Dr Deborah Glass - Researcher Profile

Biography

Deborah Glass graduated in Natural Sciences at Cambridge University in 1974.  She obtained a teaching qualification from Leicester University in 1975 and taught for 4 years.  She did a Masters in Occupational Health and Hygiene in 1979/80 and then worked in industry as an occupational hygienist, carrying out a range of work including pharmaceutical, agrochemical and asbestos sampling, noise assessments, biological and surface sampling.  She joined the Institute of Occupational Health, University of Birmingham in 1985 and became a Lecturer in Occupational Hygiene in 1989. 

Deborah came to Australia in mid 1995 and joined Health Watch, a prospective cohort study of workers in the petroleum industry in Australia, then based at Melbourne University.  She completed a PhD with Deakin University based on this work in 1999. 
She joined Monash in 1998 and works in the field of exposure assessment for epidemiology.  She has worked on a number of studies including a nested case control study of leukaemia in the petroleum industry, the Australian Gulf War Veterans' Health Study, community-based case-control studies of prostate cancer and of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in children.  Currently, Deborah continues to work on Health Watch, which is now based at Monash University, recruitment to the cohort was reopened in 2009.  She is also involved in an international collaboration combining and updating the UK, Canadian and Australian petroleum industry lympho-haematopoetic cancer case-control studies.  She is a CI on 3 NHMRC grants: investigating Australians' understanding of privacy in relation to epidemiology, investigating the extent of Australian occupational Carcinogens exposure and the effect of occupational chronodisruption on risk of breast cancer.  The exposure assessment work in community-based case-control studies has lead to an interest in automation of the exposure assessment process using OccIDEAS (http://www.occideas.org/).  She has an interest in firefighters' health being the CI for an Australian Firelighters' cohort and for an investigation of the cancer incidence among Queensland firefighters.

She is unit coordinator for two units in the Monash MPH, 2043; Chemical and Biological hazards and 2022: Assessment and Control of Workplace Hazards.
In 2006 she joined the ACGIH TLV committee.  In 2007 she became a member of the Occupational Cancer Risk Working Party of The Cancer Council Australia.  She is a current member of the COH committee, a past Council member and past Education Committee Chair of the Australian Institute of Occupational Hygienists (AIOH).  She was made a Fellow of the AIOH in 2008.  In 2009 she was invited tp become part of the International Advisory committee of the Annals of Occupational Hygiene and in 2010 became an assistant editor of that Journal.

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Keywords

firefighters, occupational exposure, benzene

Qualifications

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Institution: Deakin University

Year awarded: 2000

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND HYGIENE

Institution: Aston University

Year awarded: 1980

MASTER OF ARTS

Institution: Cambridge University

Year awarded: 1979

CERTIFICATE OF EDUCATION

Institution: Leicester University

Year awarded: 1975

NATURAL SCIENCES

Institution: Cambridge University

Year awarded: 1974

Publications

Journal Articles

Fernandez, R.C., Driscoll, T., Glass, D.C., Vallance, D., Reid, A., Benke, G.P., Fritschi, L., 2012, A priority list of occupational carcinogenic agents for preventative action in Australia, Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health [P], vol 36, issue 2, Wiley-Blackwell, Australia, pp. 111-115.

Glass, D.C., Del Monaco, A., Simpson, P.M., Sim, M.R., 2012, Cancer incidence in a cohort of active firefighters in Queensland, Journal of Health, Safety and Environment [P], vol 28, issue 1, C C H Australia Ltd, Australia, pp. 23-31.

Fritschi, L., Fernandez, R.C., Vallance, D., Slevin, T.J., Reid, A., Driscoll, T., Glass, D.C., 2012, Controlling occupational cancers in Australia, Medical Journal Of Australia [P], vol 196, issue 3, Australasian Medical Publishing Company Pty. Ltd., Australia, pp. 162-164.

Schnatter, A., Glass, D.C., Tang, G., Irons, R., Rushton, L., 2012, Myelodysplastic syndrome and benzene exposure among petroleum workers: an international pooled analysis, Journal of the National Cancer Institute [P], vol 104, issue 22, Oxford University Press, United Kingdom, pp. 1724-1737.

