P2CES033430

Center for Children's Health Assessment, Research Translation, and Combating Environmental Racism (CHARTER) - Project Summary/Abstract

The Center for Children's Health Assessment, Research Translation, and Combating Environmental Racism (CHARTER) aims to develop effective strategies to translate research findings of importance to children's environmental health to relevant stakeholders in the community, academia, and among healthcare providers.

The CHARTER Center is uniquely poised to foster excellence in research on children's environmental health that will nurture the next generation of scientists and provide information that can benefit the Atlanta community. This community has suffered from decades of environmental racism and has many of the highest levels of health disparities in the nation, including the health of its Black children.

Building on extensive interdisciplinary research in children's environmental health and significant achievements in research translation, Emory University has partnered with faculty from the University of Georgia's Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication and the Center for Health and Risk Communication. This partnership aims to advance the science of environmental health communication, media psychology, behavioral science, environmental health literacy, and community engagement.

Scientific findings will be broken into understandable, applicable, and actionable messages that result in direct and lasting impact on Black communities in the Atlanta region and beyond.

Emory is proposing a model for the National Coordinating Center for the CEHRT Network. This model will be a partnership of the Children's Environmental Health Network and Sharecare, Inc., a social healthcare platform that aims to organize and answer health questions of relevance to individuals and communities. Innovative communication products can then be used and/or adapted by stakeholders, at-risk populations, affected communities, and the clinical or public health community to improve children's health across the US and internationally.

The overarching specific aims of CHARTER are to:

1) Serve as a catalyst for the development of innovative interdisciplinary translational research and communication strategies to improve children's environmental health.

2) Continue to develop and innovate science and discovery relevant to the impact that environmental exposures have on children's health to meet the needs of families in Atlanta and beyond.

3) Foster and enhance partnerships between university researchers and communities, locally and nationally, to decrease environmental exposures and effectively translate impactful scientific findings, with the goal of reducing environmental racism and enhancing the health of children.

Emory University

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 INCREASE PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIALIZATION OF INNOVATIONS DERIVED FROM 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, (8) PROVIDING SUPPORT FOR BROADLY BASED MULTI-DISCIPLINARY RESEARCH AND TRAINING PROGRAMS IN ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH .THESE PROGRAMS INCLUDE THE ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH SCIENCES CORE CENTERS , WHICH SERVE AS NATIONAL FOCAL POINTS AND RESOURCES FOR RESEARCH AND MANPOWER DEVELOPMENT. THROUGH THESE PROGRAMS, NIEHS EXPECTS TO ACHIEVE THE LONG-RANGE GOAL OF DEVELOPING NEW CLINICAL AND PUBLIC HEALTH APPLICATIONS TO IMPROVE DISEASE PREVENTION, DIAGNOSIS, AND THERAPY. ADDITIONAL CENTERS PROGRAMS DEVELOPED IN RECENT YEARS, INCLUDE THE CENTERS FOR OCEANS AND HUMAN HEALTH (CO-FUNDED WITH NSF), CHILDREN'S ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH CENTERS (CO-FUNDED WITH US EPA) AND THE AUTISM CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE (CO-FUNDED WITH OTHER NIH INSTITUTES), AND THE HUMAN HEALTH EXPOSURE ANALYSIS RESOURCE (HHEAR) PROGRAM, (9) SUPPORTING RESEARCH TRAINING PROGRAMS WHICH SERVE TO INCREASE THE POOL OF TRAINED RESEARCH MANPOWER WITH NEEDED EXPERTISE IN THE ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH SCIENCES THROUGH SUPPORT OF INDIVIDUAL AND INSTITUTIONAL NATIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE AWARDS (NRSAS), (10) THE OUTSTANDING NEW ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENTIST PROGRAM WHICH PROVIDES FIRST TIME RESEARCH GRANT FUNDING TO OUTSTANDING JUNIOR SCIENTISTS IN THE FORMATIVE STAGES OF THEIR CAREER WHO ARE PROPOSING TO MAKE A LONG TERM COMMITMENT TO ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH SCIENCES RESEARCH AND TO ADDRESS THE ADVERSE EFFECTS ON ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURES ON HUMAN BIOLOGY, HUMAN PATHOPHYSIOLOGY AND HUMAN DISEASE.

93.113 - Environmental Health

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

Atlanta, Georgia 30322 United States

Single Zip Code

Collaborative Centers in Children's Environmental Health Research and Translation Centers (P2C Clinical Trial Optional) (RFA-ES-20-001)

Amendment Since initial award the total obligations have increased 285% from $925,449 to $3,565,760.