Wednesday, January 15, 2025
1/15/2025
Project Summary This new application seeks NIEHS RISE (R25) sponsorship for our innovative advanced program entitled “Frontiers in Environmental Science and Human Health (FrESH)” to train and mentor promising graduates, medical students, post-doctoral fellows and junior faculty from predominantly underrepresented communities in sophisticated technologies in Environmental Health Science Research research. This proposal is responsive to RFA-ES-20-015 as its main goal is to create educational opportunities for graduate students, medical students, postdoctoral fellows, and junior faculty in areas of environmental health science research pertinent to the NIEHS, while fostering the career development of these students and fellows. A major strength of FrESH is that it draws from underrepresented minority (URM) applicant pools; The Atlanta University Center (AUC) which includes Morehouse College, Spelman College and Clark Atlanta University, which is the largest consortium of black institutions of higher education in the USA as well as Hispanic and Native American Serving Institutions. Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) is linked directly to these institutions through a formal system of pipeline programs. In addition, we plan to draw URM’s from other institutions regardless of their URM population size. Our target population is diverse and among the most promising nationally competitive trainees. FrESH offers dynamic training through a series of daily lecturers on emerging concepts, extended discussion, laboratory research, workshops and informal seminars for a week-long summer course. The primary aim is the development of an intense laboratory-based training for 16 participants per year to educate them in Environmental Health Science, and to help launch and sustain their careers. We propose a five-year program to enroll a total of eighty (80) trainees (16 trainees per year) for training at MSM. In summary, FrESH will offer dynamic and sophisticated training courses that consist of daily lectures from leading experts, active learning sessions, and extended discussions on important and emerging topics followed by hands-on laboratory sessions. Examples of topics within FrESH include: disparate impacts of air pollutants, water pollutants, and common persistent pollutants such as flame retardants and pesticides; gene x environment interactions in driving health outcomes; exposome and lifetime exposure impacts on human health; impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on human exposures to environmental toxicants; and dissemination and implementation strategies to engage health care providers to consider environmental contaminants in diagnoses and treatments, especially with regard to URM patients.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).