Challenge Awards

Challenge awards are a way to generate competition, spur ingenuity, and fund or recognize outstanding projects or ideas.

In 2016, NIEHS is involved in two challenges.

Transform Tox Testing Challenge: Innovating for Metabolism

Transform Tox Testing Challenge: Innovating for Metabolism was calling on innovative thinkers to find ways to incorporate physiological levels of metabolism into high-throughput screening assays. This will help researchers more accurately assess effects of chemicals and better protect public health. This Challenge was being supported by NTP/NIEHS, the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, and the U.S. EPA. The first stage of the challenge was open until April 8, 2016.

In May, ten teams or individuals were awarded prizes and invitations to participate in Stage 2 of the challenge.
On July 8th, the Transform Tox Testing Challenge organizers will host a workshop in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina to bring together Stage 1 winners, agency experts, and other leaders in the field to discuss the Tox21 and ToxCast programs, the semi-finalist proposals, and feasible expectations for the remainder of the challenge.
For more information, please visit the official Transform Tox Testing Challenge website. A July 5, 2016 blog posting by HHS highlights the potential impact of this cross agency challenge.
Read more about the role of NIEHS/NTP in the February 2016 issue of Environmental Factor.

The NIEHS Climate Change and Environmental Exposures Challenge

The NIEHS Climate Change and Environmental Exposures Challenge asks participants to produce visualizations, tools, or applications that help convey the potential risks of environmental exposures that may be worsened by climate change. Winners were announced on Tuesday, February 23, 2016 in a publicly webcast presentation at the National Advisory Environmental Health Sciences Council meeting.

Read more about the Challenge winners in the April 2016 issue of Environmental Factor.

NIEHS has issued two previous challenges that are helping to move the fields of toxicology and exposure science forward.

My Air, My Health Challenge helped spur the creative development of personal devices that can gather and integrate health and air quality data that can be used to improve overall health.
NIEHS - NCATS - UNC DREAM Toxicogenetics Challenge used crowdsourcing to engage the community to gain a better understanding about how a person's individual genetics can influence cytotoxic response to exposure to widely used chemicals.