Glass, D.C., Reid, A., Bailey, H.D., Milne, E., Fritschi, L., 2012, Risk of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia following parental occupational exposure to pesticides, Occupational And Environmental Medicine [P], vol 69, issue 11, B M J Group, United Kingdom, pp. 846-849.

Fritschi, L., Sadkowsky, T., Benke, G., Thomson, A., Glass, D., 2012, Triaging jobs in a community-based case-control study to increase efficiency of the expert occupational assessment method, Annals Of Occupational Hygiene [P], vol 56, issue 4, Oxford University Press, United Kingdom, pp. 458-465.

Fritschi, L., Glass, D., Heyworth, J., Aronson, K., Girschik, J., Boyle, T., Grundy, A., Erren, T., 2011, Hypotheses for mechanisms linking shiftwork and cancer, Medical Hypotheses [P], vol 77, issue 3, Churchill Livingstone, United Kingdom, pp. 430-436.

Reid, A., Glass, D., Bailey, H., Milne, E., Armstrong, B., Alvaro, F., Fritschi, L., 2011, Parental occupational exposure to exhausts, solvents, glues and paints, and risk of childhood leukemia, Cancer Causes & Control [P], vol 22, issue 11, Springer Netherlands, Netherlands, pp. 1575-1585.

Reid, A., Glass, D.C., Bailey, H.D., Milne, E., de Klerk, N.H., Downie, P.A., Fritschi, L., 2011, Risk of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia following parental occupational exposure to extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields, British Journal Of Cancer [P], vol 105, Nature Publishing Group, United Kingdom, pp. 1409-1413.

Vlaanderen, J., Portengen, L., Rappaport, S., Glass, D., Kromhout, H., Vermeulen, R., 2011, The impact of saturable metabolism on exposure-response relations in 2 studies of benzene-induced leukemia, American Journal Of Epidemiology [P], vol 174, issue 5, Oxford University Press, United States, pp. 621-629.

Girschik, J., Glass, D., Ambrosini, G., Fritschi, L., 2010, Could mining be protective against prostate cancer? A study and literature review, Occupational And Environmental Medicine [P], vol 67, issue 6, BMJ Group, United Kingdom, pp. 365-374.

Glass, D., Armstrong, T., Pearlman, E., Verma, D., Schnatter, A., Rushton, L., 2010, Ensuring comparability of benzene exposure estimates across three nested case-control studies in the petroleum industry in support of a pooled epidemiological analysis, Chemico-Biological Interactions [P], vol 184, issue 1-2, Elsevier Ireland Ltd, Ireland, pp. 101-111.

Stuckey, R., Lamontagne, A.D., Glass, D., Sim, M., 2010, Estimating fatality rates in occupational light vehicle users using vehicle registration and crash data, Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health [P], vol 34, issue 2, Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Asia, Australia, pp. 142-145.

Stuckey, M., La Montagne, A., Glass, D., Sim, M., 2010, Occupational light vehicle use: Characterising the at-risk population, Journal of Health & Safety Research & Practice [P], vol 2, issue 1, Safety Institute of Australia Inc., Australia, pp. 17-28.

Stuckey, M., Glass, D., La Montagne, A., Wolfe, R., Sim, M., 2010, Risk factors for worker injury and death from occupational light vehicles crashes in New South Wales (Australia), American Journal Of Industrial Medicine [P], vol 53, issue 9, John Wiley & Sons, Inc, United States, pp. 931-939.

MacFarlane, E., Glass, D.C., Fritschi, L., 2009, Is farm-related job title an adequate surrogate for pesticide exposure in occupational cancer epidemiology?, Occupational And Environmental Medicine [P], vol 66, issue 8, BMJ Group, UK, pp. 497-501.

Fritschi, L., Friessen, M., Glass, D., Benke, G., Girschik, J., Sadkowsky, T., 2009, OccIDEAS: Retrospective occupational exposure assessment in community-based studies made easier, Journal of Environmental and Public Health [P], vol 2009, Journal of Environmental and Public Health, United States, pp. 1-5.

