Laura S. Welch is medical director of CPWR—The Center for Construction Research and Training, a research institute devoted to improving health and safety in the construction industry. Her research interests are in asbestos-related diseases, other occupational lung diseases, and musculoskeletal disorders. She is also a lecturer in environmental and occupational health at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services. She has held faculty positions at the university’s medical school and at the Yale University School of Medicine. Dr. Welch received her MD from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and is board-certified in internal medicine and in occupational medicine. She was a member of the Institute of Medicine Committee on Gulf War and Health: Review of the Literature on Pesticides and Solvents.