Sammy J. Almashat, MD, MPH

I received my BA/BS in Biology/Psychology, with a Minor in Spanish from West Virginia University; my MD from West Virginia University; and my MPH from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health where I also completed a residency in General Preventive Medicine and Public Health. I completed a second residency in Occupational and Environmental Medicine at the University of California-San Francisco (UCSF).  I am board-certified in both Occupational Medicine and General Preventive Medicine & Public Health.

After completing my General Preventive Medicine residency, I worked for several years at Public Citizen’s Health Research Group, conducting research-based advocacy in the areas of pharmaceutical and medical device safety and policy; universal healthcare access; corporate health fraud; and occupational health and safety topics such as chronic beryllium exposure, heat stress, medical resident work shifts, and state occupational health and safety regulations. After completing an Occupational Medicine residency, I worked for several years in a high-volume occupational medicine clinic, treating a wide spectrum of acute and chronic workplace injuries and illnesses; conducting employee health and Department of Transportation medical exams; and completing permanent impairment evaluations.

At UMB, my primary focus areas have involved longitudinal surveillance of cohorts of veterans exposed to depleted uranium and with potential systemic metal exposures from embedded munition fragments; and of former construction workers as part of a U.S. Department of Energy-funded program (Building Trades National Medical Screening Program, or BTMed). In this latter program, I collaborate in research into potential associations between various construction-related toxic workplace exposures and the development of chronic occupational illnesses, principally inhalational toxic dust-induced pulmonary disease. I have also continued my prior research into the health consequences of armed conflicts, including, recently, the ubiquitous problem of toxic chemical exposures among civilians.

In my role overseeing the Division’s employee health services, I help direct health-related administrative and clinical services for the University of Maryland’s Faculty Physicians (FPI) outpatient clinic employees. I oversee pre-employment and periodic medical surveillance of University of Maryland-Baltimore (UMB) employees with hazardous exposures, such as those arising from work with lab animals (principally allergies), chemical toxins, and infectious pathogens.

Occupational medicine, employee health, exposure assessment, longitudinal health surveillance, construction workplace hazards, clinical toxicology, armed conflict and civilian health

Cloeren M, Dement J, Ghorbanpoor K, Almashat S, Grier W, Quinn P, Cranford K, Chen A, Haas S, Ringen K. Colorectal Cancer (CRC) Screening in Occupational Health Surveillance Exams Is Associated With Decreased CRC Mortality. Am J Ind Med. 2024 Dec 15. doi: 10.1002/ajim.23688.

McDiarmid MA, Almashat S, Cloeren M, Condon M, Oliver M, Roth T, Gucer P, Brown CH, Whitlatch HB, Wang KC, Patel JB, Dux M, Lee-Wilk T, Lee D, Lewin-Smith MR, Xu H, Strathmann FG, Koslowski JA, Velez-Quinones MA, Gaitens JM. Thirty years of surveillance of depleted uranium-exposed Gulf War veterans demonstrate continued effects to bone health. J Toxicol Environ Health A. 2024 Nov 27:1-17. doi: 10.1080/15287394.2024.2432021.

Almashat S, McDiarmid M. Toxic chemical exposures among civilians in armed conflicts: the need for research equity, justice, and accountability. Inhal Toxicol. 2024 May;36(5):304-313. doi: 10.1080/08958378.2023.2286325.

Ringen K, Dement J, Cloeren M, Almashat S, Hines S, Grier W, Quinn P, Chen A, Haas S. Mortality of older construction and craft workers employed at Department of Energy (DOE) nuclear sites: Follow-up through 2021. Am J Ind Med. 2024 Mar;67(3):261-273. doi: 10.1002/ajim.23567.

Müller-Ramírez C, Almashat S, Gaitens J, McDiarmid M. Carcinogenic drug exposure among health-sector workers: the need for exposure assessment and surveillance. Rev Panam Salud Publica. 2023 Mar 10;47:e11. doi: 10.26633/RPSP.2023.11.

Sorscher S, AbuDagga A, Almashat S, Carome M, Wolfe S. Placebo-only–controlled versus active-controlled trials of new drugs for nine common life-threatening diseases. Open Access Journal of Clinical Trials. 2018;10:19-28.

Almashat S, Carome M. Withholding information on unapproved drug marketing applications: The public has a right to know. J Law Med Ethics. 2017;45(2_suppl):46-49.