Fritschi, L., Glass, D.C., Tabrizi, J.S., Leavy, J.E., Ambrosini, G., 2007, Occupational risk factors for prostate cancer and benign prostatic hyperplasia: a case-control study in Western Australia, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, vol 64, issue 1, BMJ Publishing Group, UK, pp. 60-65.

Kelsall, H., Sim, M.R., Ikin, J.F., Forbes, A.B., McKenzie, D.P., Glass, D.C., Ittak, P., 2007, Reproductive health of male Australian veterans of the 1991 Gulf War, BMC Public Health, vol 7, issue 147, BioMed Central Ltd, London UK, pp. 79-84.

Hinwood, A.L., Rodriguez, C., Runnion, T., Farrar, D., Murray, F., Horton, A., Glass, D.C., Sheppeard, V., Edwards, J., Denison, L., Whitworth, T., Eiser, C., Bulsara, M., Gillett, R.W., Powell, J., Lawson, S., Weeks, I., Galbally, I., 2007, Risk factors for increased BTEX exposure in four Australian cities, Chemosphere, vol 66, issue 3, Pergamon, UK, pp. 533-541.

Fritschi, L., Tabrizi, J., Leavy, J., Glass, D., Timperio, A., Ambrosini, G., 2006, Are there really no risk factors for benign prostatic hyperplasia?, Australasian Epidemiologist [P], vol 13, issue 3, Australasian Epidemiological Association, Australia, p. 80.

McKenzie, D.P., McFarlane, A., Creamer, M.C., Ikin, J.F., Forbes, A.B., Kelsall, H., Clarke, D.M., Glass, D.C., Ittak, P., Sim, M.R., 2006, Hazardous or harmful alcohol use in Royal Australian Navy veterans of the 1991 Gulf War: Identification of high risk subgroups, Addictive Behaviors, vol 31, issue 9, Pergamon-Elsevier Science Ltd, Kidlington UK, pp. 1683-1694.

Kelsall, H., Sim, M.R., McKenzie, D.P., Forbes, A.B., Leder, K.S., Glass, D.C., Ikin, J.F., McFarlane, A., 2006, Medically evaluated psychological and physical health of Australian Gulf War veterans with chronic fatigue, Journal of Psychosomatic Research, vol 60, issue 6, Elsevier, Inc., The Netherland, pp. 575-584.

Glass, D.C., Gray, C.N., Jolley, D.J., Gibbons, C., Sim, M.R., 2006, The Health Watch case-control study of leukemia and benzene: the story so far, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, vol 1076, Blackwell Publishing, Boston USA, pp. 80-89.

Glass, D.C., Sim, M.R., 2006, The challenges of exposure assessment in health studies of Gulf War veterans, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society: B, vol 361, issue 1468, The Royal Society, London England, pp. 627-637.

Glass, D.C., Sim, M.R., Kelsall, H., Ikin, J.F., McKenzie, D.P., Forbes, A.B., Ittak, P., 2006, What was different about exposures reported by male Australian Gulf War veterans for the 1991 Persian Gulf War, compared with exposures reported for other deployments?, Military Medicine, vol 171, issue 7, Association of Military Surgeons of the United States, USA, pp. 632-638.

Glass, D.C., Gray, C.M., Jolley, D.J., Gibbons, C., Sim, M.R., 2005, Health watch exposure estimates: do they underestimate benzene exposure?, Chemico-Biological Interactions, vol 153-154, Elsevier Ltd, Ireland, pp. 23-32.

Kelsall, H., Macdonell, R., Sim, M.R., Forbes, A.B., McKenzie, D.P., Glass, D.C., Ikin, J., Ittak, P., 2005, Neurological status of Australian veterans of the 1991 Gulf War and the effect of medical and chemical exposures, International Journal of Epidemiology, vol 34, issue 4, Oxford University Press, UK, pp. 810-819.

