. Richard A. Fenske
    7. K. Matthew Lattal
    8. Michael R. Lasarev
    9. Kit Galvin
    10. Taghreed M. Farahat
    11. W. Kent Anger

  • Integration of epidemiology and animal neurotoxicity data for risk assessment

    NeuroToxicology
    1. Abby A. Li
    2. Tina E. Levine
    3. Carol J. Burns
    4. W. Kent Anger

  • Local effects and global impact in neurotoxicity and neurodegeneration

    NeuroToxicology
    1. Donald A. Fox
    2. Roberto Lucchini
    3. Michael Aschner
    4. Jingyuan Chen
    5. W. K. Anger
    6. Eun A. Kim
    7. William K. Boyes
    8. Jordi Llorens

  • Biomarkers of chlorpyrifos exposure and effect in Egyptian cotton field workers

    Environmental health perspectives
    1. Fayssal M. Farahat
    2. Corie A. Ellison
    3. Matthew R. Bonner
    4. Barbara P. Mcgarrigle
    5. Alice L. Crane
    6. Richard A. Fenske
    7. Michael R. Lasarev
    8. Diane S. Rohlman
    9. W. Kent Anger
    10. Pamela J. Lein
    11. James R. Olson

  • Clarifying Work-Family Intervention Processes

    Journal of Applied Psychology
    1. Leslie B. Hammer
    2. Ellen Ernst Kossek
    3. W. Kent Anger
    4. Todd Bodner
    5. Kristi L. Zimmerman

  • A computer-based training intervention for work supervisors to respond to intimate partner violence

    Safety and Health at Work
    1. Nancy Glass
    2. Tina Bloom
    3. Nancy Perrin
    4. W. Kent Anger

  • Chlorpyrifos exposures in Egyptian cotton field workers

    NeuroToxicology
    1. Fayssal M. Farahat
    2. Richard A. Fenske
    3. James R. Olson
    4. Kit Galvin
    5. Matthew R. Bonner
    6. Diane S. Rohlman
    7. Taghreed M. Farahat
    8. Pamela J. Lein
    9. W. Kent Anger

  • MMPI-2 profiles

    Clinical Neuropsychologist
    1. Amy L. Johnson
    2. Daniel Storzbach
    3. Laurence M. Binder
    4. André Barkhuizen
    5. W. Kent Anger
    6. Martin C. Salinsky
    7. Saw Myo Tun
    8. Diane S. Rohlman