Sunday, May 11, 2025
5/11/2025
Environmental Epidemiology in Community Settings - We are applying to continue a successful interdisciplinary pre-doctoral training program focused on Environmental Epidemiology in Community Settings (EECS program) within the Department of Environmental Health at the Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH). The EECS program consists of a specific training regimen that is located within a mature doctoral program and designed to prepare pre-doctoral students to use the most sophisticated methods available to advance the state of knowledge and develop new methods in community-oriented environmental epidemiology. Our program has an intellectual commitment to interdisciplinary work, built on a robust collaborative research program within BUSPH and with outside research partners and designed to provide research training that is interdisciplinary in spirit, substance and outcome. We will recruit four pre-doctoral trainees each year for a steady state census of twelve trainees and build on a demonstrated record of recruiting trainees from underrepresented groups. EECS trainees typically receive support from the training grant during the first three years and then transition to external research grants awarded either to the trainee (e.g., NIH F awards, EPA STAR fellowships) or to faculty advisors (e.g., NIH R01 awards). An advisor is assigned upon entering the program to assist with selecting courses, identifying research rotations, and developing dissertation plans. A core curriculum provides training in environmental health, epidemiology, biostatistics, community-engaged research methods, toxicology, and physiology. Clusters of advanced courses are tailored to areas of ongoing research such as epidemiologic methods, exposure science, and environmental health disparities. Trainees engage in three research rotations on active projects during their first year, which facilitates integration into the program and refinement of research interests. Additionally, the program provides regular opportunities for oral presentation, teaching, grant proposal writing, and research translation, including a required "lay summary" of their research findings to relevant community stakeholders. With the support of a new grant writing workshop, trainees prepare a dissertation proposal in the form of a fellowship grant to be submitted to a funding agency (e.g., NIEHS) by the end of their fifth semester, before qualifying exams. Upon passing their exams, trainees establish a dissertation committee and engage in full-time research activities. Key enrichment activities include a weekly departmental research seminar, a biweekly proseminar, a monthly journal club, an annual research retreat, and explicit instruction in the responsible conduct of research and enhancing reproducibility. The Training Program Steering Committee (TPSC) reviews the progress of each trainee with respect to program milestones via course grades and progress reports. The EECS program is evaluated via feedback from trainees at the end of each semester, critical examination of successes and failures by the TPSC, reviews conducted by partnering community organizations, and monitoring of graduates to track career paths and productivity.
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).