Ikin, J.F., McKenzie, D.P., Creamer, M.C., McFarlane, A.C., Kelsall, H.L., Glass, D.C., Forbes, A.B., Horsley, K.W.A., Harrex, W.K., Sim, M.R., 2005, War zone stress without direct combat: the Australian naval experience of the Gulf War, Journal of Traumatic Stress, vol 18, issue 3, John Wiley and Sons, Inc., USA, pp. 193-204.

Glass, D.C., Sim, M.R., Fritschi, L., Gray, C.N., Jolley, D.J., Gibbons, C., 2004, Leukemia risk and relevant benzene exposure period- Re: Follow-up time on risk estimates, AM J Ind Med 42:481-489, 2002, American Journal of Industrial Medicine, vol 45, issue 2, Wiley-Liss, Inc., Hoboken New Jersey USA, pp. 222-223.

McKenzie, D.P., Ikin, J.F., McFarlane, A.C., Creamer, M.C., Kelsall, H., Glass, D.C., Ittak, P., Sim, M.R., Forbes, A.B., 2004, Psychological health of Australian veterans of the 1991 Gulf War: an assessment using the SF-12, GHQ-12 and PCL-S, Psychological Medicine, vol 34, issue 8, Cambridge University Press, UK, pp. 1419-1430.

Kelsall, H., Sim, M.R., Forbes, A.B., McKenzie, D.P., Glass, D.C., Ikin, J.F., Ittak, P., Abramson, M.J., 2004, Respiratory health status of Australian veterans of the 1991 Gulf War and the effects of exposure to oil fire smoke and dust storms, Thorax, vol 59, BMJ Publishing Group, UK, pp. 897-903.

Kelsall, H., Sim, M.R., Forbes, A.B., Glass, D.C., McKenzie, D.P., Ikin, J.F., Abramson, M.J., Blizzard, L., Ittak, P., 2004, Symptoms and medical conditions in Australian veterans of the 1991 Gulf War: relation to immunisations and other Gulf War exposures, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, vol 61, issue 12, BMJ Publishing Group, UK, pp. 1006-1013.

Forbes, A.B., McKenzie, D.P., Mackinnon, A.J., Kelsall, H., McFarlane, A.C., Ikin, J.F., Glass, D.C., Sim, M.R., 2004, The health of Australian veterans of the 1991 Gulf War: factor analysis of self-reported symptoms, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, vol 61, issue 12, BMJ Publishing Group, London UK, pp. 1014-1020.

Ikin, J.F., Sim, M.R., Creamer, M.C., Forbes, A.B., McKenzie, D.P., Kelsall, H., Glass, D.C., McFarlane, A.C., Abramson, M.J., Ittak, P., Dwyer, T., Blizzard, L., Delaney, K.R., Horsley, K.W., Harrex, W.K., Schwarz, H., 2004, War-related psychological stressors and risk of psychological disorders in Australian veterans of the 1991 Gulf War, British Journal of Psychiatry, vol 185, Royal College of Psychiatrists, UK, pp. 116-126.

Glass, D.C., Gray, C.N., Jolley, D.J., Gibbons, C., Sim, M.R., Fritschi, L., Adams, G.G., Bisby, J.A., Manuell, R., 2003, Leukemia risk associated with low-level benzene exposure, Epidemiology, vol 14, issue 5, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, USA, pp. 569-577.

Glass, D.C., Gray, C.N., 2001, Estimating mean exposures from censored data: exposure to benzene in the Australian petroleum industry, Annals of Occupational Hygiene, vol 45, issue 4, Oxford University Press, Oxford England, pp. 275-282.

Glass, D.C., Gray, C.N., Adams, G.G., Manuell, R.W., Bisby, J.A., 2001, Validation of exposure estimation for benzene in the Australian petroleum industry, Toxicology and Industrial Health, vol 17, issue 4, Arnold, London UK, pp. 113-127.

Glass, D.C., Adams, G.G., Manuell, R.W., Bisby, J.A., 2000, Retrospective exposure assessment for benzene in the Australian petroleum industry, Annals of Occupational Hygiene, vol 44, issue 4, Oxford University Press, UK, pp. 301-320.

