The NIEHS director and his staff meet periodically with the Public Interest Partners to seek input and improve communications with communities and organizations directly affected by the mission and the research of the NIEHS.
Public Interest Partner members represent:
disease and patient advocacy groups for diseases such as asthma and other lung diseases, breast cancer, prostate cancer, Parkinson's Disease, birth defects, autism, lupus, and others
at-risk groups who may be particularly susceptible to environmental effects such as children, women, and under-served communities
environmentalist groups
Working with the Public Interest Partners allows the NIEHS to learn more about the priorities of these organizations, and helps to shape the institute’s research agenda. In turn, these organizations learn about the NIEHS research enterprise and about the other partner organizations. As a group, the Public Interest Partners are a powerful voice for environmental health issues.
Recent Input from Partners (http://www.niehs.nih.gov/about/community/docs/partners-comments.pdf) (46 KB)
Public Interest Group's Contribution to the Future of Environmental Health Research (http://www.niehs.nih.gov/about/community/docs/2005essay.pdf) (252 KB)
Lisa M. Greenhill, from Goehl TJ, ed. 2005. Essays on The Future of Environmental Health Research: A Tribute to Dr. Kenneth Olden. Research Triangle Park, NC:Environmental Health Perspectives/National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
Director's Council of Public Representatives (COPR)(http://copr.nih.gov/)
A federal advisory committee made up of members of the public, who advise the National Institutes of Health (NIH) director on issues related to public participation in NIH activities, outreach efforts, and other matters of public interest.
NIH Public Trust Initiative (PTI)(http://publictrust.nih.gov/)
The mission of this initiative is is to enable the public to understand and to have full confidence in the research that NIH conducts and supports across the country and throughout the world.
Get Involved at NIH(http://getinvolved.nih.gov/)
A Web site of information about public activities and events, and opportunities to provide feedback to the NIH.