P20ES036747

A community-driven, health-first approach to climate action and the energy transition - project summary - overall the threat of climate change and urgency for large-scale preventive mitigation policies are now broadly recognized and supported by calls for a rapid and comprehensive energy transition.

Major climate policies, however, are emerging without consideration of the near-term human health or equity implications.

Missing is the evidence base required to guide specific policy decisions that would maximize health and equity benefits while also reducing further warming of the planet.

The overarching goal of the proposed health-first climate action research center is to catalyze rigorous, innovative, community-driven, policy-relevant, transdisciplinary research aimed at understanding the health and equity impacts of specific energy choices as the US strives to reach a low-carbon energy transition.

Achieving this goal requires engagement across community, scientific, and policy sectors and defines the theme of our proposal, “A community-driven, health-first approach to climate action and the energy transition.”

We posit that a “health-first” approach to climate decision-making will increase both distributive and procedural equity associated with specific policy solution pathways proposed for climate mitigation.

Our key innovation is in developing and employing a linked pathway that starts and ends with communities as it generates robust estimates of the health impacts of contemplated climate change actions.

Innovations in community engagement will include: participatory web-based technologies, including web-based mapping and storytelling, crowd-sourcing and artificial intelligence, and utilization of low-cost air pollution monitors, which are increasingly being used by citizen scientists and communities.

Innovations coming from our primary research project will include development of a new, high-resolution scenario health risk for energy model to support decision-making by policy makers and community partners, balancing representation of complex processes with the speed and ease-of-use required for public utilization.

We also will conduct a pilot target trial to assess the likely impacts of climate change action on asthma burden of Milwaukee public school children.

The proposed data science core will prioritize authentic, multi-directional, equitable community engagement and data sharing.

Innovations will stem from: establishing a data repository that will foster team science and provide a single point of access for all stakeholders; creating a data commons that provides linkage, integration, mapping, metadata management, and computerized routines for reusable data, metadata, and software artifacts for collaborative research and data sharing; and providing digital engagement tools using advanced technologies (e.g., natural language processing) to ensure that community voices are utilized efficiently to inform research and policy development.

Our Wisconsin-based community, government, and university environments have the track record, expertise, foundations, and institutional support for high productivity and policy impact of this health-first climate action research center.

University Of Wisconsin System

TO FOSTER UNDERSTANDING OF HUMAN HEALTH EFFECTS OF EXPOSURE TO ENVIRONMENTAL AGENTS IN THE HOPE THAT THESE STUDIES WILL LEAD TO: THE IDENTIFICATION OF AGENTS THAT POSE A HAZARD AND THREAT OF DISEASE, DISORDERS AND DEFECTS IN HUMANS, THE DEVELOPMENT OF EFFECTIVE PUBLIC HEALTH OR DISEASE PREVENTION STRATEGIES, THE OVERALL IMPROVEMENT OF HUMAN HEALTH EFFECTS DUE TO ENVIRONMENTAL AGENTS, THE DEVELOPMENT OF PRODUCTS AND TECHNOLOGIES DESIGNED TO BETTER STUDY OR AMELIORATE THE EFFECTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL AGENTS, AND THE SUCCESSFUL TRAINING OF RESEARCH SCIENTISTS IN ALL AREAS OF ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH RESEARCH. SUPPORTED GRANT PROGRAMS FOCUS ON THE FOLLOWING AREAS: (1) UNDERSTANDING BIOLOGICAL RESPONSES TO ENVIRONMENTAL AGENTS BY DETERMINING HOW CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL AGENTS CAUSE PATHOLOGICAL CHANGES IN MOLECULES, CELLS, TISSUES, AND ORGANS, AND BECOME MANIFESTED AS RESPIRATORY DISEASE, NEUROLOGICAL, BEHAVIORAL AND DEVELOPMENTAL ABNORMALITIES, CANCER, AND OTHER DISORDERS, (2) DETERMINING THE MECHANISMS OF TOXICITY OF UBIQUITOUS AGENTS LIKE METALS, NATURAL AND SYNTHETIC CHEMICALS, PESTICIDES, AND MATERIALS SUCH AS NANOPARTICLES, AND NATURAL TOXIC SUBSTANCES, AND THEIR EFFECTS OF ON VARIOUS HUMAN ORGAN SYSTEMS, ON METABOLISM, ON THE ENDOCRINE AND IMMUNE SYSTEMS, AND ON OTHER BIOLOGICAL FUNCTIONS, (3) DEVELOPING AND INTEGRATING SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE ABOUT POTENTIALLY TOXIC AND HAZARDOUS CHEMICALS BY CONCENTRATING ON TOXICOLOGICAL RESEARCH, TESTING, TEST DEVELOPMENT, VALIDATION AND RISK ESTIMATION, (4) IDENTIFYING INTERACTIONS BETWEEN ENVIRONMENTAL STRESSORS AND GENETIC SUSCEPTIBILITY AND UNDERSTANDING BIOLOGIC MECHANISMS UNDERLYING THESE INTERACTIONS, INCLUDING THE STUDY OF ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES ON EPIGENOMICS AND TRANSCRIPTIONAL REGULATION, (5) CONDUCTING ENVIRONMENTAL PUBLIC HEALTH RESEARCH, INCLUDING IN AREAS OF ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE AND HEALTH DISPARITIES, THAT REQUIRES COMMUNITIES AS ACTIVE PARTICIPANTS IN ALL STAGES OF RESEARCH, DISSEMINATION, AND EVALUATION TO ADVANCE BOTH THE SCIENCE AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF PRACTICAL MATERIALS FOR USE IN COMMUNITIES, WITH A FOCUS ON TRANSLATING RESEARCH FINDINGS INTO TOOLS, MATERIALS, AND RESOURCES THAT CAN BE USED TO PREVENT, REDUCE, OR ELIMINATE ADVERSE HEALTH OUTCOMES CAUSED BY ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURES, (6) EXPANDING AND IMPROVING THE SBIR PROGRAM, TO INCREASE PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIALIZATION OF INNOVATIONS DERIVED FROM FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, TO INCREASE SMALL BUSINESS PARTICIPATION IN FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, AND TO FOSTER AND ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION OF SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS IN TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION, (7) EXPANDING AND IMPROVING THE STTR PROGRAM TO STIMULATE AND FOSTER SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION THROUGH COOPERATIVE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CARRIED OUT BETWEEN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS, TO FOSTER TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER BETWEEN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS, TO IN

93.113 - Environmental Health

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) [HHS - NIH]

Madison, Wisconsin 53715 United States

Single Zip Code

Exploratory Grants for Climate Change and Health Research Center Development (P20 Clinical Trial Optional) (RFA-ES-23-007)