Conference Proceedings

McKenzie, D.P., McFarlane, A.C., Creamer, M.C., Ikin, J.F., Forbes, A.B., Kelsall, H., Clarke, D.M., Glass, D.C., Ittak, P., Sim, M.R., 2006, Hazardous or harmful alcohol use in Royal Australian Navy veterans of the 1991 Gulf War: identification of high risk subgroups, Australian Epidemiologist, 18 September 2006 to 19 September 2006, Australian Epidemiological Association, Melbourne Vic Australia, p. 67.

Kelsall, H., Ikin, J.F., McKenzie, D.P., Glass, D.C., Forbes, A.B., Sim, M.R., 2006, The effect of other deployments in assessing the health of Australian Gulf War Veterans, Australian Military Medicine, 18 October 2006 to 22 October 2006, Australian Military Medicine Association, Hobart Tas Australia, pp. 21-22.

Kelsall, H., Sim, M.R., McKenzie, D.P., Forbes, A.B., Leder, K.S., Glass, D.C., Ikin, J., McFarlane, A., 2005, Medical evaluation of the physical and psychological health of Australian Gulf War veterans with chronic fatigue, 2005 AMMA (Australian Military Medical Association) Conference Proceedings, 14-16 October 2005, AMMA, Launceston Australia, p. 16.

Kelsall, H., Sim, M.R., McKenzie, D.P., Forbes, A.B., Leder, K.S., Glass, D.C., Ikin, J., McFarlane, A., 2005, Medically evaluated chronic fatigue and chronic fatigue syndrome in Australian veterans of the 1991 Gulf War, Australasian Epidemiologist, 5-7 October 2005, Australasian Epidemiology Association, NSW Australia, p. 51.

Glass, D.C., Gray, C.M., Fritschi, L., Jolley, D., Gibbons, C., Sim, M.R., 2004, Does the risk of leukemia increase non-linearly with increasing benzene exposure intensity?, Tijdschrisft voor toegepaste Arbowetenschap, 16 June 2004 to 18 June 2004, Nederlandse Vereniging voor Arbeidshygiene, Eindhoven Netherlands, pp. 58-59.

Glass, D.C., Gray, C.N., Jolley, D.J., Gibbons, C., Sim, M.R., Fritschi, L., 2004, How high were exposures in the Australian petroleum industry case-control study?, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 13 October 2004 to October 2004, BMJ Publishing Group, London UK, p. 36.

Glass, D.C., Gray, C., Jolley, D.J., Gibbons, C., Sim, M.R., Fritschi, L., 2003, Effect of exposure groups on odds ratios in a case-control study in the Australian petroleum industry, Epidemiology, 23 September to 26 September 2003, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Baltimore United States, p. 127.

Kelsall, H., Sim, M.R., Forbes, A.B., Glass, D.C., McKenzie, D.P., Blackman, J.F., Abramson, M.J., Blizzard, L., Ittak, P., 2003, Symptoms and medical conditions in Australian veterans of the 1991 Gulf War: relationship to immunisations and other gulf war exposures, Australasian Epidemiologist, 22 September 2003 to 23 September 2003, Australian Epidemiological Association, Melbourne Australia, p. 28.

Glass, D.C., McKenzie, D.P., Forbes, A.B., Kelsall, H., Blackman, J.F., Ittak, P., Sim, M.R., 2003, What was different about exposures during the 1991 Gulf War compared to other deployments?, Australian Epidemiologist, 22 September to 23 September 2003, Australian Epidemiological Association, Melbourne Australia, p. 54.

Glass, D.C., Armstrong, T., Schnatter, A., Gray, C., Rushton, L., Sim, M.R., 2002, Comparability of petroleum industry benzene case-control studies, Australasian Epidemiologist, 5 September to 6 September 2002, Australian Epidemiological Association, Melbourne Australia, p. 35.

Postgraduate Research Supervisions

Completed Supervision

Student:

Stuckey, M.

Program of Study:

Occupational light vehicle use: unveiling the risks of an everyday work hazard. (PHD) 2009.

Supervisors:

Sim, M (Main), Glass, D (Associate).