Environmental Health Sciences Core Centers

Program Description

  See larger view

Environmental Health Sciences (EHS) Core Centers are designed to build infrastructure and provide resources to stimulate research in environmental health sciences, including those needed to conduct basic, translational, clinical, and public health research. By facilitating the use of shared research resources that serve the mission areas of the NIEHS, investigators who are associated with EHS Core Centers will be poised to lead the field in new and important directions.

The EHS Core Centers Program creates an environment for development of novel technologies and approaches that can be brought to bear on new and existing research projects. The research supported by the Centers allows for improved identification of promising opportunities for collaboration and translation of research findings into domains that enhance our understanding of human disease and public health.  EHS Core Centers achieve their aims by doing the following:

1. Bringing together multidisciplinary groups of scientists to identify scientific opportunities and tackle compelling problems in environmental health sciences
2. Focusing investigators on environmental science issues relevant to human biology, human disease, and public health, which enhances productivity of traditional research grants at academic research institutions and improves the health of communities and the nation
3. Facilitating the integration and promotion of research in existing projects
4. Communicating research to community organizations, health care and public health professionals, and policy-makers

EHS Core Centers offer a rich environment for developing research leaders in the field of environmental health sciences. The interaction among various research disciplines at EHS Core Centers provides investigators unique opportunities and allows them to capitalize on them to foster scientific excellence using new methods, technologies, and novel scientific approaches that focus on using environmental science to understand human biology and human disease. EHS Core Centers also stimulate career development for future research leaders in environmental health sciences through training and mentoring programs, as well as by promoting interactions with established investigators in related disciplines, and helping young scientists and clinician-scientists to build foundations for careers in NIEHS-sponsored research.

 Back to top

Goals and Expected Outcomes

EHS Core Centers:

• Provide intellectual leadership and innovation in basic science, translational and clinical sciences and public health research in environmental health.
• Stimulate integration of basic and applied research in order to better understand the impact of environmental exposures on human disease.
• Facilitate and develop new interdisciplinary research strategies to advance the field.
• Incorporate novel technologies and methods into EHS research.
• Provide career development for future research leaders. Membership in the Center should help build identity in the fields of basic biology, translational research, clinical research, and public health through mentoring, training, and interactions with programs developed by NIEHS.
• Stimulate and support new ideas and collaborations on topics of unique scientific opportunity that are relevant to environmental health sciences.
• Translate research information into knowledge for various professional and public stakeholders.

   Back to top

Program Contacts

 Back to to