Dr. Carisa Harris Adamson received a Bachelors of Science degree in Psychology from Tufts University. She then completed a double Masters in Physical Therapy and Exercise Physiology from the University of California at San Francisco and San Francisco State University.  She developed a keen interest in Occupational Health through her work in various Occupational Medicine Clinics and eventually spent 10 years growing a company that provided Onsite Injury Treatment and Prevention Services to large self-insured companies.   She returned the University of California at Berkeley to receive a PhD in Environmental Health Sciences.

Dr. Harris is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of California in San Francisco and Director of the UCSF/UC Berkeley Ergonomics Research & Training Program. She teaches Occupational Biomechanics and an Ergonomics Research Seminar.   Dr. Harris’ current research is focused on healthy worker survivor bias in the assessment of physical, personal and work psychosocial factors associated with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and subsequent work disability. She is also focused on developing exposure assessment devices for the upper extremity and spine facilitate research to practice applications of epidemiologic research.  Additionally, her lab devises and tests interventions to reduce physical exposures in occupational tasks with high risk of musculoskeletal injuries.