11/20/2024: Ergonomics and Your Parents: Musculoskeletal Challenges of Home Healthcare for a Loved One from the Defense Centers for Public Health's Perspective

Kelsey McCoskey has been an ergonomist with the Defense Centers for Public Health – Aberdeen for 23 years. In addition to performing applied research projects, site assessments, and handling regulatory issues, she is responsible for conducting training courses and the development and assessment of ergonomic programs. Her primary areas of interest include healthcare ergonomics and safe patient handling and mobility (SPHM), especially the implementation of SPHM programs. Ms. McCoskey is Lean Six Sigma green belt certified. Ms. McCoskey earned a BA from the University of Delaware and a MS in occupational therapy from Shenandoah University. She is adjunct faculty at the Uniformed Service University of Health Sciences. She is a Certified Professional Ergonomist and a Certified Safe Patient Handling Professional.

Dr. John Pentikis has been the Ergonomics and Engineering Branch Manager at the Defense Centers for Public Health – Aberdeen for the past 7 years. Before that he served as an ergonomist with the US Army since 1991. His work at Defense Centers for Public Health – Aberdeen and its predecessor organizations has focused on serving the needs of the U.S. government. He has traveled extensively for close to 30 years to provide technical consultations, field surveys and enhanced training worldwide. In addition to his support of the Army he has provided ergonomic services to the other Department of Defense branches and multiple government organizations. Additionally, Dr. Pentikis is an adjunct professor at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and Johns Hopkins University. He has earned a Certified Professional Ergonomist designation from the Board of Certification in Professional Ergonomics and has earned multiple advanced degrees with the most recent being a PhD in Industrial Engineering from Auburn University in 2017.