Thomas Golaszewski, health science, has an in-depth knowledge of work-related health issues. He also has a national reputation for his expertise in developing ways of assessing and improving the health and well being of employees. Golaszewski, associate professor of health science at SUNY College at Brockport and former principle investigator of the award-winning Travelers' Company "Taking Care Program," demonstrated the cost effectiveness of employer-sponsored, health-promotion services in one of the landmark studies in the industry.

Golaszewski subscribes to his "chameleon theory." That is, people change their behavior to reflect the characteristics of the environment they inhabit. To nurture the health of an individual, one must first create a healthy environment. "Instead of targeting people directly and then returning them to a non-healthy environment only to watch them fail, the new approach is to target the environment, which in turn creates a healthy workforce," said Golaszewski.

HeartCheck is one of the tools Golaszewski has developed by which work organizations are able to quantifiably assess their level of support for employee cardiovascular health. Funded by the New York State Department of Health's Healthy Heart initiative, HeartCheck has proven so effective that it has been adopted by the state as a way of measuring employers' commitment to employee cardiovascular health statewide. Golaszewski's success as a member of the New York State Cardiovascular Disease Task Force, which was awarded a $5 million grant from the Centers for Disease Control for the state's Healthy Heart Project, continues to gain national attention for his unique approach to employee health.