Earl Dotter, National Farm Medicine Center
Matthew Keifer Education BA, Anthropology, University of Notre Dame, 1977 MD, Medicine, University of Illinois, 1982 MPH, Occupational Medicine, University of Washington, 1989
Career Path Project Epidemiologist, CARE, Nicaragua Professor and Physician, DEOHS and Department of Medicine, University of Washington Director, National Farm Medicine Center of the Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation, Marshfield, Wisconsin
1989
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Matthew Keifer’s career has always bridged research and practice. He specializes in human health effects of pesticide exposure and agricultural safety and health issues. He currently directs the National Farm Medicine Center of the Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation in Wisconsin. In addition, Keifer sees patients— injured workers—in a clinic. He recently co-founded a research center focusing on agricultural safety and health, similar to the Pacific Northwest Agricultural Safety & Health Center, which he co-founded when he was on faculty in our department. Keifer completed a residency in internal medicine at the UW, where he was chief resident. He went on to finish the MPH residency program in Occupational Medicine. After graduation, he went to work in Nicaragua, then returned to UW as a faculty member in DEOHS and the Department of Medicine. He continued to do occupational health work in Central America, and later led activities in Southeast Asia. For more than 12 years, he volunteered as an attending physician with the Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic in eastern Washington. In Washington state, Keifer developed and worked on many communitybased projects, including the El Proyecto Bienestar (The Well-Being Project), to identify and address health issues of concern for Hispanic farmworkers and their families. For example, Keifer worked with promotoras (community health educators) and trained them to be safety advocates on farms. After nearly 20 years at the UW, Keifer moved to Wisconsin, where in addition to research and practice, he oversees the development of innovative health solutions. One is a computer-based application for physicians that helps them communicate with employers of injured dairy and pork workers and identify work task limitations that can facilitate a safe return-to-work plan. He also leads a project called “Farm MAPPER (Mapping to Assist, Prepare and Protect Emergency Responders),” which uses Quick Response (QR) codes to map out resources and hazards on farms. Farmers inventory water, power, gas, chemicals, and manure ponds on their properties and are assigned a QR code, which is stamped on mailboxes or other locations. First responders can scan the code and access information they need, helping them navigate safely and avoid chemicals and other hazards on farms. n
2011–2013 Biennial Report
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