Marcia Trapé-Cardoso MD, FACP, MRO
Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine
Clinical Director, Occupational Medicine Clinic
Medical Director, Employee Health Service

Degrees, Universities Attended
MD, University of São Paulo School of Medicine, São Paulo, Brazil

Brief Chronology of Professional Career
Marcia Trapé-Cardoso, MD, FACP, MRO has been with the University of Connecticut Health Center for the past 10 years and she holds an appointment as an Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine in the Department of Medicine, Division of Occupational & Environmental Medicine. After completing her Medical School in São Paulo, Dr. Trapé did her Internal Medicine Residency at Mount Sinai Hospital in Hartford, CT, before returning to Brazil. She started her career in Occupational Medicine working for over four years for Unilever, in the Valinhos' plant, in the São Paulo State. While in Brazil, she completed a core curriculum for a master in public health at the University of Campinas School of Medicine. She returned to the US in 1982 and has been working for the past 20 years for the State of CT with over 17 years managing and caring for patients with work-related injuries and diseases in the US. Dr. Trapé is board certified in Internal Medicine (1977) and Preventive Medicine (as a specialist in Occupational Medicine, 1995).

Dr. Trapé is well known at a national level in the field of Employee Health and work-related exposures to health care workers. She is an expert in the areas of blood-borne pathogen exposures to health care workers, latex sensitization, tuberculosis control and violence prevention, as well as more general topics involving employee health evaluation. Dr. Trapé was the recipient of several Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cooperative grants and became the first to implement the National Surveillance for Hospitals Health Care Workers (NaSH) software for surveillance in the State of Connecticut. Additionally, Dr. Trapé has obtained grant support from the Northeast Center for Agricultural Health (CDC) and Faculty Research Grant (HCRAC) for research about occupational nicotine exposure in CT tobacco workers.

Dr. Trapé has been an active member of the Board of Directors of the Occupational and Environmental Medical Association of Connecticut (OEMAC), a Chapter of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM). For the past four years, Dr. Trapé has played an important leadership role in this organization serving as Secretary/Treasurer in 1998-99, Vice President in 1999-2000 and President-elect for 2000-2001, and President for 2001-2002. She was just re-elected as a Secretary/Treasurer for 2003-2004.

Dr. Trapé has been the clinical director of the Occupational Medicine Clinic of the University of Connecticut Health Center and was integral part of the Genesis Team to provide Smallpox immunization to health care workers throughout the state of CT in early 2003. Dr. Trapé serves as a consultant in Occupational Medicine to the University of Connecticut Department of Environmental Health and Safety and helped them to develop and implement their Occupational Health and Safety Program for Animal Handlers at Storrs. She is also the Consultant Medical Director for the United Technologies Research Center and Otis Elevators. She has provided consultations for several Employee Health Clinics from acute and long-term care facilities throughout the state in the areas of policy development according with OSHA standards and procedures and investigation and control of hazardous exposures.

Dr. Trapé is a lecturer at the Masters in Public Health Program and holds a faculty appointment with this graduate school. She has been advising Public Health graduate students for several years and also teaches residents and medical students. Dr. Trapé is a member of the Infection Control Committee, the AIDS Task Force, and the Admissions Committee of the School of Medicine. She chairs the Inter-Hospitals EHS Residency Committee and the Employee Health Advisory Committee.

Main responsibilities at the UConn Health Center
Dr. Trapé dedicates 30% of her time to clinical services in the Occupational Medicine Clinic where she also exerts the function of Clinical Director securing and implement contracts with private businesses and state agencies. Additionally, she is the Medical Director for the Employee Health Service of the University of Connecticut Health Center function involving participation in internal and external committees, educating staff, doing risk assessment and communication, and responding to the regulatory requirements of OSHA, JCAHO and the State for the Health Center workers, students, residents and volunteers. Teaching and research are also part of her duties.

Major Research Interests
Health care workers and blood and body fluid exposures, occupational problems affecting migrant farmworkers, workplace violence, and health and wellness.

Current Grants
NEC-NYCAHM Grant 02-03 "Green Tobacco Sickness and Salivary Cotinine Levels among Farmworkers in CT" principal investigator. Study GTS symptoms and cotinine levels in farmworkers.
Faculty Research Grant, HCRAC Grant 02-03 "Occupational Nicotine Exposure among CT Tobacco Farmworkers: a pilot study" principal investigator. Study tobacco farm workers compared with nursery workers for possible GTS symptoms and cotinine level elevation throughout the summer season.

Curriculum Vitae
Available in Portable Document Format (PDF):

Marcia Trapé-Cardoso, MD, FACP, MRO, Curriculum Vitae
(PDF File, 53K: NEW window)

Publications

• Trapé-Cardoso M, Bracker A, Grey M, Kaliszewski M, Oncken C, Ohannessian C el al Shade Tobacco and Green Tobacco Sickness in Connecticut Workers J Occup Environ Med. 2003; 45:000-000.
• Trapé M "Greeting from your President: 30 Years Anniversary of the OSHA Act" and "In the Aftermath of September 11, 2001," OEMAC Newsletter, March 2002.
• Trapé M and Barnosky, S. "Nelfinavir in Expanded Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) Causing Acute Cholangitic Hepatitis: Two Case Report", Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, 2001; 22(6):333-334.
• Trapé M, Schenck P, Warren A. "Latex Gloves Used and Symptoms in HealthCare Workers One Year after Implementation of a Policy Restricting the Use of Powdered Gloves", American Journal of Infection Control, 2000;28:352-8.
• Trapé M "Allergy symptoms continue despite powder-free gloves"- Hospital Employee Health, May 1999, Vol. 18, No. 5, pages 55-57.
• Trapé M, "Workplace Violence: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration Guidelines", Connecticut Medicine, 1998; 62 (6): 333-336.
• Cardoso M "Hepatitis at the Gessy-Lever Industries" - published in the Unilever Medical News, no. 18, January, 1980 - São Paulo, Brazil.

Contact Information
Marcia Trapé-Cardoso, MD, FACP, MRO
Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
University of Connecticut Health Center
263 Farmington Avenue, MC 6210
Farmington, CT 06030-6210
Phone (860) 679-4564
Fax (860) 679-1349
Email trape@nso.uchc.edu